Good point Tommy. Your analysis may get people to treat this story seriously. 

I agree, excellent title for the article!!

Wow.  I’m not sure if I have agreed with anything Tommy Christopher has said, ever.  But on this point, he couldn’t be more right, errr – correct.

Hit the road Joe and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

smart observation and well stated, tc…  this totally absolves you from your shouts-a-question-to-obama-and-he-may-have-heard-it-as-he-exited-his-helicopter episode…      

I think the FBI or some form of higher government needs to intervene.  The entire city and school- from janitor, to students, to school president seem to not know the enormity of the situation.  I would seriously call for the national guard to come in and clear out the campus.  Let the FBI confiscate every government computer on campus and gather evidence of who knew what and when.  Maybe only then will somebody in State College, Pennsylvania understand that what happened was not alright.

I spent the majority of my life in PA.  I was NEVER a Penn State fan even though everyone of my circle of friends were Penn State grads and JoPA fanatics.  Tail gating there was something to be amazed about.  I find it sad that Paterno will go out in disgrace.  Tommy’s headline is right on target.  It is rape in the majority of the cases.  It will take years for this to go away. 

Penn State and the Catholic Church! 

Congratulations on saying something that had to be very painful to spit out!!

Maureen Dowd’s use of her 10 year old nephew in a column about pedophile rapists was particularly classy.

Let’s not rush to judgement based on a Dowdy Maureen post.

Umm, well if you want to see them go to hell, let us begin a left/right bargain right now. Let us get them there as soon as possible.

Anyone that is convicted of pedophilia should be jailed for life at the minimum, capital punishment if there is more than one victim.

How bout it Tommy? Or will we get some sot that will claim they can be rehabilitated or something?

Couldn’t agree more. Yesterday when the main story broke, there was an AP report of it circulating the rounds of major and minor media outlets…in the middle of this AP article, there was actually a reference to–and I AM quoting–the “10 year-old boy who was having sex with Sandusky” in the shower. That was seriously what the author(s) wrote!  I think it was, to be exact, the part of the report that noted that the current investigating police, as the writer put it, would like “the 10 year-old boy who had sex with Sandusky in the shower room to come forward”  and talk to them. To describe what the child endured as “having sex with Sandusky,” as if it was a choice on the child’s part, or was somehow consensual, as if it was anything other than rape, was such a poor choice of words that I couldn’t believe that it made it past the editor’s desk. That was my first thought. My second thought was that if the boy who was victimized was reading this report and saw himself being described as “having sex with Sandusky,” well I seriously doubt he would ever come forward and speak to the police now after reading that description of what took place. A description that implied–whether the writer meant to or not–that the child was somehow complicit in the act could only bring more pain to the victim. And it was such an inaccurate way to describe the event.  You are right to bring this topic up for discussion: the sooner we begin to call it what it is–rape, no more no less–the sooner people will learn to stop minimizing and denying that this kind of sexual abuse is real, it affects all segments of society, and is a systemic, widespread problem in our culture that we need to confront honestly, openly and immediately when we stumble upon it.

Thanks Tommy, this needed to be said.

This could put a serious dent in the Penn State recruiting efforts for a while. 

I mean, they could always try to salvage the “Linebacker U” brand by branching into Chippendales, or your brawny towel set, but I really think those are stopgap measures at best. Firing Joe Pa and anyone on his coaching staff who was around when Coach Sandusky was actively involved in the behavior that earned him that “Special Angel” award from Rick Santorum is probably a good start.

I’m all for it.  Repeat offenders are allowed one page (double spaced) for last words, and one slug to the forehead. 

Agree completely – clearly justified distinctions, very well said.  Please also send to the Mediaite Editor’s as the section “You might also like” right below your article, is “Brit Hume Calls Herman Cain’s Political Survival Over Sex Scandal ‘Almost Impossible.”

At least that one is still alleged and is against an adult woman and is only groping.  Not so bad then, right? ….Right?  I don’t think you would agree with that either.  Should at least be labeled “Sexual Harassment.”

