The entire notion of "sanctioning Paterno's cover-up" is completely specious. Paterno was told something, and he reported it up the change of command. He didn't witness anything. And he was not silent. He didn't cover anything up.
There was a thread earlier today about a prank in an elevator -- the doors would slide open, and inside would be one person strangling another person. Most witnesses just stood there and allowed to doors to close, while they declined to get on board. Not a good reaction, but a rather human reaction. Paterno didn't react that way. He heard a report and he passed that report on to his superiors.
And some folks hate him for that and treat him with more scorn than they treat the actual child molester. I'll just never understand it.
You will never convince the lynch mob that they're wrong and it's pointless to try. The fact that there is not one legal finding that Paterno was involved in a cover-up is completely irrelevant to these haters.
The fact they they are sliming someone on the basis of hysterical ravings by commentators at ESPN (probably the biggest hypocrites on the planet) or a "report" that consists of nothing more than 40 pages of regurgitated grand jury testimony, a handful of (already known) emails and 200+ pages of pure opinion written by a despicable shill who was hired for the sole purpose of justifying bad decisions made by the Board of Trustees without any examination of what the testimony says, what the PA AG said, what the Grand Jury found, or what the emails actually says, tells you everything you need to know about these disgusting people.
I am ashamed they call themselves FReepers.
They are ignoramuses who have no desire to listen to any facts at all; they just want to light up the torches and have themselves a good little 'ol necktie party.
In heaven, we'll know the truth, and those who slander innocent people caught up in Jerry Sandusky's crimes without any justification ... won't be there.
Let me get this straight:
You're one of the head Boy Scout leaders on an outing.
A reliable adult on the trip reports seeing a former Scout leader raping a kid in the shower.
Of course, you do the "Paterno" thing.
You report it to "your supervising" Scout leader above you a rank.
You wait a month.
A year.
Two years.
You've either never heard anything more...about the victim...or the alleged perp...or you don't query around to see what's happened -- just to ensure that the authorities were, after all, notified.
Then...about three years after the "incident," the eyewitness applies for a job @ your place of business.
You either delegate the hiring process (or participate yourself). Either way, you talk to this "eyewitness" before hiring him. You what? You don't at least ask him -- yes or no -- "Have the authorities ever come talk to you about that minor kid rape victim?" ???
If you DO ask the interviewee for the job that Q, and finds out, "No." What? You don't start backtracking w/your fellow Boy Scout leaders to find out what happened to that report? If you DON'T ask the interviewee for the job that Q, or after he's hired and works closely with you, you don't ask that Q for year after year after year after year after year after year ... until FINALLY, you hear thru the grapevine that the authorities are indeed on the trail of the alleged perp...???? Really?
FACT: The eyewitness -- McQueary -- got hired 3 years AFTER reporting what he did to Paterno...and then got a promo to head of recruiting several years after that...
Paterno had the influence to ANY time during that time find out from McQueary if the authorities had followed up with him. If he did talk with McQueary about it, then Paterno ALSO became part of the cover-up.
If he didn't talk with McQueary about it, then it looks like (a) Paterno not only exhibited ZERO "care" about the alleged victim, but (b) it also gives the impression that Paterno hired/promoted McQueary to silence his eyewitness knowledge & protect the program.
Paterno around the time of his firing issued a statement of regret in saying he wish he had done more.
That was his mea culpa, even if it ne'er went far enough.
The entire Penn State campus should be razed so that no stone stands upn another. Then sow the ground with salt. Then move the US nuclear waste depository from Yucca Mountain to the site.