"Was Joe Paterno overly targeted for retribution?"
Anyone who has read the Freeh Report and the grand jury findings would not even ask that question. He knowingly aided and abetted a serial child rapist for at least 14 years. Why? To insulate his football program from criticism, to continue to mass victories and records as a coach, and to cover up his own financial involvement with Sandusky's charity, "The Second Mile."
Time and research will reveal the financial issues to be his strongest motivator. Watch for it. Paterno had extensive investment connections with board members of the Second Mile. That "non-profit" will prove to have been anything but, and most of the problems will have absolutely nothing to do with child rape or Sandusky. With zero effective oversight, this "charity" effectively became a front for moneymaking schemes that would make Jim and Tammy Faye Baker blush.
JoePa was a myth-maker. He lived in that quaint little house on campus and lived in the manner of a middle-class plebeian while amassing generational wealth from his outside interests. He sold Aqua Penn for a cool $112 million, for example. While I have nothing against a smart investor being rewarded for good decisions and risk-taking, it does get a little unnerving to hear Penn State fanatics pine about how selfless, anti-materialistc and noble their demi-god coach was.
Sure, he helped boys become men. Yes, graduation rates were high. But when it comes to actually developing moral character, JoePa has been proven a failure, as the behavior of Penn State students clearly attests. Those young adults did not learn right from wrong or moral courage--they learned "protect the institution at all costs." Had they learned how to properly discern right from wrong they would fully understand why the NCAA handed down the "sanctions" (i.e., the plea bargain agreement with PSU trustees to stave off a multi-year death penalty), would understand why the statue HAD to come down, and would collectively feel an emotion completely absent from that campus: remorse. People with a modicum of empathy for the victims or a shred of human decency would have torn down the statue themselves, with their bare hands.
The fact that few of them can be bothered with reading the Freeh Report demonstrates their willing ignorance and duplicity. "One man's opinion," they retort. Hmm. Let's see: a former DA, formal federal Circuit Court judge, and former Director of the F. B. I. ("Federal Bureau of
INVESTIGATIONS") puts out an exhaustively researched report that definitively illustrates what was really going on, and they aren't interested in reading what it says? PSU advocates claim that the NCAA did not follow "due process" because they did not initiate their own investigation, but instead relied on this Freeh amateur to do it for them. If anything, this clearly demonstrates that PSU will only believe "one man's opinion"--that of St. JoePa. Anything else is pure evil designed to destroy their mythical statue of what Penn State was and is. The Freeh Report proves that this statue has "clay feet." Sadly, not even tough sanctions seem to be able to alter the "culture" of PSU much, which was part of the NCAA's motivation for issuing them. They are still pathologically clinging to "us against the world" and "outlaw football."
This is not over:
- The DOE is looking into violations of the Clery Act, as PSU intentionally omitted the reporting of violent crimes as mandated by federal law.
- The DOJ has solid evidence for violations of the Mann Act, when Sandusky crossed state lines with boys to rape them during Bowl game vacations.
- The financial shenanigans of the Second Mile will be thoroughly investigated/audited by the IRS.
- There will be a cavalcade of civil suits, as there are certainly more than a dozen or so victims over the course of the 14 year span (probably over a hundred, and individual violations numbering in the thousands).
ALL of these investigations will have SUBPOENA POWER that the Freeh investigation did not possess. There was plenty of dirt Freeh could not get to (Second Mile officials, for example, did NOT cooperate with Freeh's investigation).
So, was JoePa "overly targeted?" Not by the Freeh report. But if you think THAT was bad, just wait until you see what the victim's lawyers, DOE, DOJ, and IRS will do to the reputation and legagy of Coach Paterno when they get done with him. PSU fanatics will pine for the even-handedness of Louis Freeh! Keep this in mind as well: had Paterno not passed away, he would already be charged with perjury for his testimony to the grand jury, as email evidence unearthed by Freeh proves that Paterno was fully aware of the 1998 incident. Under oath he claimed that the 2001 shower incident was the first he'd ever heard of it.
With regard to the sanctions themselves, I think that the plea deal is sufficient. At least PSU signed off on the deal so there will be no legal challenge to the NCAA for issuing these punishments. Sure, I'd love a five-year death penalty as much as anyone else, but it would have meant a protracted legal fight with PSU going on "business as usual" in the interim. At least the plea deal begins immediately.
Besides, when the victims, DOJ, DOE, and IRS get done with this institution, it might be completely destroyed. Certainly its reputation is. Victims alone could net $300 million in settlements, and without "winning" football bringing in big cash, I don't know how the college survives this. You can tap the blindly-faithful alums just so much.
----------
I don't feel sorry for JoePa he deserved what he got and I go to Penn State.
God bless you. A moderate voice.
I hope you aren't alone, and I hope you remain anonymous on that campus, at least for now. I imagine it's a fearful time to hold such views in "Happy Valley."
