Time to try Sandusky's Soul, or the Souls of Us All?

 

The Sandusky matter has been bothering me, not the Penn State thing exactly, but the way we've been going at it.

I need to tell you from the start, I don't mean to be unpatriotic. Patriotism means a great deal to me. I am in awe of our service men and women; I am proud of my uncle, Marine Lt. Col. John Skorich, who, as I understand, flew with the Black Sheep Squadron and served in Korea and later died in a plane crash. I was but a child then, but I felt my mother's loss at the death of her brother, whom she loved, and in whom she had placed such pride. I was then, and am to this day, proud of his swagger, his life style, his boldness. I wanted to be like him since I was a small boy. My appreciation and love for the man, and my pride still sends shivers through me.

I am also proud of all my uncles, cousins, and my many other relatives who served.

I didn't serve, but I assert my right to admire their dedication and to feel grateful, just as I'm grateful for all those who have endured these more recent years of conflict. Some who died were friends. Some were students. Some were sons of colleagues. It was different for them than for me, I know. And it's hard to speak of these things.

It tries my soul.

So what does the Sandusky matter have to do with them?

He is accused and convicted of being a sexual predator. He served as a coach, not as a member of the military. As a coach, within that small scope of duty, he served well. For years, however, he was also guilty of gross sexual misconduct.

Now a host of questions follow: Officials at Penn State, it appears, attempted to cover up a horrendous act. More importantly, they failed to stop the ongoing abuse as it occurred. Not just a few knew of the man's behavior. Although on a smaller scale, the scandal can be compared to the Catholic Church's concealment of similar types of abuse for generations, or to other injustices on even larger scales.

What do we want? We want to pry into it, of course. We want to understand exactly who is to blame. We want no doubts about it in the future. We want to make it clear that we will not tolerate similar behavior again.

But stand back a moment and examine this question: Why are we making such demands? Why are we totally immersed? Do we not see ourselves tightly focusing on the errors of a few people as we lay waste to the reputation of an entire educational institution? Is this any way to seek justice? Should we now dishonor, perhaps even deface, Penn State? Or has the negligence of Penn State's staff and administration already defaced that institution? Are we doing right, or are we behaving this way for reasons other than our desire for justice?

Why are we doing this? Do we behave so because we're all safe to pile blame on certain individuals, to remain innocent ourselves as we make accusations and demand that things be made "right" - whatever that may mean - money, I suppose, for the victims, punishment for the criminal? What do we want, anyway, and why do we feed as we do on it?

"These are the times that try men's souls."

Yes, Mr. Paine. Yes, they are. Oh, and we will try them all right: We'll make certain Sandusky sits in jail for the rest of his life. We'll get after Paterno too, dead man or not. We'll soil his achievements with this stuff and erase them from history. We will fire administrators, maybe even send some of them to jail. We will also make certain that Penn State University, the institution, pays dearly. We will try all their souls, and we will make certain the victims are honored and apologized to.

Take another step back now: A nation can do the same thing Penn State did, when you think of it. Think of it; don't look away:

An entire nation can deceive itself into misbehavior. A nation can overlook the mistakes of leaders when they act on its behalf. Some will want to pursue a thorough investigation into the matter, but many others will slam the door on it; they will say, "No, we cannot. That's unpatriotic!"

Of course, we're not talking about Penn State or Sandusky or Joe Paterno any more. We're talking about our country.

I heard some of you say it: "Stop right there!"

Yes, I heard it. I hear it all the time. Well, then, I have a great idea: Let's put both of these issues to rest, the error of Penn State and the error of our country.

No? Why not? Is the Penn State thing somehow worse?

Maybe it truly is.

Well, then. Shall we go farther into it and see? Maybe we'll find that these two issues are so entirely disconnected and so logically removed from each other that the one thing we would do is just fine after all, and the other thing is entirely wrong. A closer look should make things clear, don't you think?

Yes, yes. Patriotism. Already mentioned that. Sorry. I just thought maybe we could all "try [our] souls," the way Paine truly meant. He didn't intend for us merely to find a victim. He meant for us to try ourselves. That is patriotism, dear citizens. But it's pretty easy to try just one pervert and pry into the affairs of others who covered up sexual sensationalism, easier because we are not personally involved.

For just a moment, though, have courage. Be true patriots. Let's do the harder thing and try our own souls:

When we started a war as a nation based on so-called "evidence" of weapons of mass destruction ("WMD's," remember?) -

Oh that's different? Want to put that and the Sandusky thing behind us? No further investigations necessary?

Why do we behave this way? Is a sexual crime more egregious? Does all the dishonesty associated with it harm people in more significant ways?

Am I defacing the memory of my students and colleagues and friends and relatives who have served, or are we behaving like the administrators of a large institution who have already defaced a remarkably similar thing by their negligence?

Maybe stories of WMD's were somehow justified. Can we pry into that? Were those things an unintentional "miscalculation" on the part of our leadership? Were we all afraid?

Was Penn State afraid? Are they under attack? Did they get defensive and do wrong?

Did we, as a nation, do wrong, going to war because we "had targets"? Why did we do that? Is Penn State just another good "target"? Why are we doing this?

"These are the times that try men's souls." Are we up to the task, or is it dead in us?

Does this whole thing bother you too?