How the entitled generation plans to destroy America
What has millions of Americans as upset and concerned about the events at Penn State and the inactions of FORMER head coach Joe Paterno, FORMER assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and then grad assistant Mike McQueary is the reaction of Penn State students in support of their unethical failure. Hundreds, if not thousands of them are angry at the victims. Anyone who witnessed the riot at Penn State and students overturning a news van and destroying property has to ask themselves, “Did they even ask WHY he was fired? Do they care?” Students joke about being “Sanduskied,” and worse—not understanding they’re referring to the rape of a 10-year old boy.
Some grads have experienced the callous disregard as well, including John Matco.
Dozens of Penn State fans, even adults and women, spit on John Matco, a 34-year old Penn State Alum who dared to stand up for the victims before the game Saturday. People threw beer on him, cursed him and threatened him.
The Washington Times says Matko was the target of many expletives.
The New Jersey’s Star-Ledger reported, “we saw one passer-by spill beer on Matko’s shoes, another try to knock the sign from his grip as he shouted in his ear, and a third walk past him and spit in his general direction … while his back was turned.”
ESPN says that:
“Matko, for the most part, was ignored. A few fans offered a colorful word or two of ‘venom,’ as he called it. But that was about it.
When asked about his protest, John told NPR:
” ‘I know these people better than they know themselves,’ he said. ‘I used to be one of them. I was brainwashed, too. Ten years ago I probably would have thought somebody holding a sign like this was a fool. But I’ve grown up. I have a family now. I don’t subscribe to this any longer. Instead, I think it’s important to stand up for what you believe. And I believe this university needs to start doing the right thing.’
After the game, which was won by Nebraska 17-14, Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said he too thought it should have been canceled.
“I thought that this game gave us an opportunity to show that the situation going on is bigger than football,” Pelini said.
“It’s about education and putting things into perspective what the situation is all about. Hopefully, the fact that both teams sat up and prayed together put that in perspective a little bit.”
What is disturbing is that many of these supporters are women, even women with children. They are carrying their hate to Twitter and beyond. Kelly Long (@Kel_Long or [email protected]] had no problem attacking me and writing the publications I write for to complain about my tweets regarding Paterno. The exchange she sent was pretty one sided. Although she claims to be a law school student, she forgot there are TWO sides to every story. She left out her tweets calling me a fatass, thinking perhaps, as Joe Paterno, Mike McQueary and Penn State did, that no one would bother to look further than her claims.
She and another tweeter, @MaryMac_III seem to think that attempting to destroy my life, my business and my work with the homeless and others is the way to shut me up—much like their hero Joe Paterno and Penn State shut up Mike McQueary. I don’t shut up. Kelly Long and Mary Mac, like Paterno, McQueary, Curly and all organizations that use force and intimidation to try to make people stay silent, are why we, as a country, have failed our children and need to continue to speak out. Kelly Long is a law student and if she graduates and if she passes the bar, she’ll be part of the system that prosecutes people based on if they suck up and agree with her opinion.
As a survivor of child abuse myself I WILL NOT SHUT UP. Women like Kelly Long and Mary Mac are simply the female versions of the male domination and threat systems we see at Penn State, at The Citadel, in all branches of the US Military and in police departments around the country. We have stopped being a country of free speech and have become a country like Nazi Germany where he with the biggest stick had the right to free speech. For too long victims have kept silent. They haven’t opposed the Kelly Long’s, the Mary Macs, the Joe Paterno’s, the Penn States and others who have succeeded in shaming, threatening and abusing those who have an opinion contrary to theirs.
The privileged few, the 1 percenters, who think they can attack, threaten and abuse anyone because they have enough “F*** You” money position and power are wrong. Not only are these two women writing TED, tweeting TED and emailing, they think their entitlement to respect they haven’t earned trumps my right to employment, and to free speech and to my own opinion. IF you can’t handle the heat on Twitter then get off the service. What they fail to realize is that by trying to ensure they shut me up they’re making it more possible for me to speak out.
The reason the trend towards narcissistic youth is troubling is that this is a trend. The feeling and comfort of entitlement is NOT a one time oversight. As the investigation into Penn State’s football program continues it seems that Joe Paterno had a history of ethical violations. No wonder this one incident was no big deal. It was one in a long line of ethical lapses.
Nick Summers, a writer for The Daily Beast, goes into detail in an excellent article. He says:
As the Nittany Lions won more games, their players more often broke the law. Between 2002 and 2008, 46 Penn State players were charged with a total of 163 crimes; 27 were found guilty. The Daily Beast was not able to obtain information confirming how many of those charged were accused of sex crimes but there were at least four cases of students accused of sex crimes during that period.
The worst of the crimes of Penn State haven’t been uncovered. The stories that Sandusky was selling sexual access to children to Penn State Boosters and donors is growing. So are the number of victims. The reason Joe Paterno hired a CRIMINAL defense attorney tells many people he knows more than he’s willing to admit to. The world can only hope that the victims do get a piece of Paterno/PennState pie before the lawyers take it all.
But whatever happens, I refuse to shut up. I encourage other victims to step up, to blog, to tweet, to retweet and to object. It’s time to show the bullies they can’t bully us any more.