Also, the TV Guide.com Advertisement to the right of this article uses “Joe Paterno Stepping Down as Sex Abuse Scandal Rocks Penn State Football Program”   At least it uses “abuse.”

Please keep your articles coming when you see wrongs like this- we need your voice badly and maybe someday it won’t be “overreaching” to fix some of our society’s problems.  Reposting again and again, thank you.  

There is no right-left potential dichotomy here. Well, there is a bit of one, in that pedophiles tend to be Republicans, but that’s just a function of the problem with authoritarianism. Your own ignorance, or perhaps I should say obliviousness, on the subject is not going to help.

Rather than generalize, let’s leave at what the NON-pedophiliacs who where in positions of authority in this case should have done. That of course would include Joe Pa, who can not credibly claim to have had no idea that what was going on with his trusted subordinate Coach Sandusky, or that it was not something he should act to do something to stop. 

Though under-reported, this happens in Public schools all across this country.  So let’s change it to:

Penn State,  the Catholic Church and Public Schools!

Unless of course you would not want to make such broad generalizations any longer.

Well done, Tommy Christopher.

P.S.  I think the word ABUSE is so offensive here because it suggests that there is a non-abusive form of child rape.

True, True, true. This is not about football! This is not about Joe Paterno. This is about the rape of many boys in the Penn State campus and other places and people knowing about it and doing nothing. It just happenes to be at a college that has a big, huge footbell team. This is about these abused children!

all are outraged!!!!! have you ever heard of nambla tommy?????

Tommy….thanks for writing this with such passion. Until the public at large understands what is happening to kids while in the clutches of these monsters, we will never “get it”….
This man, Jerry Sandusky, started a “mentoring” organization that gave him access to kids whenever he wanted them. In the pretext of helping kids he spent 30 years raping them. So far we know of 9 that he raped in the almost 10 years since Paterno was first informed of Sandusky’s crimes. It is inconceivable that he was allowed access to the locker rooms at Penn State after he was caught in the act of raping a 10 year old boy there.
He was actually seen there last week.
He is a monster and the people in charge, who did nothing, are monsters.
Thanks again, Tommy.

I’m asking Stonepark3 get banned for calling 6 different people pedophiles without provocation on the Shepard Smith/Penn State article!!

Your point is very well taken. I agree that anyone who calls it a sex scandal is horribly minimizing allegations of incredibly serious crimes. Sounds like someone cheating on their spouse. As the editor of The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, PA at the heart of reporting the story, I can say that we refer to it as a child sex abuse scandal. “Rape” is actually the name for a specific crime and Sandusky was charged with different crimes. “Sexual abuse” is also the name for a specific crime which is different from the charges. I know I’m speaking as a journalist – our priority is accuracy – rather than as words are popularly used whether by my friends or commentators. In the latter vein, I agree that “rape” is indeed what the worst allegations are. “Sex scandal” no way.

I would add in response to Missminkalina above that the AP writer who said a boy “had sex” with Sandusky is not only an idiot but is ignorant of their own company’s style. AP style says “having sex” is reserved for consensual sex.

It’s just a gay coach ,being gay!

Really!? The one thing we can all pretty much agree on and you say that. Disgusting

Way to go you leftie freak. So, you must be an authority on pedophiles, so tell me………………………..

How did you get to be that way?

He should have retired at 70.

Yes. I believe that it was done intentionally to shame the victim. Why? Because this story is probably bigger than we can imagine. Things swept under the rug for a reason. Who else was involved? Who else abused those kids. I am so sure that a lot went on at old PSU that someone doesn’t want to get out.  Also if the abused child now comes forth and he is now homosexual – because that is sometimes the outcome as well as the abused becoming an abuser themselves…. Thanks Sandusky – you creep.

Didn’t think of that way. Thanks.

I am so disgusted by this wimp and low life grad assistant for not jumping right in the shower and stoping the rape? But his creepy wimp of a father told hi
to leave the building. I wouldn’t hesitate to jump right into that shower. Hopefully a weapon to hit him with would be handy, like a paper weight. Mofos!

sick comment.

This was caused by political correctness. Just like 911 was caused by political correctness and slick willy.

