A halo above Joe Paterno's head was removed from a mural this weekend [pic via Centre Daily]
Caution: I make a lot of fat jokes here.
[Paterno statement]Following the release of the grand jury findings last fall, Joe Paterno called for a thorough, fair and transparent investigation. Like everyone else, Joe was stunned at the charges that were filed against Jerry Sandusky. At the same time, Joe cautioned against a rush to judgment on Penn State and its senior officials and reminded everyone that we owed it to the victims to uncover the full truth.
I’m sorry, Paterno clan, but who, in the hell, is Joe Paterno to be the thought-leader on this investigation? Or any investigation, for that matter. Quoting your father like he is some sort of oracle, though many who grew up in Happy Valley may view him as such, is completely misguided and, now, offensive. He was a liar. But we’ll get to that in a second.
The announcement of the findings by the Freeh Group is yet another shocking turn of events in this crisis. We are dismayed by, and vehemently disagree with, some of the conclusions and assertions and the process by which they were developed. Mr. Freeh presented his opinions and interpretations as if they were absolute facts. We believe numerous issues in the report, and his commentary, bear further review.
Our interest has been and remains the uncovering of the truth. We have never tried to run from this crisis or shift all responsibility to others. To help prevent this sort of tragedy from happening again at Penn State or any other institution, it is imperative that the full story be told.
Blah blah blah blah good point blah blah blah. Let's be very clear– their interest remains in keeping their father's $3 million, pre-negotiated retirement package. However, there's one part of the statement with which I agree.
Remember, Louis Freeh was paid by the Penn State Board of Trustees to conduct this investigation. We’re not going to question Freeh’s credibility or track record (it’s stellar), but few were expecting his report to have far-reaching targets. Notice: Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz, Tim Curley and Joe Paterno were the focus of this investigation. And perhaps with good reason– they were the main players in a sinister cover-up. But were they the only ones involved?
Freeh, who once criticized the 9/11 Commission for leaving out critical information from their report, gave the board of trustees what amounts to a strongly worded wrist slap. He criticized their lack of institutional control, but never implicated them in any wrongdoing or cover-up. In fact, one part of the report, in which Freeh detailed an email exchange between a board member and Spanier – who wouldn’t give up any information about what was going on with Jerry Sandusky – makes you almost sympathize with the board. You could feel the unnamed board member’s frustration as Spanier stonewalled in an email response. As such, the report’s biggest criticism of the board centers on their failure to demand information.
That’s curious.
It may just be a coincidence, but the fact that Freeh’s report stopped exactly at its paywall, if you will, raises a few eyebrows. Or at least mine.
And the report is not just limited in it’s vertical tentacles. Second Mile, Governor Tom Corbett (attorney general who began investigation of Sandusky and also received campaign donations from Second Mile), local authorities, and others fell outside the focus of this report. It seems all too convenient that the only men continuously on the receiving end of Freeh’s whopping stick were already shamed (or dead). Hell, even pussy Mike McQueary got off scot-free (that angle brilliantly examined by Gil Spencer).
Curley and Schultz were already charged with crimes. We already knew they were shits. Spanier was already the worst university president in the history of the world (admittedly, though, the findings in Freeh’s report open him up to prosecution). And Joe Pa, the perfect figurehead scapegoat, is dead.
Make no mistake, I’m not downplaying the findings against any of those men– it’s clear that the current public sentiment toward them is the right one. But it is curious that the report only focuses on four people who were already (literally or figuratively) finished. It provided just enough information to give us public enemies, but not enough to answer all remaining questions.
As much as it pains me to say, in this case (pleading for the full story to be told and saying that the report’s conclusions are mostly Freeh’s interpretations of facts), the Paternos are right.
Of course, they'll soon be wrong again.
After the report was released, we instructed our attorneys and their experts to conduct a comprehensive review of the materials released by the Freeh Group as well as Mr. Freeh's presentation and press conference. We have also asked them to go beyond the report and identify additional information that should be analyzed. And we have asked the Freeh Group to preserve all records, notes and other materials related to the investigation and the presentation of their findings as we expect they will be the subject of great interest in the future.
To those who are convinced that the Freeh report is the last word on this matter, that is absolutely not the case. Since various investigations and legal cases are still pending, it is highly likely that additional critical information will emerge.
