Joe Paterno fired.

[BMP 424]

So a person can't be mad at everyone involved? The thread title itself is Joe Paterno fired. I'm sure if you created a thread in regards to the others people would feel the same way or worse about them.

[TheREALBrooksThompson 157]

It's not that he's getting a free pass, it's that there really isn't much need to talk about why raping children isn't ok. Most people pretty much understand that, so there wouldn't be much point in rabbling about how bad a guy he is. We already know that.

 

Paterno's situation is a bit more nuanced, so naturally there will be a lot more to discuss with him.

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

Blame isn't a zero sum game. It's not like we have to blame Paterno less in order to assign more blame to Sandusky. The idea that I can't be disgusted by Paterno's inaction AND think the actual rape was worse is ludicrous, and people keep implying that that is the case.

[Berto 338]

I'd love to chime in here, but people are far too emotional for me to add to the discussion.

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

I'd love to chime in here, but people are far too emotional for me to add to the discussion.

 

Nah, it just seems that way.. go ahead and share, and maybe later I will tell all of you about the two sets of lesbian couples I hung out with tonight.

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

Whatever about Joe Pa, what's done is done. The most *****ed up thing is Sandusky and McQueary getting free passes. Sandusky is from the media a d McQueary is from both the media and the school.

 

Now, I said by the media, so before anyone says "But Sandusky is going to jail" keep that comment to yourself before I e-slap you for being dumb. The media is completely ignoring the guy that did the raping, that's *****ed up. Read Jemele Hill's column (I get that we all know she's dumb and is only at ESPN because of affirmative action, but still). She says in there that Sandusky is a monster but Paterno is Dr. Frankenstein. Yeah, because that makes sense.

 

Last thing, to everyone getting mad about Paterno not doing enough (when all he had initially was hearsay, but we'll all just ignore that), be mad at Mike McQueary who SAW it happen and did nothing.

 

This was kind of my initial reaction, and in a vacuum, I agree.

 

Afterwards though, I gave things a more thorough analysis. At first blush, I decided that (ignoring Sandusky because he is the ultimate evil in this case with no room for discussion) McQueary bears the most blame because he *****ing saw the act in progress and did nothing to stop it right then and there. He left, and called his dad, and reported the act the next day. W.T.F.

 

He told JoePa, and JoePa ran it up the chain. So, from Joe all the way up, each person involved was more responsible than the next as they were in a higher position of authority. Thus, in the grand scheme of things, McQueary was at the top of my **** list, then it went from top down starting at the President of the University. Not that you need to divvy out the blame in percentages to equal 100% but I feel that, as you go up the chain, their level of responsibility grows. Maybe that stems from my military experience, but so be it.

 

After further contemplation I ended up focusing on JoePa in more detail. Keeping in mind my initial reaction as a base line, I also began to take into account the fact that JoePa is the focus of the university. Right or wrong, the focus of the institution is the football program, and Joe was god. No one had more weight in the public eye than he did. If indeed there was a cover up, he had to either be part of it, or let the weight of his goals as a coach impact his decision to put his own needs above those of the children. As such, and due to his increased moral responsibility due to his elevated status in the public eye, he bears the greatest responsibility outside of the person who actually committed the heinous acts.

 

Due to those factors, because he had the greatest ability to bring justice to the situation, because he had the ability to override the cover-up and exact justice for those victims, he bares the greatest moral responsibility as well.

[Trey Time 186]

I get that, but still. He had hearsay. I don't care if it's Joe Pa or *****ing Obama, McQueary saw it happen and did nothing, that is so much worse.

[My 6th Rebuild 6]

McQueary saw it happen and did nothing, that is so much worse.

 

He should have stepped into the shower and knocked him out. If I ever see s*** happen in the school system, I will pound the living s*** out of the person and drag their a** to the office to have the cops called. I can't stand s*** like this and it sickens me.

 

McQueary should have called Paterno immediately and told him, "I'm calling the police", hung up the phone and called AFTER YOU KNOCKING THE MUTHA F**** OUT. If this incident would have played out like this none of these douche bags would be in the situation their in and 5 other victims would have been spared. Joe Paterno could have coached until he died. Too bad that football > everything at Penn State.

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

I get that, but still. He had hearsay. I don't care if it's Joe Pa or *****ing Obama, McQueary saw it happen and did nothing, that is so much worse.

 

Look at my initial take on things... I agree completely. However, McQueary, as a grad student, doesn't have near the pull to take up the cause and overcome the cover up that JoePa does, and that has to be taken into account.

 

To be fair, we are talking about competing levels of responsibility and no one in that group deserves a break. They all fail as decent human beings. We're simply discussing to what level they fail in general decency and overall morality.

[Miller4Prez66 545]

I don't think anyone says JoePa gets more blame than McQueary. JoePa is getting talked about more because he's *****ing Joe Paterno, one of the best, if not the best college coaches of all time. He is the biggest name involved. Like BMP pointed out, if LeBron James was in a scandal with a group of people he would be talked about most because he is the most famous person involved. Very few people even know who McQueary was before this.

 

IMO, JoePa went to his superiors about this and was told to stay quiet and sweep it under the table. Which he did. Therefore, he agreed to cover up for a child molester. He deserved what he got, and deserves the heat he will continue to take. He and the people he worked with decided the school's reputation was more important than stopping a freak from ruining children's lives. Everyone involved deserves hell, but as the biggest name involved JoePa will be talked about most.

[Air Gordon 156]

I get that, but still. He had hearsay. I don't care if it's Joe Pa or *****ing Obama, McQueary saw it happen and did nothing, that is so much worse.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there was a law in Pennsylvania in 2002 that forbid Graduate Assistants from reporting crimes to the police if they occured in a shower, bath, swimming pool, or ice skating rink... Therefore he had to report it up the chain

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there was a law in Pennsylvania in 2002 that forbid Graduate Assistants from reporting crimes to the police if they occured in a shower, bath, swimming pool, or ice skating rink... Therefore he had to report it up the chain

 

 

So you think that someone would pass a law that if a graduate assistant witnessed a man murdering dozens of people, he'd be forbidden from calling the police just because the mass murder occurred in an ice skating rink?