I agree… this is how it should be reported and framed if the MSM wants to be seen as honest.

Tommy Christopher, bringing people together. Well done, sir, from one of your biggest critics.

Sick behavior

“sick” lets him off the hook. ignorant and bigoted comment.

We “straights” commit more sex crimes than others, buster!

and the 42nd President of the USA.

Cave n!@@ers gone wild on PSU raping children and turning a blind eye and a deaf ear.  White people are moral, truthful and upstanding, not!!  Casey Anthony should enroll she would be right at home. 

I agree with your agreement!!  =)

I think the point makes sense, but “rape scandal” is probably a little too spiked. Media outlets are trying for objectivity, and “rape scandal” has the effect of sounding biased against the accused. I’d rather go with “child sexual abuse scandal,” which gets more correctly to the point you’re getting at without evoking the emotion that the word “rape” can evoke in the wrong context.

er what do you call a grown man bending over a 10 year old boy and forcibly sodomizing him?…   That’s as rapey as rape gets…   I believe I just heard that Paterno is officially out immediately .. good riddance.. All involved are sick fucks..

Dunno, sometimes you need to call things like you see them.  This isn’t a “sex scandal.”  Just call it a scandal surrounding Penn State, and one of their former capos charged with raping young children, and the “conspiracy of cowards” (as one ESPN analyst put it) who are believed (and will be investigated for) to have covered up the incidents.

This pig McQueary, the grad student is just a step below Sandusky in guilt and should have charges brought against him. He saw a child being raped and DID NOTHING. He was a member of the staff at the university-an assistant coach. I thought educators had to alert police to cases of abuse. Oh, and McQueary-a former quarterback at Penn State- was a strapping big guy, capable of easily stopping the rape himself. 

As I was tying this I just found out that the cowardly pig is still coaching at Penn State and that there is no call, so far, to fire him!! Are you freaking kidding me?!!! He’s still there?! FIRE HIM!

Is is a sex abuse scandal…which people who were in a position to do something about did nothing. Worse, they perpetuated it.

Absolutely right.  Sandusky should burn and the heads of all who knew and did nothing should roll

I’m actually appalled at ANYONE using this  terrible situation as a reason to fling partisan barbs like it’s just another day.  Seriously, anyone who has done that should be ashamed of themselves.   GROW UP, this isn’t middle school, this isn’t just another relative subject. Do you have no moral core?

I have no words to describe how I feel about anyone that would attack a child, what I think about pedophiles and their enablers.  Anyone who didn’t stop this isn’t human in my mind. 

Who kidnapped Tommy and took over his column. I agree with the fact that it makes me sick to hear that the is is sex scandal. The rape of a child has nothing to do with sex and in fact is not merely “abuse”. Everyone involved including those that did not report the crimes to the police should be prosecuted. Tommy should stick to non-political stories. I say this smiling as I know that will not happen. However, I seriously think that focusing on actual injustice and abuses of power as opposed to bias and propaganda would be a great turn for Tommy Christopher’s career.

“student would know enough to stop the rape and call the police”

Wrongly blaming the person who actually did do something is stupid. 

The alleged rape occured before the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal and the general public was not as aware of the importance to prevent and stop child sex abuse.  The graduate student was shocked and horrified.  Seeing a child sexually abused can be traumatizing to a person.  He did take action though.

And I agree with your agreement with his agreement!!! :D

Why doesn’t Mediaite cover the OWS rapes?

Been a Penn State fan since the days of Lydell Mitchell and Franco Harris.  What I’ve learned over the course of the last week, through the media and grand jury testimony absolutely repulses me.  As hard as it is for me to say, Joe Paterno through his actions or lack thereof, was at least in my mind, was a facilitator to the deviate conduct of Jerry Sandusky.  He too, was someone I idolized and dreamed of playing for when I was in high school.  What’s going on right now is proof enough to me that no one should be placed on a pedestal for adoration.  Joe Paterno was my childhood hero and all that is gone now.

