JoePa the Pope-ah

Sandusky.

What else is there?

Unfortunately, plenty. Sadly, Happy Valley's current lowpoint is likely nowhere near the the depths of the hell beneath it, as we will likely learn more of stories that make Nightmare on Elm Street seem like a stroll through the French Quarter. But for now, the name of the famed former Penn State defensive coordinator has reached Satanic depths.

Have you vomited yet? Has your stomach flipped? Do your palms have lasting fingernail marks embedded into them? Has Sandusky, Ohio had enough time to add a referendum for a name change this Election Day?

This is a new low for American vitriol directed at one man. Even by bin Laden standards. This isn't polarizing--EVERYBODY hates this guy right about now.

Unless, of course, you count State College, Pennsylvania.

Right now, lawyers at Penn State are drafting and redrafting escape routes much like the ones Sandusky drew on the blackboards in Paternoland. FEMA has been retained for damage control. The light on Ari Fleischer's phone is likely lit with voicemail from the hierarchy trying to salvage the remains of the Nittany Lion Kingdom. Students are even occupying Beaver Stadium as if an injustice will occur.

Joe Pa's faux pas is simply not his fault, right kiddies?

Paterno's job/legacy/reputation/fiber/being/family are now forever aflame. Nobody will look back at this years from now with fresh eyes. That's like saying Hitler was misunderstood.

Woody Hayes' and Jim Tressel's trespasses will be considered footnotes compared to the Happy Valley Humper, and his Humpty Dumpty boss, who looked the other way each time until the old egg was finally pushed off the Great Wall, drunk off the power that allowed the murders of many innocent childhoods, as long as the Nittany Lions could keep winning national championships and Big Ten titles.

If SMU received the Death Penalty for having a higher payroll than the Dallas Cowboys, does the NCAA have an Eternal Damnation (Hell) Penalty even on the books?

Yes, Joe Paterno was the Pope of Pennsylvania. Paid by the state, he wielded more power than the Steel Curtain, Governors Scranton through Corbett. Much like the mad hatters of the Vatican, with one word, he could get what he came for. Or he could have just dialed 9-1-1. Instead, the Pope Pilated his way from any alleged wrongdoing and protected Sandusky like a diocese shuffling priests.

Meanwhile, the word rape has rarely been used in discussing this disgusting case as if having sex with a boy is somehow consensual. Right. Remember that the next time you see a report of a 21 year-old man charged with the statutory rape of a 16 year-old woman, regardless of her willingness to partake. That's rape. But child molestation somehow gets labeled "sex?"

Back to the Pope of PA: he belongs in jail, too, just like those who harbor terrorists, or those who aid and abet criminals. He, his men, and his assistants all had a chance to make this right. Instead, Jerry Sandusky has been allowed an extra nine years after JoePa punted these allegations "upstairs" from his old, shaky hands.

Jesus, a man who knew no popes, was quoted in both Matthew 18:6 and Luke 17:2 saying, But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.


There's the authority. Anyone else's opinion matter?