So, now, the Paternos will conduct their own investigation. Here, I’ll save you the trouble of reading it and tell you what it will say:
After a thorough investigation of the facts, of which there weren’t many, we find that Louis Freeh hopped on his Jump To Conclusions mat and focused his frickin’ laser beam squarely on our father, The Great Joe Paterno. Echoing what Joe said before his untimely death, which was hastened by an insensitive board, we wish our father had done more. But he wasn’t at fault. He was the victim of an athletic director and president who failed, quite miserably, in their duties to protect innocent young children and, as mandated by the Clery Act, report the accusations about Jerry Sandusky to the proper authorities. Joe may not have lived up to his own high standards, but there was no wrongdoing. We still get that golden parachute, right? We believe that Louis Freeh’s report was a small-minded and single-focused effort to smear those who can no longer defend themselves.
That’s what their report will say, and I just gave it to you free of charge (lawyers get paid for this ‘ish?).
Here’s the problem, though: The Paterno family continuously contends that Freeh’s report presented no new facts. They’re wrong.
With that said, we want to take this opportunity to reiterate that Joe Paterno did not shield Jerry Sandusky from any investigation or review. The 1998 incident was fully and independently investigated by law enforcement officials. The Freeh report confirms this. It is also a matter of record that Joe Paterno promptly and fully reported the 2001 incident to his superiors. It can certainly be asserted that Joe Paterno could have done more. He acknowledged this himself last fall. But to claim that he knowingly, intentionally protected a pedophile is false.
That’s very clever wording. They’re right– the 1998 incident was turned over to proper authorities and, in 2001, Paterno did relay McQueary's account to superiors. What Paterno's family fails to address, though, is that HUMONGOUS elephant, seated beside… oh, no, wait, that’s just Scott Paterno. Anyway, they fail to address the fact that – all caps, yelling – JOE PATERNO REPEATEDLY DENIED HAVING ANY KNOWLEDGE OF A 1998 INVESTIGATION, BUT LOUIS FREEH’S REPORT PROVED OTHERWISE. THAT IS, IN FACT, A NEW FUCKING FACT, JACK. – end yelling-
Letting authorities handle it in 1998 was fine. Reporting it to his superiors in 2001 was fine. Fine. Those two incidents, by themselves, are at least explainable. But the fact that Paterno knew in 1998 and then, in 2001, punted, instead of taking matters into his own powerful hands, is inexcusable.
His family’s line of argument – separating the two events – could be likened to a student lying to his parents about bad test grades. Each failure, on its own, is explainable. But when compounded together, a pattern emerges, and the student, like Paterno, is truly deserving of a big, fat Scott F. The Paternos are sliming, sliding and shape-shifting (except Scott– he’s fat) their way around this issue. Freeh’s finding that Paterno knew about a 1998 investigation was, in fucking fact, a very new fucking fact. Quite literally. So new, in fact (jack, back, tack, mack, manco), that Sally Jenkins, the Washington Post reporter to whom a dying Paterno vehemently denied knowing anything about that investigation, called the old coach a liar and hypocrite. The Paterno family is just choosing to ignore this part of the story. How do they expect us to take them seriously?
This is how:
The process of reviewing the report and other relevant information is going to be a complicated and time consuming exercise. It took the Freeh Group roughly seven months to conduct more than 400 interviews and review three million documents. We do not expect or intend to duplicate this effort but we are going to be as thorough as reasonably possible. In the meantime, our attorneys have asked that we not make any further comment on this matter until they are ready to provide an update on their progress.
Translation: We’re not going to do a thorough review. Neither are our attorneys. In fact, they’re not going to do anything. We can’t afford their services– Scott’s otherworldly food consumption has drained our legal funds. Jay can’t even buy his big-boy blazers anymore. It’s sad, really. But seriously, our lawyers aren’t going to do much. They're just going to say everything in Freeh’s report was opinion… and ignore that one damning fact against our father. That should be enough to allow us to keep his massive retirement package.
Like I said, their report is going to be very predictable, and biased. While they’re right in saying that Freeh’s report left many questions unanswered, there’s no defending their father’s inactions. The Paternos need to get that… and just go away.
38 Responses
Paterno Family says they are conducting their own probe into Louis Freeh’s investigation. I have a feeling it is going to be as successful as OJs probe into finding the “real” killers.
That fat F joined his dad in the gang bangs
Louis Freeh covered up Waco and Ruby Ridge. And he was director during the “500 missing FBI files” debacle. Lets not all think he is the greatest investigator alive. Because he clearly isnt.
Joe Pa did nothing wrong & is innocent. He followed up on the Sandusky report & washed his hands clean with it, expected Curley to proceed further to lock him up!!!!!!
RIP!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saint Joe Pa
Scott Pa is a boss
This sub plot keeps getting buried http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/11/ray-gricar-missing-jerry-sandusky-pennsylvania-da_n_1088950.html
Man, I was hoping this report would take down that fat fuckwad Corbett. Oh well.
