It is always easy to demonize someone when they are not around, especially when there is no possible chance of hearing what they have to say about it. Speaking ill of the deceased doesn't really make the one heaving the insults any more classy or morally pious than the person you are speaking ill about. Disagreeing with how things were handled is understandable but refusing to acknowledge the goods things that he did do, or saying that bad things that happen in one's career negate the good things is just plain ignorant. Regardless of how he may involved in this scandal, refusing to acknowledge the fact that there are a lot of happy, successful, morally sound people walking around whose inspiration came from Paterno or the Penn State institution is the sign of a small, ignorant, feeble minded and uneducated individual. These are the same people that throw all Germans that were alive during the 30's and 40's under the bus with the Nazi's. This is not to say that one outweighs the other, but there are too many folks that are too quick to discount any of the good when something bad happens.
Again, I will state that I would have probably contacted the police myself in that position (after taking time to think about it) and because I am not one to respond well to having my career held over my head, but why so much focus on Paterno, especially in the media? Is is just because he is the face of Penn State? There are many other players in this tragedy who are far more to blame that he is. This is not to say that he must not share some of the blame or that he is a saint of any kind, but to be vilified in the media, internet forums or at dinner conversations is the weak and easy way out, especially since he is deceased. It is very easy to heap as much blame as possible on the dead guy.
We know that Sandusky did it, but what about the others? I speak of McQueary, especially. How a younger, stronger and more physically fit (I would assume) person could walk into a scene like that in the shower and NOT grab that old-arse child molester by the back of the neck and introduce his face to the tiles on the shower wall at a high rate of speed is absolutely beyond me. I could possibly understand a slight pause from the shock of stumbling upon a scene such as that, but not reacting to it physically, with aggression towards someone doing that to a child totally boggles the mind.
Also, there is all this talk of how folks with kids have a different stance on the matter. Well, I have kids and there are questions that I am obliged to ask with regard to the victims that had parents (I know some of these kids were foster children)...
Why would you let your kids sleep at a strange man's, or any other person's house that did not have children of their own the same age as your, alone, without it being a "team" slumber party?
Why would you have not educated your children about the dangers of pedophiles, how to react if it were to happen to them and the dire importance of telling you (as the parent) if anyone had tried to get fresh with them?
Why did the parents of the children that had the police and DA confront Sandusky not push the issue further than a preliminary investigation/interview after all of the authorities in Happy Valley threw their hands in the air and said "Oops, sorry, not enough to proceed with this" If they believed their kids, why was the situation not pressed any more?
Lastly, and just some food for thought. If anyone in this community were in put in Paterno's position, and had to choose between providing for your family or risking your career for some anonymous, homeless children that you would probably never meet and says that they would have acted without weighing out the consequences of their actions first is either a complete fool or a liar.
