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Should Joe Paterno stay or go?

Should Joe Paterno stay or go?

  • He should stay, he wasn't involved.

    Votes: 3 5.8%
  • He should stay, he did what his part by reporting it to somebody.

    Votes: 8 15.4%
  • He should go, he didn't do enough.

    Votes: 36 69.2%
  • He should go, he's ultimately responsible no matter what.

    Votes: 4 7.7%
  • I have no clue. Fill me in.

    Votes: 1 1.9%

  • Total voters
    52
He should go.

You cannot look the other way when there are children involved.
 
If he really knew what was going on and didn't do anything about it, he should not only be fired, but be prosecuted as an accessory.
 
Hit the road Joe. You can argue legally he did what he was supposed too, but he had a moral obligation to go directly to the Police and report this.

Failure to act to protect a child (or any future children) in such a situation is unforgivable. I don't care one bit about how he is feeling right now. My thoughts are with the kids who were the victims of that POS and their families.
 
He should go, and so should his boss, to whom he reported the allegations. When nothing was done, however, he should have gone directly to the authorities. These are children, we're talking about... and a direct eye witness who reported seeing a 10-year-old being raped. It's a disgrace that such abuse was covered-up by the university. Lots of heads should roll here, not just Paterno's.
 
He should be fired but not charged with anything. He didn't commit the crimes. Now if he didn't report it to the Athletic Director yeah throw em' in the slammers but he did.
 
Probably.

Sure as hell, even if he wasn't aware of this crap, he should have been...

And if he was aware, then he failed, since no one did anything about it.



The same applies to any and perhaps all of the Penn State staff who knew or should have known about this, however, not just J Paterno.
 
Probably.

Sure as hell, even if he wasn't aware of this crap, he should have been...

And if he was aware, then he failed, since no one did anything about it.



The same applies to any and perhaps all of the Penn State staff who knew or should have known about this, however, not just J Paterno.

Grand Jury info: http://media.philly.com/documents/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf (WARNING: EXPLICIT)

DON'T read it if you have a weak stomach. It's awful. I hesitate to even pass it around, but it's part of the public record, now. Paterno knew, at least to some extent. He reported it, but not to the police. A bunch of people turned a blind eye. What is wrong with people? If you see something wrong - stop it from happening!
 
whether he is fired or not might be moot....multiple news services saying that he will retire at the end of the season.....
 
he should stay. he went to his boss who went to the authorities who did nothing. If anyone should go or be fired, it is the prosecutor who failed to bring charges. What was Joe supposed to do? take the guy out back and shoot him once the authorities failed to prosecute?
 
he should stay. he went to his boss who went to the authorities who did nothing. If anyone should go or be fired, it is the prosecutor who failed to bring charges. What was Joe supposed to do? take the guy out back and shoot him once the authorities failed to prosecute?

So, your organization works with young men. One of them is raping boys and you find out. But, you tell your boss, so your conscience is clean and you have no further responsibility? I mean, what more could you do than tell your boss?

I think you're bowing down too far to the god of football.

Hank Williams Jr. had his ties cut for saying that Democrats and Republicans playing golf together was like Israelis and Nazis doing the same. I don't think that holds a can to turning a blind eye to molestation and rape.
 
So, your organization works with young men. One of them is raping boys and you find out. But, you tell your boss, so your conscience is clean and you have no further responsibility? I mean, what more could you do than tell your boss?

I think you're bowing down too far to the god of football..

I could give ****all about football. what would you have had Joe do? take the law into his own hands and kill the guy?

I love how all you guys are squealing "he should have done more" and yet none of you have a freakin clue what that "more" should have been
 
I could give ****all about football. what would you have had Joe do? take the law into his own hands and kill the guy?

I love how all you guys are squealing "he should have done more" and yet none of you have a freakin clue what that "more" should have been

How about inform the police you had information of a possible crime?

He should be gone, today. Not tomorrow, not at season end. His actions(along with others), allowed some one to continue to prey on children.
 
he should be fired today.
 
How about inform the police you had information of a possible crime?

