Penn State: They Got What They Deserved (and less)

I never liked Joe Paterno.  I always thought he was hanging on too long, and padding his statistics while becoming a caricature of himself.  To those Penn State fans who thought he was some kind of demi-God, you are sick, and should be ashamed of yourself.  They should take that Joe Paterno statue, and blow it up, Taliban-style.

If you haven't read the Freeh Report on this, it is scathing in its treatment of Penn State's "leadership" (if you can call them that) and Joe Paterno.

The report is forthright, stating, "The most saddening finding by the Special Investigative Counsel is the total and consistent disregard by the most senior leaders at Penn State for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims."  The report further identifies four "leaders" at Penn State who failed to provide this protection - for over a decade! They were President Graham Spanier, Senior VP-Finance and Business Gary Schultz, and Athletic Director Tim Curley and Joe Paterno.  Furthermore, the school's board of trustees failed in their oversight role. 



A great article on the hubris of Joe Paterno, written before the sanctions were handed down, came from  Washington Post sportswriter Sally Jenkins (she's also the daughter of legendary sportswriter, Dan Jenkins).  In his final interview, just before his death (with Jenkins), Paterno insisted he had no knowledge of the 1998 allegations that were originally brought to the police.  That was a lie.

Jenkins spared Paterno no punches.  He was a "cover-up artist," a man who's final years were a "work of fiction" and a "hubristic, indictable hypocrite."  And that's just the first paragraph.

On Monday, the NCAA handed down some pretty tough penalties to Penn State, and posthumously, to Joe Paterno.  The school was forced to vacate all the victories from 1998-2012, leaving Joe Paterno nowhere near the winningest coach in NCAA D1 history, they were forced to vacate several bowl victories, and required to pay $60M to various local child-protection charities.  They lost over 20 scholarships, all their current scholarship players are released from their commitments, and they have 5 years of bowl probation.

It couldn't happen to a bigger bunch of babies, so, I hope it takes them as long as SMU to recover from this.  Somehow, all those idiots watching football in "Happy" Valley will, I think, rally around what's left of the football program, and, in 2019, they'll likely be back on the winning streak.

Here's hoping not.

Sucks to be Obama (according to latest USAToday/Gallup Poll)

USA Today has the details from their latest poll with Gallup, and, it really, really, is bad for Obambi.

Let's look at some of the numbers:

• "By more than 2-1, 63%-29%, those surveyed say Romney's background in business, including his tenure at the private equity firm Bain Capital, would cause him to make good decisions, not bad ones, in dealing with the nation's economic problems over the next four years."
• As USA Today points out, the Obamba campaign has been unrelentless the last few weeks trying to smear Romney as some kind of vulture capitalist, and the net result has been Romney continues to crush Obama on this one.  Maybe the American people realize that even if Romney is a crazed outsourcer, what we need is someone who will stare our problems in the face, and take whatever action is necessary to correct them.  Not someone who will back down to please every special interest group with a pocket of votes.  If that's the case, I applaud America, and welcome more of these attacks from the Obamamaniacs.
• "A record number of Americans express skepticism about the activist role of government Obama espouses; 61% say the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. That's the highest number since Gallup began asking the question in 1992."
• First, I have to admit I am gladdened that USA Today characterizes Obama as an activist.  We all know that's code for "socialist" and that's code for "racist."  Welcome, USA Today, to the club of racists.  About time you fessed up.
• Second, I am also heartened that Americans feel this way.  Are they ready to give up some of the government largesse?  Hope so, and I hope Romney is seriously willing to make us.
• "The Democratic attacks on Romney seem to have had little effect on voters' assessments of him. In February, 53% said the former Massachusetts governor had the personality and leadership qualities a president should have; now 54% do. Then, 42% said they agreed with Romney on the issues that mattered most to them; now 45% do."  (That number is 47% for Obama)
• Without really introducing himself beyond the GOP primary voters, Romney has managed to improve this some.  I would say at this point, that 45% begins to represent a floor for Romney in the popular vote.   
• Since the campaign has really not begun, this is good news for Romney.  I think getting over the last 7-10 per cent it will take to drive a stake through Obama's heart is much easier now.
• What hurts the Obama campaign is that 47% number.   Everyone knows where Obama stands, and that number is not going up.  Now, Obama can win the electoral college with 47% of the popular vote, so it depends on where it falls by state.  Romney shouldn't look at this as a victory, but, if that number drops much lower, Obama is done.
• "57% say Obama has the personality and leadership qualities a president should have; 54% say that of Romney."
• This number has to be too close for the Obama camp.  Like other numbers here, that 57% is not going up, and Obama is not helping it go up with statements like "You didn't build that." and "The Internet was created so all the businesses could make money off it."

 I don't blame Obama advisers for saying things like "Mitt Romney has claimed for the past year that he knows how to create jobs because he did it as a corporate buyout specialist," because what else are they going to say?

They have a very bad hand, an awful mess of an economy that they created, and a feckless President who knows nothing except how to campaign.  They're in a world of hurt.