Fooled by an icon?

I live in Philadelphia, Pistolvania, so I know and work with a lot of Penn State alums. For the most part I find them to be smart decent people. For the most part. One aspect of PSU alums that has always kind of creeped me out is their undying devotion to all things JoPa. Some of them, it seemed, literally worshiped the ground the man walked on. To say he was an icon in these neck of the woods is an understatement.

Which is why the latest news out of Penn State is so shocking. If you had told me ten years ago that Joe Paterno would be implicated in a scandal to cover up child sexual abuse, and his statue would be coming down in Happy Valley, I would have called 911 and asked them to have you committed. Joe Paterno was Penn State, and he was, in the eyes of many, everything that was right about college football. It's like hearing that Vince Lombardi gave the Packers steroids before every game. 

This should be a lesson to all of us who devote our lives to worshiping others. We have to be careful, because no one is infallible and above the sins of the rest of us mortal men. Joe Paterno might have been a great football coach and motivator, but he was human and susceptible to human failings. From the looks of it he put the image of the program that he carefully and successfully built above the lives of innocent children, and that will forever be a stain on his legacy.  

His legacy will now be viewed in the context of a still evolving scandal, and there is no doubt that it has been tarnished forever. Now all the good he did will be overshadowed by a scandal that might mean the "death penalty" for the proud program that he built.

This morning his statue was covered and removed under armed security. The surreal image that goes along with this post is a stark reminder of just how uncertain life can be. Who could have imagined that it would end like this? I am sure that the folks who love and admire Paterno certainly could not. The rest of us who are a little more cynical are not quite as surprised. This is what we have come to expect in a society where things are never as they seem. "Normal" ("clean cut") All American kids can become mass murderers, and men who claim to be messengers of God can harbor evil iniquitous secrets. You just never know.

"Losing a game is heartbreaking. Losing your sense of excellence and worth is a tragedy"

Sorry Joe, but not heeding your own words was an even bigger one.


     

"For too long we have treated violence with violence, and that's why it never ends."*

"Field, you had a lot to say about Troy Davis. Why nothing about the white man who was put to death yesterday in Texas?"

Oh yes, Lawrence Brewer, the white supremacist who was tried and convicted of dragging James Byrd, Jr. to death. (Shout out to Dick Gregory for being in Huntsville, Texas and protesting the death of even this scumbag.)

He should not have been killed by the state of Texas. (Derrick Mason should not be put to death tonight in Alabama.) I do not believe in the death penalty.Period. (I like what Coretta Scott King said about the subject.*heading*)) Killing this scumbag will not bring James Byrd, Jr. back, he should have spent the rest of his miserable life in prison.

Unlike Troy Davis, he admitted to killing Byrd, and he was proud of it:

 "As far as any regrets, no, I have no regrets. No, I'd do it all over again, to tell you the truth."

Sorry there big guy,you won't be doing much of anything ever again. But still, I did not want you to die at the hands of the state. As far as I am concerned, being raped over and over by Tyrone and Bubba would have been punishment enough for you.

Anyway, I was thinking about who actually puts the needle in Troy Davis, and Lawrence Brewer, or who is on the firing squad in Utah. Or, who is the hangman in Washington -Lawrence O'Donnell talked about it tonight.- Who does a job like that?

"So what do you do for a living? Ahhm...I work for the department of corrections. Really? What department? Ahhm......."

Poor guy. How does he live with himself?

Finally, speaking of playing executioner. I am glad that those animals masquerading as cops who allegedly murdered that homeless man in California while he was in custody were charged with murder and manslaughter.

Not so fast gentlemen, we have to have a trial and convict him first.

"O' man you are punishing me.

"I have said repeatedly that I think that the death penalty should be applied in very narrow circumstances for the most egregious of crimes," Obama said at a news conference. "I think that the rape of a small child, 6 or 8 years old, is a heinous crime and if a state makes a decision that under narrow, limited, well-defined circumstances the death penalty is at least potentially applicable, that that does not violate our Constitution."

"O" man WTF? File this post under might piss Obamaholics off. But you addicts need to know that your boy is seriously starting to piss me off as well. I mean honest to god, why do I feel like I am being subjected to the Chinese water torture technique every time I listen to the "O" man lately? His FISA vote. Drip. His theocratic tilt. Drip. His going Sista Souljah on Father's Day. Drip. His [non]-universal health care plan.Drip. Paying off the Ice Queen's debt. Drip. And now this latest little gem. "O" man tell me you are not agreeing with Thomas, Scalia, and the other supremes in the minority on this death penalty decision?

Look folks, I know that the "O" man has his own mind, and we aren't going to agree on everything. Lord knows I don't necessarily want him to go along with the liberal orthodoxy. But lately it just seems like he is messing with the shit that I really care about. Things like civil liberties, and keeping the church and our state separated.

I will confess, I am against the death penalty, period. No ifs and buts, no compromise. Maybe it's because I can't get the images of those "strange fruits" hanging from trees back in the day out of my mind (That was a form of sanctioned community killing wasn't it?). But no civilized society should put another one of its citizens to death. I don't give a fuck what he does. It's that simple with me. Throw in the inequities in the justice system, and all the other factors that come along with human nature, and putting someone to death for a crime that we have determined that he committed, just doesn't always pass the smell test.

So now we want to allow states to be able to execute child rapist? --Yeah we all know what a credible witness that little eight year old can be don't we--. Now I must confess that I think if we are going to legally kill someone that would be as good a reason as any to do it. And if an accused can get the death penalty for being involved in a robbery where someone is killed but he didn't actually pull the trigger, why not, you ask, snuff out the son of a bitch that raped the child? That's a fair point, but I wouldn't kill the child rapist or the co-felon in that hypothetical robbery. Because in Fieldville there would be no death penalty. I mean think about it folks. R Kelly could have been looking at the electric chair. No tracks from prison for you Kells.. Let me stop.

I am just disappointed in the "O" man that's all. Capital punishment for a crime other than murder? Slippery slope, slippery slope. I guarantee you that it was just a matter of time before one of these fifty states sanctioned the death penalty for killing a beloved pet..... I know he is a former constitutional law professor and he felt like he had to weigh in on this one. But honestly, he should have just punted. The five justices got it right, the four in the minority got it wrong. What Louisiana was trying to do was to sanction a cruel and unusual punishment for a crime that the punishment did not fit. If that wasn't a violation of the eight amendment they might as well throw it out. Sorry "O" man, if I was in your Con. Law class you would have flunked me.

"We conclude that, in determining whether the death penalty is excessive, there is a distinction between intentional first-degree murder on the one hand and nonhomicide crimes against individual persons, even including child rape, on the other,"

I concur Justice Kennedy. And If he is elected, let's just hope that one very prominent dissenter picks Justices like you.