Was it also a new fact which Freeh uncovered where Paterno seems to be the one who convinced the 3 PSU powers to NOT go to authorities in 2001 after they decided in an email exchange to pursue?
I’m glad at least someone is willing to call out the blatant side-stepping by the Paterno family re: the 1998 investigation and Joe’s knowledge of that event.
The all-caps was for once quite appropriate. I never thought the very family known to be so wholesome could be so slimy with their facts and general public approach. It’s sickening. It’s a shame too, because every time they play this stupid game with words, I think of the victims who must feel like a punching bag.
Is it really that important to Sue to fight every PR battle to the point that she drags each and every victim indirectly through this whole ordeal again and again? Can’t she just accept that the myth is gone and that the people who love Joe are who they are and then there are many people who, like myself, did Paternoville, embraced the saint-worship, and then reconsidered given very damning facts?
It’s like Sue won’t stop until the whole place is torched earth. It’s just really petty.
ciggy
Louis Freeh Stellar? see ruby ridge investigation, waco incident, his insubordination to Janet Reno and while you’re at it look up Lon Horiuchi…Nice reporting, this PSU shit is played out by the way.
you also go to jail for lying to the grand jury, Paterno’s
What happened to Ray Gricar???
MM it’s not played out until football is cancelled and the giant farking point is made by somebody with actual balls that tangible punishment can be meted out to any institution that puts its hundred$ of million$ in profits above common effing sense and moral decency.
like mike said above, wtf happened to gricar? i’d also like to see more investigation into Corbett’s handling of things when he was AG. not that i totally believe in this stuff, but there are theories out there that second mile was used to pimp out children to politicians and high level businessmen… i know this shit sounds like nutjob conspiracy shit, but so did sandusky-psu sex scandal stuff 10 months ago.
These people need to stop. They’re only doing further damage to their family and schools reputation by opening their mouths.
I’m not going to pretend like I understand what its like to be in their shoes. I can’t imagine living my whole life and suddenly finding out my father or my significant other did what JoePa did. The psychological toll that must take is probably ridiculous, so in that sense, I don’t really mind if his family wants to defend him or remember him in anyway they see fit…But keep it private. Stop trying to convince the rest of us that he was innocent. He wasn’t. He did lots of good things and one humungously shitty thing that made him very much a dirt bag, rather than the God that Penn Staters thought he was. Everybody knows it, and its clear as day. The Paterno’s efforts aren’t geared towards finding the truth for the victims, theyre geared to protect their own interests, which is just sad.
With the exception of the one good point Kyle highlighted, they’re doing nothing but undermining the search for the full truth and spitting in the faces of the victims and their families. Almost as bad, is the fact that they’re just stringing along all the rest of these pathetic Joe Pa apologists (of which there are many). Ever notice how the Joe pa apologists sound just like this? Its sad because they idolize him to the point where they all think they’re a member of his family…The guy was a god damn (powerful) football coach..Thats it. This whole statement is the script thats enabling the apologists to reinforce all the negative things (they’re cult members, they dont care about the victims, etc.) that may or may not be true of Penn State as a whole. Just shut up, take a vacation, and stay the fuck out of this mess for awhile.
Pete H- stop boring us
Whoops…Sorry Mike, damn me and wanting to say something thought provoking…I’ll bring my comments down to your level:
FUCK JOEPA THAT DOOSH BAG FINGERS BOYS IN HELL!!!!69!!!!!!
Actually the idea that Paterno knew of the 1998 accusations is not fact. The email simply said “Jerry” and “coach wants to know where it stands”. “Coach” could actually be Jerry. He was still on staff. Or it could have been Paterno checking up on Sandusky’s retirement as that was going on at the same time. The far more damning email, you don’t mention, which is Curley saying that after talking to Joe he doesn’t want to go to the police. That one is pretty freaking hard to defend. Maybe Joepa did or didn’t know about the 98 investigation, but he sure as shit knew about the 2001 one, and that one he apparently kept from going to the authorities.
That’s more like it Pete H.
The DNC had dirt on Santorum, thats why he dropped out of the Republican campaign. He knew Sandusky and now he denies knowing him “personally”. The judge that let Sandusky out on bail was heavy donor to Second Mile.
Sandusky shoulda hired a Vatican lawyer.
Well, it was hardly a newsflash that the Paternos slammed the Freeh report, the only shock would’ve been I they agreed with it, and that wasn’t happening. I suppose that clearly delusional clan will conduct all sorts of “independent investigations” until they find someone who’ll agree with them. When you get right down it, it’s really pathetic.
