Wait, Did Joe Paterno Get Raped At Penn State?
So, apparently several people in authority took the “PEN” in Penn State just a little bit too seriously. You know, as in penitentiary? Not that I’ve spent any time in one. But I assume that’s probably the only place where turning a blind eye to rape is expected. For the life of me, I don’t understand how a witnessed act of sexual molestation can be swept up under a rug for one day, much less almost an entire decade. I’m sorry, but there’s a big difference to “horse play”, and the ass-raping of a 10-year-old boy, by a 60-year-old man.
This isn’t something you see everyday, so acceptance as normal behavior is beyond the pale.Sure people witnesscrimes everyday; and yes, the culture of not snitching exists. However, in spite of just how morally bankrupt our collective society may be. I’d like to think that even the most depraved in good conscience may have trouble sleeping at night knowing that nothing was done in the interest of protecting a child from sexual molestation.
So why are people mourning Joe Paterno? I know he’s a legendary coach and representative of all things associated with Nittany Lions football. I’m also aware of his successes and failures as a football coach. However, did he get raped? I’m only asking because one would think he’s a victim the way many reacting to his dismissal. For some, it’s as though Paterno is simply a sacrificial lamb offered up for political expediency. But really, what else should the board of trustees have done?
Again: did he get raped?
Does he wake up tomorrow with the anvil of guilt much like the many victims of his defense coordinator, Jerry Sandusky? Does he live a significant portion of his life with the feelings of hopelessness? Does he carry the feelings of inadequacy that accompanies the victims of childhood sexual abuse? Will he carry the unwanted shame of one time being a boy and having a grown man’s penis and ejaculation in his mouth? Will he have the life long confusion once these events get played out in his head over and over again? As a victim of said abuse, allow me to tell you: no he would not. Sadly as I watch the collective and individual reactions to this, I’m angered all over again.
Listen, by all accounts Paterno is a good man. We know he was a helluva football coach. We know he may have been the last of the “goog guys” in a sport where he established a standard for discipline, and simply doing the right thing. Rare characteristics of today’s coaches indeed; he was truly the last of the old school. However, as deserved as is his accolades, is his dismissal from the job he loved. If you don’t agree with me, or the decision of Penn State’s board of trustees. Do me a favor and give thought to the victims. After doing that, give some thought to the any number of little boys who were molested after that graduate student assistant saw what he saw in that locker room shower. There’s no telling how many of them there might have been. But I do know that if something was done other than taking away Sandusky’s locker room key was done — as in prosecuting him — that number would have been zero. No, Paterno wasn’t raped, but not acting as he should was a lot worse than missing a tackle in my opinion. He called the wrong play, and thus, he lost the game.
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