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Originally Posted by tryingtogetmore:

its interesting to me that the board of trustrees said paterno should have had more class in this situation then they send him a letter and say call this number so we can fire you after 61 years of service paterno should have gone to the police back in 2002 and the board of trustrees should have shown more class when they fired him

I have a lot to say on this thread and on this matter.  I had planned on posting earlier, but ended up getting tied down with a few other things, and what I had originally wanted to post changed considerably based on the way things have changed in the last 5-6 hours (i.e., Paterno getting fired). 

I don't have any delusions of self grandeur, and I realize my opinions are no more important than anyone else's, but there are alot of posts in this thread that I find in poor taste, and for lack of a better word, infuriating, and I'm going to respond to them in additional posts.  In this post, I'm just going to lay out some of my thoughts though.

The first thing I will say is the most important thing to think about in this situation is the kids who were abused and their families.  Terrible, unthinkable crimes were committed, and as a father, having a child of my own, I cannot even begin to comprehend how I would react if my child had been abused in this way.  But, to snap the extreme anger of many posters in this thread back to reality, (I'm making an assumption here, if I am wrong, I apologize) noone who has posted in this thread, or their family has been harmed by what took place here.  Alot of posters have tried to use the argument "what if this was your kid" to support the rage they feel towards Paterno, and quite frankly, since it wasn't your kid, you are not even remotely entitled to feel that rage.  If anything, personally, I tend to look down upon someone who attempts to capitalize on the pain that a true victim in a situation such as this feels, and project it in a hypothetic scenario to try to strengthen support behind their opinion.  I find that pathetic.

There is no arguing that many mistakes were made.  The most egregious of which were the acts themselves.  The man who committed them has been arrested, will be tried, and hopefully will be condemned.  And I hope he has a brief, but extremely painful existence in incarceration.  And by "brief and extremely painful" I assume you catch my drift. 

I just still have a very hard time understanding the extent of the anger and venom directed towards Paterno here.  Did he make a mistake...Yes.  Should he have been more proactive, and reported the situation to the police...Yes.  Was he the one who abused those kids...No.  Was he the only one responsible for what took place, the only one who could have stopped it...No.  Did he truly know the extent of what took place that day, truly know that this had continued for years and years...I don't know.  If somone has evidence to prove that, that is what I am missing here. 

Without that, what I see here is a man who made a poor choice 10 years ago to not more actively substantiate, and bring what at the moment could have been potentially considered to be heresay  to the police.  Do I think he should have...Yes.  Does Joe Paterno think he should have...Yes.  Is he the one who should be blamed for what took place over all of those years....This is really where I am struggling.

I believe he made a mistake, but alot of people in this situation made mistakes.  The rumors related to this had existed for years.  Students knew.  Administration knew.  Police knew.  The wife and family had to have known. The Board of Trustees knew.  The list goes on and on.

When Paterno made his statement earlier today, and offered to retire at the end of the season, that should have been enough.  The man's legacy was already tarnished, but that at least allowed him to maintain some shred of dignity, some sort of gesture for the 60 some years he had spent at Penn State.  He poured his heart and soul into that school, and for all intents and purposes, was Penn State.  But that was not enough.  All that he had done for the school was just forgotten in an instant, in an extreme act of cowardness by the board of trustees as they caved to media driven pressures. 

To try to bring my long rambling post to a close, Joe Paterno made a mistake by not bringing the initial allegations to the police 10 years ago.  Do I believe it should just be swept under the rug....No.  Do I believe the media, and subsequent mob mentality has directed too much of the blame towards Paterno in this situation....Yes.  Did I consider Paterno a victim when he held a press conference saying he would retire at the end of the season....No, I felt that was the appropriate response.  Do I now consider Paterno a victim in this situation...Yes. The fact that public perception can drive a response like this is despicable and embarassing to this country. 

The first thing I will say is the most important thing to think about in this situation is the kids who were abused and their families.  Terrible, unthinkable crimes were committed, and as a father, having a child of my own, I cannot even begin to comprehend how I would react if my child had been abused in this way.  But, to snap the extreme anger of many posters in this thread back to reality, (I'm making an assumption here, if I am wrong, I apologize) noone who has posted in this thread, or their family has been harmed by what took place here.  Alot of posters have tried to use the argument "what if this was your kid" to support the rage they feel towards Paterno, and quite frankly, since it wasn't your kid, you are not even remotely entitled to feel that rage. 

To try to bring my long rambling post to a close, Joe Paterno made a mistake by not bringing the initial allegations to the police 10 years ago.  Do I believe it should just be swept under the rug....No.  Do I believe the media, and subsequent mob mentality has directed too much of the blame towards Paterno in this situation....Yes.  Did I consider Paterno a victim when he held a press conference saying he would retire at the end of the season....No, I felt that was the appropriate response.  Do I now consider Paterno a victim in this situation...Yes. The fact that public perception can drive a response like this is despicable and embarassing to this country. 

Originally Posted by depeche2:

By the way, did anyone else realize that Penn State was a Catholic university?

I think that would be funny if it weren't so sad and disgusting.

This is incorrect. The University of Pensylvania, aka Penn State, is a land grant university chartered by the commonweatlth in 1855.

You are one of the biggest idiots in the politics forum,it was only a matter of time till it spilled over to the other forums. Congratulations on your achievement.

That means a lot coming from the dumbass that claimed learning someone under your own roof is sexually abusing little boys and doing next to nothing about it is comparable to placing a bet on a football game.  

Getting owned by someone you deem to be a dumbass,what does that make you?