Kyle, why do you fail to comprehend the fact that in 1998, Sandusky was still on staff as a coach under Paterno but in 2001, Sandusky had retired and no longer reported to Joe?! The retirement package that Sandusky got was an agreement between him and the school administration, NOT PATERNO!!! Joe had nothing to do with Sandusky’s retirement package, access rights to the campus, or anything else. He did what he was supposed to do and reported (a second-hand account of the) incident to his superiors and let them handle the matter since Sandusky was no longer a football coach and no longer under Paterno’s jurisdiction. Furthermore, you constantly browbeat dead JoePa for not “doing more” and not “following up” on the investigation, yet you make no mention of the fact that the Freeh report uncovered memos between Spanier, Curley, & Schultz during the 1998 investigation that said, “Coach is asking where we are with this investigation.” So you’re proven wrong and won’t even admit it, Kyle? Dumbass.
Unless there was some memo found by the Freeh investigation that showed correspondence from Joe to Sandusky saying something like, “Jerry, for the sake of the school’s reputation & the program’s image, please knock it off & stop raping boys here on campus”…or a memo from Joe to one of the 3 stooges (Curley, Schultz, Spanier) saying something like, “Don’t go to the cops, guys, just handle it yourself and keep me in the dark about it”…then there’s really nothing new about the Freeh Report and no “damning evidence” to speak of. So many people are so lazy that they won’t read the report themselves and won’t even try to see the real facts for themselves…they just rely on the media (or amateur wannabe-media members like Kyle Scott here) to spoon-feed them snippets of the report here and there. If they read the report themselves, they would see that there are a lot of inferences, conclusions, & judgments made by Louis Freeh but very few actual facts.
Common Sense and Crazy pills are proving my point right now.
Common Sense is not wrong that these are not facts. They inferences, conclusions, and judgements, but that also doesn’t mean they aren’t RIGHT.
Not facts? There mountains of hard, tangible evidence: notes, emails, letters, handwriting…All to and from specific people, Paterno being one of them. They have Paternos notes on the matter from 1998, in his own handwriting. Schultz said he touched base with Paterno, and used his full name, pretty much making it clear who “coach” and “joe” are in the other documents that followed…Those aren’t judgements or inferences, those are pieces of cold hard evidence and fact.
And even if these were just judgements, it’s still evidence that would more than hold up in a court of law.. Thats what investigations and trials are for, to make jidgements based on evidence, judgements and facts. Any jury would salivate for a case this strong, it makes their job an easy one. Use your head…They’re not going to find a certified document with all their signatures on it that says, “We, Joe Paterno, Grahm Spanier, Gary schultz, and Tim Curley are covering up for Jerry Sandusky starting spring of 1998.” That never exists in any case, investigators need to do work, but apparently that’s the only thing that these apologists will accept…even then they’d probably question it’s authenticity.
I am not disagreeing with you that they aren’t very good evidence, and I am not arguing Paterno is innocent. I absolutely think he is guilty. I am just saying in regards to Paterno, unlike the other 3 stooges, they don’t have cold hard facts, they have second hand references to him and his participation in the coverup. We will never get concrete evidence of Paterno’s participation in the coverup unless somebody finds a diary or something else that he admits his part, because unlike everyone else in the 21st century, Joepa didn’t use email. I believe the handwritten notes you mention had to do with Sandusky’s retirement, not the investigation. Either way, take the freaking statue down, stop selling Peachy Paterno, and lets move on with our lives.
Wouldn’t shock me if Jer is innocent
Wouldn’t shock me if Jer is innocent
How much did second mile donate to our corrupt governor ? This needs to be looked into.
If my wife doesn’t call me Sandusky while I finger her, I ram steel whool in her wet cunt until she throws up on my penis. Then I watch Leave it to beaver naked and jerk off to it with sand paper.
Angelo is a sick pup
Angelo is a sick pup F
We get it, Scott Paterno is fat. Your jokes used to be funny.
“who the hell is paterno to be the thought leader in this investigation”
So, you are attacking him from all angles for being the end-all be-all czar on everything that happened with the sandusky incident, but at the same time his thoughts on a fair investigation are instantly discounted by you?
Stop pretending to be a reporter man. You are an opinionated hack who does second-hand, angled writing to support opinions, and stroke your ego and hate of PSU.
Freeh’s credibility is far from stellar! It was so bad while he was in the FBI, He was replaced and the whole agency was under investigation. He has lied to Congress and covered up information. Flight 800, Oklahoma Bombing, and Waco are just a few examples of his misconduct. Did you even bother to look up information on Freeh? I suggest you look into Mr. Freeh’s past.
Comments are closed.