I understand how you feel about the Freepers supporting Paterno. But I assume most are not supporting the homosexual rape of boys rather are ignorant of or reject the cultural norm of imposing Western ethical standards and expectation on institutions and the leaders of those institutions.
So, the conflict here is a rejection of the idea that Paterno had an ethical duty, which goes beyond his legalese duty, to protect other children from being molested in the “charity” by personally exposing Sandusky publically and criminally even as his supervisors decided to cover it up.
The conflict on these threads is the usual culture war theme: amoral humanist culture where there is a void of human soul. Humanists view man and life is purely material and everything else is choices we make to best serve self. Western culture sees man as an ethical being struggling to do the right thing (building and demonstrating character) over self interest (materialism, gain and physical gratification) to protect honor, human innocence, life and well being.
In humanist culture a person’s value is measured in dollars and cents. You are valuable and wonderful if you are successful materially. In western cutlure, value is measured in the demonstration love, honor or character and success is something that results from that state of being.
So to Freepers of western culture, Paterno failed his ethical duty as a leader becuase they did not go the extra mile to wreck Sandusky’s boy sex operation. But to humanists, he took the steps legally required of him and it was not his duty to protect children in a larger sense.
It is the same old, same old.
That is it, distilled in a nut shell.