“How do you really know how much Paterno actually did?”

Based on the grand jury testimony of various officials and Paterno itself. Really I only scratched the surface in this blog post. Bottom line: he knew. He didn’t have doubts about Sandusky’s guilt here. If he did, he would have confronted Sandusky about it, not passed it up the chain of command.

If he was anything like my elderly father, they grew up in a time where these sort of things didn’t exist, they had trouble BELIEVING that these sort of actions could really happen, and they gave everyone the benefit of the doubt before they hung someone out to dry

This is a really nice sentiment, but it’s complete bullshit built upon a nostalgic yearning for a simpler time that never existed. It’s not just you, by the way, but all of society that seems to think these are all new acts that have arisen in the last decade. Not true, at all. The medium that delivers news of these actions is stronger and on a wider scale than it used to be, but things like child rape and molestation did occur and people were aware of it, it just didn’t get talked about on the nightly news. Or it was allowed to continue because people were too coy to address it (the good ol’ days!). And, again, Paterno’s own actions and statements refute all your claims here.

“Point the finger at the person responsible- Sandusky.”

Believe me, I do. But I also point it at Paterno and all the other officials that allowed this to go unreported, even though they knew it was actually happening. They just said it couldn’t be in their back yard, even though the man was allowed to keep an office there. Also – and this is in no way to alleviate Sandusky’s guilt for his atrocious behavior and activity – he had a very dark, evil compulsion to do what he did. Paterno and others didn’t. It was selfish pride and greed that drove them to allow him to keep preying on innocents.

“And, please do not instruct people as to whom they should mourn. It is not your call.”

Sigh.

When it was time for Paterno to do the hard thing he took a pass. These vigils around his statue at Penn State make me sick.