The Penn State Report Is In — Now Make Mike McQueary Whole!

The "Report of the Special Investigative Counsel Regarding the Actions of The Pennsylvania State University Related to the Child Sexual Abuse Committed by Gerald A. Sandusky," herein called the Freeh Report, laid the blame squarely at the top —  from the former university president, Graham Spanier; to the vice president in charge of campus police, Gary Schultz; to the Athletic Director, Tim Curley; and the historic and iconic coach, Joe Paterno . . . 

A poignant point in the Freeh Report is when the author, former FBI Director, Louis J. Freeh, points out that the janitors feared that informing on a superior would result in the loss of their jobs, and he invites us to consider that, if the janitors represent "the culture on the bottom, God help the culture at the top."  But despite his words, he failed to recognize his inference in operation, namely, Mike McQueary is a manifestation of that culture!  Had Mike McQueary kept his mouth shut, he would be happily climbing the professional ladder for coaches at Penn State.  The janitors were right!  They kept their mouths shut, and they kept their jobs . . .   But Mike McQueary did the right thing, and he lost his job, and was publicly vilified.  And the people  "fixing" the problem, didn't even notice because it doesn't merely represent a Penn State Problem, hero worship is a national, and world problem.  We are pack animals by nature, who follow the dominant leader, whether it's an Enron trader, a fascist dictator, the spiritual leader, Jim Jones, or coach Joe Paterno.  That's why we need regulations, to protect us from ourselves.  Left to our own devices, we will place halos over the heads of men.

There was a big red flag, signaling that something was amiss, when Paterno responded to Mike McQueary's report that Jerry Sandusky sexually abused a child in the locker, by urging Mike McQueary to tell Joe Paterno's "supervisor," Tim Curley, what happened under Joe Paterno's watch, in Joe Paterno's department, without arranging to participate himself.  That sounds like a person trying to avoid proof of knowledge, namely, plausible deniability, instead of a person trying to understand and correct a problem . . .

After Joe Paterno substituted Tim Curley, for himself, in the chain of knowledge, it appears that he may have enlisted the media to target Mike McQueary, in order to weaken his credibility, and to punish him for putting Paterno and his colleagues at risk, by exposing their inappropriate, and even complicit, behavior in Sandusky's rape of children. It wouldn't be the first time he's used the press to defeat opposition to his will.  As a matter of fact, one reporter said, "when I first heard Paterno dispute what I took to be McQueary’s grand jury testimony, I thought, “McQueary must be lying!”  

An intentional desire to hurt Mike McQueary is the only way to explain how, given the choice between a child rapist, and professional people in authority who did nothing about it, the media only identified for criticism, denigration, and visual recognition, the youngest person, who was the only non-professional, and who was the only person who did nothing wrong, and who did what he was obligated to do . . .

Mike McQueary took a hit because he is the only one for whom the media beat the drum of condemnation — over and over again.  And Mike McQueary has a characteristic that bullies love in a scapegoat, something that sets him apart, and that makes him distinctly recognizable, namely, his red hair.  So they condemned him, and showed his red hair; condemned him, and showed his red hair; condemned him, and showed his red hair . . . until the public was enraged at the sight of him . . .

The media actually succeeded at inspiring debate on procedures to "correct" behavior like Mike McQueary's when, if others had obeyed existing rules and laws, like he did, there wouldn't be anything to correct!

Every media source that castigated and/or criticized Mike McQueary, for his response to Jerry Sandusky's predatory behavior, should publish an apology to Mike McQueary that includes the assurance that they will refrain from urging the public to hold people to unnatural standards, that are the product of their imagination, or worse . . .  

Finally, Penn State ought to pull out their checkbook, and a welcome home sign, to make Mike McQueary whole.