The Thornburgh Report

I read with glee the numerous "JoePa" supporters yesterday touting the "paid rebuttal" known as the Thornburgh Report.  To those not following this nonsense, here's a snap-shot:

• Former FBI Director Louis Freeh issued a report in the Penn State/Jerry Sandusky child molestation case.  This report was very critical of former coach Joe Paterno.
• Not liking the Freeh  report, the Paterno family PAID for their own report, conducted by former United States Attorney General and former Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh.  This new report used the same data as Mr Freeh uncovered, but reached a different conclusion about the involvement of Joe Paterno in the Sandusky case.

So what you have is someone not liking an answer, so they attempt to change it.  Pretty simple actually.

Pretty silly if you ask me.  Don't forget that the Paterno family PAID for the Thornburgh Report.  What's more, the Paterno's were long time Republican supporters in Pennsylvania (which is not a bad thing), and part of me wonders how much the Paterno family contributed to Dick Thornburgh's political campaigns over the years.  Conflict of interest?  That seems just a bit too cozy for me.  To the best of my knowledge Louis Freeh had no connections to the University prior to the issuance of this report.  He certainly wasn't paid to come up with a specific conclusion (unlike Dick Thornburgh) either.

Andy Palumbo is spot on with his analysis of this whole sad affair.  You can read his take on it HERE.

While I admire loyalty, what really saddens me as a Penn State graduate (and life member of Alumni Association) is when I read the strident defenders of Joe Paterno forgetting that this whole mess isn't about "JoePa"...it's about a bunch of boys who were raped by a monster.  A monster that Joe Paterno kept and fed for a number of years.  If he didn't know what was going on he should have known.  The raping of children under his watch over-shadow's Joe Paterno's legacy, as it should.