Gifts that Keep Giving and Reflections on Paterno

It has been an interesting week and obviously quite a few things have happened since I last posted here.

A few words on Joe Paterno

Assuming the Sandusky allegations are true at least in some part, Paterno's failure to deal with it makes him supremely human at a minimum and perhaps worse.  The questions do not personally interest me too much.  Sandusky's alleged crimes (I believe they are almost all going to be true) are heinous.  So it seems hard to forgive Paterno for not doing more.  However, does anyone stand-up every time they see an injustice and intervene?  I doubt it.  Whether it was watching a bully hassle someone else, listening to damaging gossip, or even doing some of these activities.  I am sure that the answer is that there is nobody who does not at some point turn away and not stand up for justice.

The gulf may seem pretty big, between letting a pedophile go on in the face of credible accusations and say letting kids pick on someone that they think is a nerd or a loser, but they are part of a long spectrum of the human willingness to let evil go on rather than do what it takes to deal with it.

Paterno's accomplishments were great and had Sandusky not been part of his story, his would be a complete story of a man committed to his players and his school, with enormous success.

But, Sandusky will be part of his story too.  So, no matter how great his other accomplishments, we know that he had a chance to stop a monster.  Let's not pretend there weren't others that could have stopped him as well.

I am sure Paterno wished he never met Sandusky.  I am sure Paterno wished he had acted on Sandusky's allegations.  I am sure most of us, the honest and decent ones, wish there were things we could go back and do differently too.  I am thankful I haven't faced the same evil that Paterno did in Sandusky.  While I hope that I would have taken it more seriously than Paterno and stopped it, I also hope I don't have to cross that particular bridge.

The GOP Just Keeps Giving and Giving

OK.  I am still sticking by my Romney prediction. But Newt is the most wonderful comet I seen in recent memories.  The human Halley's comet.  Newt has been a human atom bomb exploding all over Romney.  Well, perhaps more accurately, allowing Mitt to blow himself up.

Romney grew up with a silver spoon, regardless of his rough family history, and he simply doesn't connect with the people living a regular life. He might even be a capable President, but I think he wants to be President because it is the only toy left he has been allowed to have.  He is mind boggling.

Newt's tax plan, laughably, is just red meat for his voters.  It would dramatically reduce tax dramatically for the rich and make the deficit worse.  Who is conservative now dude?  (PS Romney's tax plan will also make the deficit worse, just not as bad as Newts).

I am falling asleep, so I have to come back to this.