JoePa is not a scapegoat. He KNEW. He failed a moral test. Furthermore, it is a consequence of command responsibility.
Spanier had to go. He knew or should have known. Worse, he may even have facilitated.
Where I think your frustration lies is in the fact that PSU wishes that by offering these two up as sacrificial goats, the problem will go away. You intuit that there are other, more guilty parties that will go unexposed and unpunished while a living legend is destroyed. I think you are correct there.
This is a problem that went on for many years and is much bigger than we have have been led to believe. I think there is an underground of weird, sick stuff going on within the faculty and the surrounding community, and that there are likely multiple perderasts who availed themselves of the fruits of Coach Sandusky’s operation.
I’m normally one who detests witch hunts, but I am just about to break out the torches and pitchforks and head to State College. This needs to be rooted out and burned, root and branch.
Paterno was torn between protecting an old friend and subordinate who had worked for him for 26 years. He was part of the Penn State family and made a major contribution to the school's football success. Paterno felt a certain (and misguided loyalty) to this child molestor.
And no doubt, Paterno was protecting the institution and himself from being associated with such behavior. JoPa rationalized it as choice between the lesser of two evils. He was wrong as were all of the others who participated in the coverup. I am confident that the web of the coverup is extensive both below and above JoPa.
In the end, the institution was deemed more important than the lives of the victims. It is a sad commentary on the current state of big time college athletics. The money and stakes are enormous. Universities like Penn State realize that the success of the football program translates into big bucks not only from the programs themselves, but also from the contributions of the alumni.
On one level I have some sympathy for Paterno who has given millions to the university and helped to mold young men. The program was relatively clean and free from the usual corruption. But JoPa had a fatal flaw that clouded his judgment. He felt obliged to protect the institution (and himself) and his friends rather than the victims. The Catholic Church was guilty of the same thing in similar circumstances. Now the time for accountability is at hand and JoPa cannot and should not be allowed to avoid the consequences.