Posted on 11/17/2011 12:23:58 PM PST by surroundedbyblue
Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl initiated the call for Steeler great Franco Harris to step down as chair of the board of the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program, the mayor's spokeswoman said.
In a letter he sent to Harris and board members last night, Ravenstahl said Harris showed "callous disregard and indifference for the victims of child sex abuse at Penn State" after Harris spoke out in support of fired coach Joe Paterno.
Harris did not return several phone messages and it wasn't immediately known if he plans to step down from the Pittsburgh Promise board.
Harris, who played for Paterno from 1969-71, criticized the Penn State Board of Trustees last week for firing Paterno, who has not been charged with any crimes. Paterno and Penn State President Graham Spanier were ousted last week amid a scandal in which former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse.
"I feel that the board made a bad decision in letting Joe Paterno go. I am very disappointed in their position. I thought they showed no courage not to back someone who really needed it at the time . . . . that is very disturbing to me," Harris said last week.
Some incidents are alleged to have occurred inside the Lasch Building, which houses the football facilities on Penn State's University Park campus, after Sandusky's 1999 retirement.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
They’re both idiots when it comes to politics.
In this case, I think it is wrong for Ravenstahl to call for Franco to step down.
Jeezz...talk about collateral damage....are we at the point in society that a man can’t express his opinion about a controversial issue without being drawn and quartered ??
The Brownshirts approve.
Harris defends a man he knows personally - a cooperating witness not even accused of committing a crime - and he has to go.
Why do we even have a justice system? The media lynch mob is doing a damn fine job.
Get used to it.
It's the way all Bolshevik societies work.
No freedom of speech for you, Franco!
This whole thing is becoming a witch-hunt and a frenzy.
Let’s just shut down Penn State University entirely
(sarc)
If Franco Harris knew about any of this, he should be chased out. If he only knew the man, and expressed his opinion, no harm done, and he has no guilt.
Show me where his First Amendment rights are being violated.
Yes we are at a point where expressing an opinion can get you drawn and quartered and fired and shunned.
No, that's not enough. Let's nuke it. /s
That’s been true throughout history. It wasn’t invented yesterday.
It’s the only way to make sure.
Yup Mob rule.
Ravenstahl is an attention grabbing adolesent. He doesn’t have a clue.
I may not agree with Franco but he has a right to his opinion.
The other night at my local neighborhood saloon, a friend was defending Paterno. I think I will ask for him to be barred for life /sarc
Whether you agree with Harris or not, WHY must there be a price to pay for speaking your POV?
If you're a public figure (like Harris) and you work for a company, cause or organization that doesn't want to be associated with controversy, then yes, silence in public would be advised.
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