Paterno had plenty of power to influence anything he wished to at Penn State. And he has a mouth.
I have not singled Paterno out. There are many individuals and entities that failed the kids. I reiterated that position severaltimes on FR. Also spelled out in detail who I included as participating—one way or another—in Sandusky’s depravity.
Your Spanier commnents are correct. He was also involved with some kind of gay mischief at Nebraska. I had an opportunity to observe him a couple of years ago when my wife and I attended or 45th PSU reunion. Try as he might, he could not restrain an effeminate tendency. I knew a married pastor once who, on meeting him the first time, instantly disliked him. He pastored the church for at least 20 years. He had an air about him that he knew something you didn’t. Turned out he was gay. Divorced his wife and went off to live with a male partner. My mother-in-law, God bless her, attempted to contact him a couple of times. She never even got the courtesy of a response.
That man’s whole life was a lie. I put Spanier squarely in that league.
While you may not have singled Paterno out, plenty of journalists have.
Paterno’s name drives clicks and traffic, while talking the background of the school President, why he was hired and how he was a much bigger player in a culture at Penn State that tolerated Sandusky’s actions has been comparatively ignored.
Unlike others, I am inclined to give Paterno the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.
I think he was trapped in a perv dominated culture at Penn State that was perpetuated by the Board of Regents and others in Spanier’s regime.
It’s also tough to speak out about these things... want an example?
David Tyree, SuperBowl hero in New York was vilified for speaking out for traditional marriage.... while a misogynistic piece of trash Sean Avery was exulted for promoting the fantasy of ‘marriage equality.’