He should be gone, today. Not tomorrow, not at season end. His actions(along with others), allowed some one to continue to prey on children.

the police were informed...they did nothing :shrug:

I guess if you follow the proper channels and someone above you drops the ball, you are morally obligated to form a lynch mob and take care of it yourself
 
Last edited:
the police were informed...they did nothing :shrug:


Wrong. An AG was informed(eventually) and what the nature of those conversations was is unknown.

I guess if you follow the proper channels and someone above you drops the ball, you are morally obligated to form a lynch mob and take care of it yourself

Proper channels when a crime happens is to inform the police.
 
Wrong. An AG was informed(eventually) and what the nature of those conversations was is unknown.



Proper channels when a crime happens is to inform the police.

so then I guess Paterno's boss should be fired, the AG should be fired, everyone involved should be fired.

Paterno is a scapegoat in this case. plenty of blame to go around, but everyone is crying for his blood.
 
so then I guess Paterno's boss should be fired, the AG should be fired, everyone involved should be fired.

Paterno is a scapegoat in this case. plenty of blame to go around, but everyone is crying for his blood.

Yes, they should all be fired. Paterno is no more to blame than the rest, and less than some.
 
The details need to come out. The public knows very little at this point about the true details. I believe that even on a hearsay story he should have reported to the Police. It is more important to protect a child or children than the name of the university. He should step down not because of guilt but because he failed to act in the best interests of a child. Telling the AD is far different than calling the Police which I believe he should have done.
 
The details need to come out. The public knows very little at this point about the true details. I believe that even on a hearsay story he should have reported to the Police. It is more important to protect a child or children than the name of the university. He should step down not because of guilt but because he failed to act in the best interests of a child. Telling the AD is far different than calling the Police which I believe he should have done.

yeah. I once had the cops surround my house because some nosey nellie nextdoor with "good intentions" thought she was protecting the best interests of a child after she heard my kids running through the house squealing while they chased each other.
 
so then I guess Paterno's boss should be fired, the AG should be fired, everyone involved should be fired.

Paterno is a scapegoat in this case. plenty of blame to go around, but everyone is crying for his blood.

Yes. At minimum, they knew about (or had reason to seriously suspect) a serious crime and did not report it to police. If it's proved any of them covered up the crime, they should be prosecuted.
 
yeah. I once had the cops surround my house because some nosey nellie nextdoor with "good intentions" thought she was protecting the best interests of a child after she heard my kids running through the house squealing while they chased each other.

1.) Not the same thing as a graduate student coming forward to say he witnessed a rape of a child.
2.) The nosey nellie nextdoor may be a nincompoop (more alliteration), but if she thought something criminal was happening, she should call the police (or go knock on the door, or get to know her neighbors better). The police should respond and use good judgement in evaluating the situation. That's the way it's supposed to work. If the police used bad judgement, I'd condemn them, too. Calling the police when you think something's wrong is not using bad judgement - it's necessary.
 
1.) Not the same thing as a graduate student coming forward to say he witnessed a rape of a child.

since we are all ready to lynch Paterno for not going to the cops.... why didn't this grad student go to the cops? why isn't anyone crying for their head on a platter? why isn't anyone squealing "he should've done more"?

grad student = witness

Paterno and everyone above him = acting on hearsay

so who is really at fault here?
 
since we are all ready to lynch Paterno for not going to the cops.... why didn't this grad student go to the cops? why isn't anyone crying for their head on a platter? why isn't anyone squealing "he should've done more"?

grad student = witness

Paterno and everyone above him = acting on hearsay

so who is really at fault here?

Yes, the grad student and his parents should have gone to the cops. If you want to fire the grad student, that would be fine, too. The difference is the grad student had nothing to gain by covering it up. And, I'm less likely to hold a student accountable than a man of supposed position and responsibility. The janitor should have reported it. Paterno should have reported it. Campus security should have reported it. Some of them had the ability to stop it. Some only had the ability to tell the cops. Some had something to gain from a cover-up. All have various degrees of culpability. But, not all have positions of authority over a lot of other young men.
 
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