On Penn State and The Media
November 10, 2011 by E1st
Make believe that I repeat this after every paragraph: if the allegations against Jerry Sandusky are true, he is a criminal and should go to jail. If the allegations against the AD, Tim Curley and the whatever he was, Gary Schultz, are accurate, then they too are criminals and should probably go to jail. If Mike McQueary witnessed Sandusky sodomizing a boy and didn’t go to the police, then he too should be in jail – it doesn’t matter if he reported it to Joe Paterno. Paterno? Let’s take a second’s pause.
As far as I can come up with, there are two culturally untouchable topics in American society. Two wrongs that are so toxic in our culture that the mere implication is ruinous. One is racism. The other is child abuse, particularly child sexual abuse. In these cases, no one is allowed to stand up for the accused, without himself being called a racist or an enabler/pervert/whatever. All involved are immediately condemned, no questions asked, no explanation accepted.
The alleged (and let’s face it, likely true) crimes were committed over the past decade. The alleged incident witnessed by McQueary and reported to Paterno took place 9 years ago. The allegations were revisited this spring. The news broke three days ago…and the mob has enacted a swift justice. Once the media catches wind of something, due process be damned, NOW is the time to prosecute the judgments against all involved. Commentators were tripping over themselves trying to ascend to the pulpit in condemnation of all involved. No one stopped to look at facts, no one waited until people had a chance to explain their side of the story, and 60 years of Joe Paterno’s otherwise sterling reputation was thrown away haphazardly in 3 days. Why such a rush to judgment?
While they might claim otherwise, the media’s assault did not save any victims – the process had already taken care of that (albeit about 12 years too late) before they jumped on board. The media serves the appetites of the American people – we love to be outraged. It’s our national past time. Look at politics, looks at sports, look at abortion, gay marriage, gun rights, whatever. We love being outraged. We invent things to be outraged about if we can find nothing else. And when we’re outraged we beat up Muslims and bomb the hell out of third world countries. We circumvent our constitution and basic civil rights. And, this week, we hold a trial in the court of public opinion instead of in a court of law.
Now, I’m not saying Joe Paterno isn’t wrong (how could I, I don’t know either!). A lot of people are wrong here. The prosecutor was wrong for not pressing charges against Sandusky for an unrelated incident in the late 90s. McQueary, who witnessed the act, was wrong to go to a football coach instead of a police officer – I’m very confused as to why he’s not being publicly crucified too, makes me wonder if maybe I don’t know that whole story with him either. That’s what little we know. One thing we don’t know is what McQueary told Paterno.
Consider these completely hypothetical scenarios:
Scenario 1
McC: Coach…I think I just I saw Sandusky being physical with one of the kids from the youth program in the locker room.
JoePa: That’s disturbing Mike. I’ll go to the AD right away and they’ll investigate. I remember some chatter of this before, we should take this up the ladder, I think the school knows what happened with this last time. I’ve known Jerry for 40 years though, I just…it’s just unbelievable – but I’ll pass it along.
Scenario 2
McC: Coach, I’m freaking out. I just saw Sandusky having sex with a boy in the shower.
JoePa: Are you sure?
McC: Positive.
JoePa: Listen, this will ruin everything we’ve built here. If you ever want to work in this industry again, you better shut your mouth or I will ruin you. I’ll pass it on to Curley, let him take care of it and you keep your mouth shut.
Do you see how those scenarios are very different? Which one happened?
We don’t know.
One is an oversight, a miscommunication, an unfortunate but ALMOST understandable travesty. The other is a despicable crime committed by a selfish, power-drunk tyrant. The truth could literally be anywhere in between. That’s why we have courts, lawyers, juries, and judges – to winnow through the stories and come out with something resembling the truth. The media and the mob are not very good at this.
Remember when we played Pile on Richard Jewell? He was an oafish security guard who spotted a pipe bomb at the Atlanta Olympics and saved many lives. The media, using untruths and assumptions, decided that he was really the bomber and dragged his name through the dirt for days. But…he wasn’t.
These situations are why the court of public opinion should not have the sort of power over people that it does. How many times does the media have to be right about something to make up for the time that it’s wrong? This is why I cannot support the death penalty – if Texas executes 100 guilty men and 1 innocent man, then the blood of the one outweighs justice on the others. This case smoldered and festered for a decade. It broke 3 days ago, and now Paterno is flushed without being given the dignity of even defending himself. Couldn’t they have waited a week to get the facts together? Hadn’t he earned the right to a fair trial, or at least an opportunity to share his side of the story?
People will jump at any opportunity to feel superior to other people. They will search for any excuse to tear down a hero. Maybe they were justified this time, but frankly, the mob, in all of its manifestations, terrifies me. When mobs make mistakes, they cannot be unmade. I don’t know what will come of this investigation, I just know that witch trials are not a good thing, even if they occasionally burn real witches.
Addendum
Since I wondered about Mike McQueary’s free pass, extra details have come out. So, how does it change things for McQueary if he did, in fact, go to police? This is why you need to wait until details come out – now, if this is true, you have to wonder why the police didn’t do anything. Pressure from an almighty football program perhaps? Where’d the pressure come from? Paterno? Curley? The president? Did McQueary tell the police and Paterno, but sugar coat the description to the point that neither took it seriously? Questions remain.
