[Husker] Paterno's situation was handled correctly, very late,

[Don Rietsch]

If I were a coach just hired by PSU, I would want to see the wives of the
departing coaches before I made the decision whether to bring my own wife or
keep one of theirs...

(Note: I'm just kidding, Pam)

Don Rietsch

-----Original Message-----
From: husker-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:husker-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of
Mark Landin
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2011 5:36 PM
To: Steve Reichenbach
Cc: shubs at sbcglobal.net; husker at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [Husker] Paterno's situation was handled correctly, very late,

On Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 3:51 PM, Steve Reichenbach <reich at inetnebr.com>
wrote:
> Actually, he didn't say that all of the coaches should be fired --- he
> said that he believed every coach and their spouses knew of these rumors
> and allegations.

Well, to be accurate, David said he was "sure" and I am curious as to
the source of this being "sure", and what the consequences of being
sure are.

If Paterno is culpable (apparently he is ... he lost his job and his
otherwise sterling legacy over it), so are a lot of other people, like
the coaches and their spouses, who some (not just David) are sure knew
what was going on. If Paterno's wife knew (which is being claimed by
some), then why did she not have the same moral obligation to notify
someone in the police department? If she did, what is her punishment
for not doing so? If the athletic trainer heard those rumors, why is
he/she not equally culpable? That's why I asked "when does it end"?
You just can't go around firing or otherwise sanctioning all these
people, can you? If not, where do you draw the line, and how do you
know that's an equitable and just place to draw it?

Or is Paterno just a lightning rod for our well-founded outrage and
disgust at Sandusky's actions, and our feeling of helplessness when
it's shown how long it's been going on and how many opportunities
there were to stop it? Believe me, I wish *I* had known and could have
done something about it. There's probably similar things going on
around me in my community somewhere right now, and I wish there was
someway I could stop it. It's a natural desire to want justice for
these victims, and to want it now, not years from now. I get that .. I
feel it too.

My biggest problem with the reactions we are having to this situation
is to how many conclusions people are jumping (i.e., exactly what
happened and when, who knew about it, what they did or didn't do about
it, what they should have done or not done, what is or is not being
done about it now, etc). But I am NOT "sure" about anything regarding
this case ... certainly not sure enough that I'm willing to cast a
wide net of blame and punishment that may ensnare people who really
don't deserve any such thing. In our desire to get justice for the
victims, is it OK if there's a little collateral damage to innocent
bystanders? (And I don't know who those people might be, either).

The court of public opinion is a fickle and arbitrary one, the
standard of evidence is extremely low, and there's no little regard
for precedent or due process.
-- 
"He's old enough to know what's right and young enough not to choose
it. He's strong enough to win the world and weak enough to lose it." -
Neal Peart

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