http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/twohour-graham-spanier-interview-offers-new-insight,1430650/
Dear Ken,
I watched the interview of the Penn State president-- a capable person in an extremely awkward situation. I found the ex-president was very cautious, very circumspect. He seemed very bureaucratic to me and monotonal, kind of sensitive seeming and a bit holier-than-thou. He did express regret about Jerry Sandusky's crimes but indicated almost zero in the way of personal culpability. Unfortunately, I wanted to hear about his own personal experience of being abused-- but when I tried to get back to the interview it made me go to the beginning. To tell you the truth, this guy seemed like an apologist. "I never ordered a soldier to kill a Jew-- it was their immediate supervisors who did that!" He keeps referring to the volume of emails that come across his desk-- but I noticed very little detail in his responses. Maybe he knew nothing, but I sense he feels some guilt for his lack of assertiveness in the situation. I may sound like a Monday morning quarterback, we all like to think we would have done better.
But, all in all, Penn State came off very poorly in this situation. I think these characters are very committed to protecting their jobs-- and Joe Paterno stayed too long. Should Joe have left by 1998-- when it sounds like the shit started to hit the wall? Yes, he should have. Would Sandusky have committed these crimes regardless of Joe's situation-- possibly-- but Joe made things worse by casting his huge shadow over the Happy Valley football program. A guy with too much power can create problems. And remember Mack Brown would have continued if it was his choice. So Mack's lack of judgment is reminiscent of Joe's hubris. Thanks for sharing this interview.
John
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