On Penn State and The Media
November 10, 2011 by E1st
Make believe that I repeat this after every paragraph: if the allegations against Jerry Sandusky are true, he is a criminal and should go to jail. If the allegations against the AD, Tim Curley and the whatever he was, Gary Schultz, are accurate, then they too are criminals and should probably go to jail. If Mike McQueary witnessed Sandusky sodomizing a boy and didn’t go to the police, then he too should be in jail – it doesn’t matter if he reported it to Joe Paterno. Paterno? Let’s take a second’s pause.
As far as I can come up with, there are two culturally untouchable topics in American society. Two wrongs that are so toxic in our culture that the mere implication is ruinous. One is racism. The other is child abuse, particularly child sexual abuse. In these cases, no one is allowed to stand up for the accused, without himself being called a racist or an enabler/pervert/whatever. All involved are immediately condemned, no questions asked, no explanation accepted.
The alleged (and let’s face it, likely true) crimes were committed over the past decade. The alleged incident witnessed by McQueary and reported to Paterno took place 9 years ago. The allegations were revisited this spring. The news broke three days ago…and the mob has enacted a swift justice. Once the media catches wind of something, due process be damned, NOW is the time to prosecute the judgments against all involved. Commentators were tripping over themselves trying to ascend to the pulpit in condemnation of all involved. No one stopped to look at facts, no one waited until people had a chance to explain their side of the story, and 60 years of Joe Paterno’s otherwise sterling reputation was thrown away haphazardly in 3 days. Why such a rush to judgment?
While they might claim otherwise, the media’s assault did not save any victims – the process had already taken care of that (albeit about 12 years too late) before they jumped on board. The media serves the appetites of the American people – we love to be outraged. It’s our national past time. Look at politics, looks at sports, look at abortion, gay marriage, gun rights, whatever. We love being outraged. We invent things to be outraged about if we can find nothing else. And when we’re outraged we beat up Muslims and bomb the hell out of third world countries. We circumvent our constitution and basic civil rights. And, this week, we hold a trial in the court of public opinion instead of in a court of law.
Now, I’m not saying Joe Paterno isn’t wrong (how could I, I don’t know either!). A lot of people are wrong here. The prosecutor was wrong for not pressing charges against Sandusky for an unrelated incident in the late 90s. McQueary, who witnessed the act, was wrong to go to a football coach instead of a police officer – I’m very confused as to why he’s not being publicly crucified too, makes me wonder if maybe I don’t know that whole story with him either. That’s what little we know. One thing we don’t know is what McQueary told Paterno.
Consider these completely hypothetical scenarios:
Scenario 1
McC: Coach…I think I just I saw Sandusky being physical with one of the kids from the youth program in the locker room.
JoePa: That’s disturbing Mike. I’ll go to the AD right away and they’ll investigate. I remember some chatter of this before, we should take this up the ladder, I think the school knows what happened with this last time. I’ve known Jerry for 40 years though, I just…it’s just unbelievable – but I’ll pass it along.
Scenario 2
McC: Coach, I’m freaking out. I just saw Sandusky having sex with a boy in the shower.
JoePa: Are you sure?
McC: Positive.
JoePa: Listen, this will ruin everything we’ve built here. If you ever want to work in this industry again, you better shut your mouth or I will ruin you. I’ll pass it on to Curley, let him take care of it and you keep your mouth shut.
Do you see how those scenarios are very different? Which one happened?
We don’t know.
One is an oversight, a miscommunication, an unfortunate but ALMOST understandable travesty. The other is a despicable crime committed by a selfish, power-drunk tyrant. The truth could literally be anywhere in between. That’s why we have courts, lawyers, juries, and judges – to winnow through the stories and come out with something resembling the truth. The media and the mob are not very good at this.
Remember when we played Pile on Richard Jewell? He was an oafish security guard who spotted a pipe bomb at the Atlanta Olympics and saved many lives. The media, using untruths and assumptions, decided that he was really the bomber and dragged his name through the dirt for days. But…he wasn’t.
These situations are why the court of public opinion should not have the sort of power over people that it does. How many times does the media have to be right about something to make up for the time that it’s wrong? This is why I cannot support the death penalty – if Texas executes 100 guilty men and 1 innocent man, then the blood of the one outweighs justice on the others. This case smoldered and festered for a decade. It broke 3 days ago, and now Paterno is flushed without being given the dignity of even defending himself. Couldn’t they have waited a week to get the facts together? Hadn’t he earned the right to a fair trial, or at least an opportunity to share his side of the story?
People will jump at any opportunity to feel superior to other people. They will search for any excuse to tear down a hero. Maybe they were justified this time, but frankly, the mob, in all of its manifestations, terrifies me. When mobs make mistakes, they cannot be unmade. I don’t know what will come of this investigation, I just know that witch trials are not a good thing, even if they occasionally burn real witches.
Addendum
Since I wondered about Mike McQueary’s free pass, extra details have come out. So, how does it change things for McQueary if he did, in fact, go to police? This is why you need to wait until details come out – now, if this is true, you have to wonder why the police didn’t do anything. Pressure from an almighty football program perhaps? Where’d the pressure come from? Paterno? Curley? The president? Did McQueary tell the police and Paterno, but sugar coat the description to the point that neither took it seriously? Questions remain.
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