Taking Down Paterno's Statue

In a statement released early Sunday morning, Penn State President Rodney Erickson explained his decision to take down the Joe Paterno statue that stands outside PSU's Beaver Stadium.

The crux of the statement and Erickson's rationale:

"I now believe that, contrary to its original intention, Coach Paterno's statue has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing in our University and beyond. For that reason, I have decided that it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue and store it in a secure location."

I selected a few photos that perfectly capture the dismantling of the statuary and the shameful end of the Paterno era.

The original statue as it was built.
(Photo: AP)

Workers erecting a temporary barricade.
(Photo: Craig Houtz / Reuters)

Going...
(Photo: Craig Houtz / Reuters)

Going...
(Photo: Craig Houtz / Reuters)

Gone.
(Photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)

Turn of Phrase - Louis Freeh's Report and the Paterno Family Statement

Louis Freeh

"In order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at the university -- Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley -- repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky's child abuse."

- From Louis Freeh's damning investigative report on Penn State's handling of Jerry Sandusky sex abuse allegations as far back as 1998.

Freeh's investigation was extremely comprehensive. In their search for the truth, Freeh and his team interviewed more than 400 witnesses and reviewed 3 million documents. 

Upon the release of Freeh's 267-page report, the family of Joe Paterno released a statement of their own. The following text is a portion of that statement.

"It can be argued that Joe Paterno should have gone further. He should have pushed his superiors to see that they were doing their jobs. We accept this criticism. 

At the same time, Joe Paterno and everyone else knew that Sandusky had been repeatedly investigated by authorities who approved his multiple adoptions and foster children. Joe Paterno mistakenly believed that investigators, law enforcement officials, University leaders and others would properly and fully investigate any issue and proceed as the facts dictated.

This didn't happen and everyone shares the responsibility."

Mike McQueary's Future at Penn State

Mike McQueary (red hair) alongside Joe Paterno.

Citing threats against Mike McQueary, Penn State has wisely announced that the team's wide receiver coach will not be on the sidelines for the Nittany Lions home game on Saturday against Nebraska. I agree with this decision, and I believe it is in the best interests of everyone involved that McQueary not be a visible presence in the Penn State football program for the rest of 2011.

Part of me can't help but feel sorry for McQueary who seems to be increasingly swirling alone at the center of the Penn State sex abuse scandal. His life has been utterly derailed, and it's likely that his conscience was forever scarred from the moment he left that shower room, all because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or more correctly, all because of what he didn't do when he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As far as what happens next, I'm torn. Mike McQueary did not sexually abuse kids; he witnessed the molestation of a young boy by a 58 year-old man. Mike McQueary didn't commit the horrific act, nor did he even choose the circumstances of its discovery. In the face of an unimaginably hellish moment, Mike McQueary didn't do the right thing, but he did do something. Still, I can't get past the fact that he was there. And he didn't stop it.

In his Slate magazine article about McQueary, Josh Levin has perhaps best captured the feelings of so many of us. "In the end, it's possible to comprehend Mike McQueary's actions, but it is impossible to rationalize them."

McQueary's long-term future at Penn State has not yet been announced, and there are reasonable arguments to be made in favor of not punishing the original whistleblower, beyond the likely internal anguish and awful public rebuke he is suffering now. Though he had the opportunity to unlock an escape hatch out of this nightmare, a luxury that was certainly not afforded to the boys who were so brutally molested, Mike McQueary is in some way a secondary victim of the awful crimes committed by Jerry Sandusky. Whatever is decided by the university or by McQueary himself, the road ahead will no doubt be long and difficult for him.

Ashton Kutcher Is Not Your Best News Source

I was already pretty certain that Ashton Kutcher's Twitter feed was not likely the best source for news and information, but now I know for sure.

It turns out that Ashton is not only not fair or balanced, he is also potentially not informed.


In a slightly less intense sidebar to the Penn State sexual abuse news story, Ashton Kutcher has now apologized for a knee-jerk tweet he published to his Twitter account. After glimpsing a headline about Joe Paterno's firing last night, Kusher, who mistakenly believed Paterno had been terminated for poor football results, tweeted a vehement defense of the coach's college football record. Upon getting the full story of the abuse scandal a short time later, Kusher retracted his position and deleted the tweet. He has subsequently announced, much to the dismay of his 8 million Twitter followers, that they will no longer receive tweets directly from him, as Kutcher's management company will now review and edit his tweets as needed before they are published (they will monitor the horse's mouth to ensure he doesn't look like a horse's ass again).

