Holding Out for a Hero

The more I read about this whole situation at Penn State, with the mad rush to pass judgment and punish without due process, the more frustrated I become.

Not one NCAA rule was violated.

Not one Penn State employee has been convicted of any crime or wrong doing.

Yet, we have what we have.

I keep hoping each day that something will surface to change the risen tide of public opinion and emotions that swept over Penn State like a tsunami.

But I am deluding myself.

We no longer have men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Will Rogers or John Wayne.  Or, dare I say it, Joe Paterno.

We live in a country where the President isn't impeached, because he changes the definition of sex.

We live in a country where the Supreme Court fails to protect its citizens, because we define the unconstitutional behavior as a tax.

So why should I hold out any hope that Penn State and Joe Paterno will ever see truth and justice.

Instead of writing off the wrong as a misinterpretation of a word or calling it a tax, we call it a "consent decree."  And we do nothing to stop it.  Truth is, the very people (lawyers, politicians, media, etc.) who have allowed this kind of thinking won't allow it to be stopped.

Be honest.  If you have no legal training, had you ever heard of a consent decree before this?  How many member institutions have ever signed a consent decree with the NCAA?  It's very existence is proof in itself that this whole approach by the NCAA was shady--or why would they need a consent decree in the first place?  Res ipsa loquitur to quote the legals.  The thing speaks for itself.

One might argue that this is a special case, and should not be compared to other situations using the same criteria.  To some extent, that is true.  There is no other instance that I know of where a volunteer organization imposed penalties on someone or something for a crime that has not even been settled in court yet.

But either way, a consent decree is simply another way of changing the rules to justify an unjust situation.

It shouldn't have been offered.  It shouldn't have been signed.  The NCAA has no authority to do what it did, but will now hide behind their redefinition of the situation.

And no one will stop it.

I am holding out little hope.

Where have all the good men gone


And where are all the gods?

Where's the street-wise Hercules

To fight the rising odds?

Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?

Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need

I'm holding out for hero.

I just don't know how long I can hold on.