Penn State: "...hands up against the wall..."

"He saw a naked boy, Victim 2, whose age he estimated to be ten years old, with hands up against the wall..."

There is not one good thing to take from the Pennylvania State University story, or to be redeemed. Nothing.

It is a story of grown men, ranging in age from 28 to their 50s and 60s, not having the courage to stop a monster among them. These men were chosen to be leaders. Yes, they led, alright. They led a high-ranking denial. They led the way for gut-wrenching, soul-crushing, irreparably life-damaging doors to open.

And, aside from the head-coaching aspirations of the monster, closed none of them. 

And yet, we see arguments, even riots, over legacy, life work, good will and service to the community. All of those things should be gone and tossed away because "they" knew of the horrors, perhaps not in full detail, but they knew.

They. Knew.

Some of the men, like then-28-year old Mike McQueary, knew what they saw. In his Grand Jury testimony, he saw Jerry Sandusky penetrating a 10-year-old victim in a shower. Before he saw it, he knew what he heard. McQueary explained it as "rhythmic slapping," and, according to the testimony, he believed it was sexual in nature. 

He reported it to his father, who said take it to head coach Joe Paterno, who took it to his superiors. They all wiped their hands after. Did they do their job? No. Not on any level. Reporting to a superior, a personally-authoritative figure, is not reporting to the authorities. At the very least, it should have been stopped, including in the shower. Instead, it was covered up and eventually enabled to continue in a small town of 42,000 where the logo is religion, where people bow to the Lion. Is anyone who doesn't call Happy Valley their home believing stories or rumors didn't persist after that?

Is this where we are as a society? Can we no longer stare pure evil in its face and call it what it is? (I ask that  and then think the biggest sex molestation scandals of the last generation now have been based in religious and help-the-youth settings. This thought troubles me greatly.)

This isn't about weighing journalistic responsibility or judicial process (as some seem to want more proof before 'choosing' a side). It is time to be realistic and human. Indefensible humans, children, were repeatedly placed in a living, penetrated hell and left to fend for themselves because the men in that environment chose to wipe their hands of it.

There is no judgment to this: It is wrong. Fighting-to-the-death wrong.

I'm not sure any punishment fits.

None seems enough, but that's because the growing fear is that what information exists is somehow just the beginning - a follow-up to the 23 pages over which we've already grown nauseous. (To be frank, with what is known, how much more do people want to find out? Or, would they simply like to see what is known be dealt with appropriately?)

What don't you understand, Penn St.? Your say in how this ultimately ends dwindled a little more each time Sandusky put his hand on a child's leg, played his sick back-cracking game, placed his erection in a boy's mouth or penetrated a youth. Your say mattered less with each passing day that every person within your institution who had knowledge of these things didn't bring these terrible matters to light.

"He saw a naked boy, Victim 2, whose age he estimated to be ten years old, with hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky."

That is your reality, Happy Valley. Those things happened, along with countless others Your appointed leadership didn't stop it. Therefore, it is no longer your right to set your own timeline in handling this. No more botched press conferences. No more planned retirements. No more impromptu lawn-setting pep rallies. No more finding smoother times to cut ties with those coaches still on your current staff (McQueary) who need to be fired now. No more riots for a man who ran your town, and who knew exactly why his head-coach-in-waiting had to suddenly retire and never coach again. Some could point to Paterno's age now, at 84, and suggest quite fairly he's out of touch. In 1998, in his early 70s, that same case could not be made.

Regardless, had Penn State been allowed to continue to set its own course of events, those involved may have been able to find a smidge of redemption as the old coach would be allowed to smile broadly for his supporters one more time, and his assistants allowed to walk away.

But, that's exactly what's wrong here. There is and should not be any redemption in this story, not in terms of anybody who seems out of touch or bent on finding something good in the past few days. The video from Wednesday night, when Paterno stood in front of his door, smiling and waving as sirens could be heard in the background, should chill a person.

For those who knew, there is nothing good. And, from now on, there should never be. One can only hope they are constantly reminded in every imaginable way of the account:

"He saw a naked boy, Victim 2, whose age he estimated to be ten years old, with hands up against the wall..."

And they did nothing.