Comments on The General Blog of Crime: An Open Letter to Penn State "Protesters"

WOW, what a eye-opening letter. Yes, I too believe...

2011-12-11T16:46:01.649-05:00

WOW, what a eye-opening letter. Yes, I too believe that the Penn-State rioters acted disgusting and should be ashamed of themselves. I believe there actions told the world young children being raped is ok, and a coach is more important. Your letter puts into words how many people are feeling. Hopefully, this perspective effects at least one rioter.

Thank you. This letter says exactly what I have be...

2011-11-12T09:53:36.070-05:00

Thank you. This letter says exactly what I have been feeling as I watch the news. All I keep asking is...what about the victims. Where is there voice in any of the news commentary? Why isn't anyone speaking up for them and the long term struggles they will have to come to terms with what has happened to them. I say come to terms, so they can move on and have a normal life because the reality of being raped will never go away. It is a ghost...ever present in the shadows.

Blogger ate my earlier post! It went something lik...

2011-11-11T16:20:21.808-05:00

Blogger ate my earlier post! It went something like this:

I LOVED your post, ShockProf, but I get your point too, Scoob. It doesn't make the student protests any less tone-deaf or douchey, but I hear what you're saying about their actions being more about misguided/misdirected grief than outright denouncement of the victims. Still, it sure comes across that way to outsiders...

Part 2: Some dimension of what you are seeing at ...

2011-11-11T09:47:01.666-05:00

Part 2:

Some dimension of what you are seeing at PSU (not all of it, but some small part) is such profound grieving that I suspect they cannot even articulate. Being naïve means that it is so hard to accept profound betrayal from the one area of stability and purity that seems to be bigger than anything else. People love this guy, I mean love him in deep and personal ways. It makes no sense I understand this, but for many in the PSU community, that is what JoePa represented. The grandfather, the priest, the confidant that was the Beacon of purity in an otherwise chaotic world. This is not to be melodramatic. This is serious grieving. But they also need to recognize, this grieving is pale into comparison to the damage to these victims. One of the hardest things in life is to come to terms with deep betrayal. How many mothers refuse to accept their husbands rape their children? They cannot accept the betrayal - it is something they cannot comprehend.

It is hard for me to write this because I support his firing and now put him a half-step above Sandusky. But to polarize a “we versus them” idea does little to recognize the depth of the hurt and pain caused by this sadistic set of events.
Ok, let the bashing of my comments begin!

Part 1: (Sorry, these long posts WILL stop soon):...

2011-11-11T09:46:36.502-05:00

Part 1: (Sorry, these long posts WILL stop soon):
It is nearly impossible to disagree with really any of the sentiments expressed here. In reality, like many mass demonstration situations, there are also just trouble makers out there in the world who like to add fuel to any fire. Also we should remember, the media likes to portray stories in a way that creates a lot of buzz. I suspect those crowds in UnHappy Family had very diverse agendas.
This all said, I will attempt to offer up a small voice of support for their actions. This is quite ironic because I generally feel that little sympathy or support for much of what college students protest about. That said, I generally am not impressed with the level of thoughtfulness that goes into student protests. One thing that has struck me in recent years, particularly at it relates to this Occupy movement and the involvement of young people therein, is that college students desperately want something and someone to believe in. A good part of being in college, being educated, and being young with typically very few serious responsibilities is to be naïve. Being naïve is really healthy – it gives young people a fresh perspective on life – without the same baggage that us old people have.
As a Penn State alum, as a very serious Catholic, as a person who is very serious about politics – I am left wondering after the last decade, can we really believe in anything anymore? We have collectively been let down in such profound ways by people we looked up, people we believed in, people that inspired us. Take Bernie Madoff – I mean, this guy was deeply connected to the Jewish community, to the philanthropy community – they believed in him because he was key to helping them achieve their life dreams. John Edwards was someone so much bigger than a political candidate to some – we want peole to believe in so bad – like the good ole’ days when we had icons. In some very small way (please, I really understand this is problematic) to support Joe Paterno is not to abandon the victims. This really is like a process of profound grieving – to believe that Penn State, Joe Paterno, the President, the Board of Trustees (which should now be dissolved) did what they did is to believe that just about everything in life is a lie. PSU has a mentality, they could lose but at least they had JoePa – he was bigger than the institution. To my dad, priests were the one safe haven in an otherwise sordid, evil world. We couldn’t sleep over friends’ houses, but we could do anywhere with a Priest. Priests were it; the Church was it. Purity at its best. It was devastating in ways very few either non-Catholics or non-religious people can grasp – to be so seriously betrayed by the Church and/or priests is shattering in such profound ways. For some in the PSU community, the denial will take time. JoePa could never, would never betray children, the community, the institution of college athletics like this – it simply is not possible in their minds.

Bravo.

2011-11-11T08:23:32.266-05:00

Bravo.

Great letter! You hit the nail on the head! These ...

2011-11-11T06:30:06.541-05:00

Great letter! You hit the nail on the head! These men, especially Paterno and McQueary, could have stopped a predator years ago. They could have been the heroes of the day and created an even more important legacy for themselves. Instead they will be seen as accomplices in the eyes of many. Shame on them all and shame on the rioters for not realizing what is actually happening.

Fantastic post.

2011-11-10T21:23:17.361-05:00

Fantastic post.

"Think back to what you were doing when you w...

2011-11-10T21:22:18.938-05:00

"Think back to what you were doing when you were 10." Worrying about book reports, organizing my stationery, teaching our gerbils tricks, just beginning to learn how to flirt. I cannot get my mind around it - to think that someone came in, witnessed that, and left. Just left.

A great letter and I hope many will read it and co...

2011-11-10T21:21:37.293-05:00

A great letter and I hope many will read it and consider it carefully. I was so disappointed by the responses of PSU students but I also believe those students protesting did not represent the majority of students at the University.