Penn State Goings-On

[alfred russel]

It's really bizarre - you've posted far more vitriol directed at McQ than at Sandusky.

I agree with Meri on this. Sandusky I can at least rationalize as someone who has something wrong in his head. Assuming he didn't call the cops, McQuery seems to have acted either with extreme cowardice or indifference to abuse he knew was occuring.

Also, I don't see as going to the cops as going over my bosses head. There isn't a chain of command in the american workplace through which we report serious crimes.

[Barrister]

It's really bizarre - you've posted far more vitriol directed at McQ than at Sandusky.

I agree with Meri on this. Sandusky I can at least rationalize as someone who has something wrong in his head. Assuming he didn't call the cops, McQuery seems to have acted either with extreme cowardice or indifference to abuse he knew was occuring.

Also, I don't see as going to the cops as going over my bosses head. There isn't a chain of command in the american workplace through which we report serious crimes.

But would his bosses have thought of it that way?

And to excuse the child rapist, but blame the witness just causes me to shake my head.

[merithyn]

And to excuse the child rapist, but blame the witness just causes me to shake my head.

Let me be clear: I am not excusing the child rapist. As I've stated, he is beyond comtempt and should be anally raped every day for the rest of his life. That does not, however, give McQueary a pass.

[Malthus]

I suppose it depends on your willingness to forgive moral cowardice.

McQ's best defense is that he thought his bosses would do the investigating and reporting ... but at some point he had to be aware that the only action they took was to take away his shower key, and "report" to the charity (who in turn did nothing).

Sure it is understandable why he didn't report - presumably he didn't want to rock the boat because it could cost him his job or even get him blacklisted. Anyone can understand that, but to understand is not to condone. It isn't very admirable to allow a rapist to walk free to rape again just because you are worried about your career prospects.

[The Brain]

Why is it called "cowardice" anyway?

[Malthus]

Why is it called "cowardice" anyway?

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word coward came into English from the Old French word coart (modern French couard), a combination of the word for "tail" (Modern French queue, Latin cauda) and an agent noun suffix. It would therefore have meant "one with a tail" — perhaps from the habit of animals displaying their tails in flight ("turning tail"), or from a dog's habit of putting its tail between its legs when it is afraid.[citation needed]. Like many other English words of French origin, this word was introduced in the English language by the French-speaking Normans, after the Norman conquest of England in 1066.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowardice

[garbon]

And to excuse the child rapist, but blame the witness just causes me to shake my head.

Let me be clear: I am not excusing the child rapist. As I've stated, he is beyond comtempt and should be anally raped every day for the rest of his life. That does not, however, give McQueary a pass.

Indeed. I would presume that Meri isn't wasting time blaming the child rapist as that is inherently obvious.  The point of contention is how culpable we should view McQ.

[garbon]

I suppose it depends on your willingness to forgive moral cowardice.

McQ's best defense is that he thought his bosses would do the investigating and reporting ... but at some point he had to be aware that the only action they took was to take away his shower key, and "report" to the charity (who in turn did nothing).

Sure it is understandable why he didn't report - presumably he didn't want to rock the boat because it could cost him his job or even get him blacklisted. Anyone can understand that, but to understand is not to condone. It isn't very admirable to allow a rapist to walk free to rape again just because you are worried about your career prospects.

I agree entirely with this.

[merithyn]

I suppose it depends on your willingness to forgive moral cowardice.

McQ's best defense is that he thought his bosses would do the investigating and reporting ... but at some point he had to be aware that the only action they took was to take away his shower key, and "report" to the charity (who in turn did nothing).

Sure it is understandable why he didn't report - presumably he didn't want to rock the boat because it could cost him his job or even get him blacklisted. Anyone can understand that, but to understand is not to condone. It isn't very admirable to allow a rapist to walk free to rape again just because you are worried about your career prospects.

This.

[Capetan Mihali]

What about the possibility that he simply decided to stop snitchin'?   

[Barrister]

And to excuse the child rapist, but blame the witness just causes me to shake my head.

Let me be clear: I am not excusing the child rapist. As I've stated, he is beyond comtempt and should be anally raped every day for the rest of his life. That does not, however, give McQueary a pass.

Funny - I think Sandusky should be jailed for the rest of his life.  I don't know why you'd make the leap to him being raped. 

And maybe I'm okay with 'doing nothing' because I see it all the time.  It is the exceptional person who speaks out in such circumstances, not the ordinary.  Very few people talk about domestic violence, drug abuse, sexual abuse, petty thefts, wyou name it - when it is conducted by someone you know or are related to.

[The Brain]

Everyone who ever calls the cops should get a ticker tape parade and get to meet Jackie in the White House. I agree that such people are truly exceptional.

[The Brain]

Why is it called "cowardice" anyway?

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word coward came into English from the Old French word coart (modern French couard), a combination of the word for "tail" (Modern French queue, Latin cauda) and an agent noun suffix. It would therefore have meant "one with a tail" — perhaps from the habit of animals displaying their tails in flight ("turning tail"), or from a dog's habit of putting its tail between its legs when it is afraid.[citation needed]. Like many other English words of French origin, this word was introduced in the English language by the French-speaking Normans, after the Norman conquest of England in 1066.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowardice

We need a new word.

[The Brain]

I wouldn't want to work for an organization that would frown upon reporting serious crimes to the police. I've quit jobs over a LOT less than that. McQ was an adult. He could make whatever cowardly choices he wanted but people WILL judge him.

[merithyn]

Funny - I think Sandusky should be jailed for the rest of his life.  I don't know why you'd make the leap to him being raped. 

Eye for an eye and all that.

And maybe I'm okay with 'doing nothing' because I see it all the time.  It is the exceptional person who speaks out in such circumstances, not the ordinary.  Very few people talk about domestic violence, drug abuse, sexual abuse, petty thefts, wyou name it - when it is conducted by someone you know or are related to.

I'm glad that that is a callous I have not developed because I would be afraid that it would make it easier for me to walk away, something I cannot do easily.