People who victimize children and/or adults are assisted in their acts by those who know and yet remain silent every day. Joe Paterno is such an assistant.
Let me be as clear as possible: Silence leads to years of emotional and/or physical damage.
I have witnessed it firsthand. Silence is not “doing nothing”. It is much, much worse, and it is enormously damaging, without a doubt.
People who think he did his duty by telling his superiors (a possibly watered down version of) what he was told are not acknowledging the role the silent assistants play in enabling the horrendous abuses to continue. When he saw that his superiors were not acting, he knew that his “reporting” was essentially silence. There is no excuse for his continued silence.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice
-Rush (Freewill)
Paterno made a choice to do nothing even when he saw his superiors make the same choice. It is inexcusable.
Bob Johnson has made the case much better than I have that this assistant-to-rape does not deserve to retire under his own set of circumstances.
He needs to go now… yesterday, even.
Please sign this petition demanding immediate resignation or firing of Joe Paterno.