One quick additional editorial note - while Twitter, Facebook, and blogs like this one continue to play an increasingly large role in dispensing news and information to the masses, there are very few safeguards to ensure factual accuracy, much less legal or ethical correctness. When I write for The Way Things Turn, much of what I express is my editorial opinion, but I still make it a point to include links to bonafide news sources (Reuters, New York Times, SF Chronicle and so on). Even this silly post has two links.

An Open Letter to Rioting Penn State Students

Dear Thousands of Angry Penn State Students,

I heard eight disadvantaged elementary and middle school boys were raped by one of your assistant coaches. No wonder you're so angry. I would be pissed off too. The idea of an adult man using his position of authority to take advantage of these incredibly vulnerable nine and ten year old boys sickens me. I cannot imagine how awful and horrifying it must have been for these young boys, as this grown man who they believe cares about them, sneaks into their beds at night and whispers in their ears as he fondles their genitals, or worse, sodomizes them in the shower. I think that would fuck any kid up pretty bad.

It must make you completely livid when you consider that, for many of these kids this never had to happen. I mean so many people at the university knew what happened to that one boy in the shower. If only Mike McQueary or JoePa or one of those damned administrative suits had been thinking about the kids, instead of their precious university. Did they even try to see if that one kid was okay? Did they consider that there were very likely other boys in danger? Did they think Sandusky would just stop? Or did they know other ten year-old boys were probably getting fucked by a grown man - but think it was okay as long as it wasn't in their showers? Goddammit, I am getting teary-eyed and filling with rage just thinking about it.

I know it must be tough for you, since you're so close to the situation. You must feel helpless, knowing that this could have been stopped years earlier but wasn't. You must be enraged at those who let these defenseless children down. As I think about those boys who were raped, and I imagine all the years of confusion and anxiety and fear they must have endured after being raped, the nightmares and dysfunction they probably still have today, I understand your rage. I understand why you had to show the world how fiery and passionate you are about the situation. I know why you had to break a few windows, light some shit on fire, and turn over a car or two. It's all about those boys, about the god-awful things that Jerry Sandusky did to them, it's about their pain. I get it.

I know that you hurt more deeply and poignantly than others can ever understand. I know things seem grim and hopeless and tragic. Don't worry though, it gets better. The one comfort I can offer you is that as you get older, you'll gain perspective and you'll be relieved to find out there's more to life than the narrow sliver you see now. You'll start to see into the lives of other people, folks who have it really bad, like those boys who were raped, and you'll learn to be grateful for what you have, no matter how inadequate or unsatisying it sometimes feels. You'll be relieved when you finally realize the world doesn't revolve around you, and that those things that matter so much now, things like college football, pale in comparison to what really matters in life, like caring for the safety and well-being of children.

Take care of yourselves and keep fighting the good fight.

JoePa Is Fired By Penn State

Graham Spanier, President of Penn State, and coach Joe Paterno

Earlier on Wednesday I made the case for why Joe Paterno could not continue in his role at Penn State, despite his expressed intent to retire at the end of this year.

While thousands of Penn State students are angered and clearly don't agree with me, the Board of Trustees apparently did. The 84 year-old coach, along with university president Graham Spanier, have both been terminated by the Board. The firings are a result of Paterno and Spanier failing to notify the police after they received reports of a Penn State football coach sexually abusing a child in 2002.

It's unclear exactly what Paterno's legacy will be now in college sports. With just over 400 victories, he is still the winningest coach ever in college football, but the record books will have not only an asterisk but also a giant shameful smudge next to his name.

Why Penn State's JoePa Must Go Now

The Penn State University board of trustees faces a challenging, though not impossible, conundrum. What do they do with JoePa?

The two administrators to whom Joe Paterno reported a sexual abuse incident in 2002 have been formally charged with crimes (perjury and obstruction of justice) because they failed to notify authorities. Paterno, meanwhile, has been officially charged with nothing. This leaves the university to determine exactly what moral culpability and punishment should befall the legendary football coach.