Do you mean sex crimes in total or that the percentage of straights who commit sex crimes is greater than the percentage of gays and lesbians who commit sex crimes?  As heterosexuals comprise the overwhelming majority of the population, you’ld expect they’d also commit the overwhelming majority of the sex crimes.

“The nomenclature surrounding “sex crimes” is already hopelessly sterile,
and the media routinely refers to cases of rape and sexual assault as
“sex scandals,” ”

This parsing of the language may be as you say – a way to soften the language for public consumption that has the effect of minimizing the horror involved.

But if more  precision in the language used is to be recommended, then the media has fallen much shorter than you indicate.

Why not go all the way and be precisely descriptive?  These are cases of homosexual sexual assaults on young boys.  No real way around it – it’s the standard term for folks who look towards their same gender for sexual gratification.  There have been no reports of young girls being assaulted, strictly man on boy.

If you want to call a spade a spade, then first you’ve got to put all your cards on the table.

Motion carried….

FOOL>> as a % that is totally wrong .. The raw numbers “might” show more hetro abuse, but when you factor in the percentage gay abuse far exceeds hetro.  BTW your comment is a standard canard used by the gay community..

I hope I am never so unimportant that I EVER must send a “tweet” about any subject on Earth.  Pitiful acts.

speaking of accuracy in reporting…

Jon Stewart provided a breather today from a day full of Herman Cain sex scandal developments. . .

Eric Bolling theorized that Herman Cain’s sex scandal was a “systemic taking apart of a conservative right by the left.

Brit Hume Calls Herman Cain’s Political Survival Over Sex Scandal ‘Almost Impossible’ (also search term sex scandal)

Thank you, Tommy.  It needed to be said.  This whole story is horrifying. 

interesting thing to focus on in a story about child rape.

sex with a child is, by definition, “rape.”  calling it what it is isn’t “spiked.”  it just isn’t pulling all those punches the good old boys like to pull when they’re cruising denial.

… “This was caused by political correctness.” ?  it was CHILD RAPE. 

So sorry.  Child pedophilia is not homosexuality.  It is child rape, and has nothing to do with sexual orientation.

I think this guy is scum, but a child can’t have sex, really? Two 15 year olds decide to have sex together – are you saying they raped each other? Hyperbole isn’t good journalism.

Yea it does. If you rape same-sex, it’s homosexual rape. If you rape different-sex, it’s heteroesexual rape. Some rapists prefer boys. Some rapists  prefer girls. That’s a sexual orientation.

I understand that you want to depersonalize evil people, and pretend that they have no sexual orientation because you don’t understand it — but engaging in hyperbole does nothing to save children. 

Now, if these sick fucks ever walk down a dark alley, and you’re there — I got your back. But I’m not going to pretend it has nothing to do with sexual orientation. Sticking your head in the sand solves nothing.

Whether your cult is jesus or sports, if you join an organization of people, you are assisting rapists. If you patronize them with your money, you are paying for rapists. People are sick when they join cults. Any organization where the value of the organization is considered more important than the value of an individual lends itself to cover up crimes.

because they’re not funded with education dollars and taxpayer money and covered up by sports and/or religion. They’re just plain rapes. If we reported on every rape there’d be no room left in the papers. Everything is history. Only interesting things are news.

So wrong. On so many levels. “To call child molestation of a boy by a man “homosexual” or of a girl by
a man “heterosexual” is to misunderstand pedophilia. No true pedophile
is attracted to adults, so neither homosexuality nor heterosexuality
applies.” — http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gays-anatomy/200809/homosexuality-and-pedophilia-the-false-link

No “true” pedophile? So Psychology Today engages in the No True Scotsman fallacy?

It’s sickening that so many of the regular Mediaite commenters immediately and lamely
try to turn this into something political. 
How ridiculous and braindead can you be?This has nothing to do with Herman Cain or the evil libruls!
Do you only have 15 or 16 words and concepts in your tiny skulls?

This is about a piece of scum who raped little boys.
There are plenty of them on both sides of the political aisle.
So seriously:  STFU.

Seriously:  you are off topic.
And sick. And stupid.

I agree. Stonepark  should get banned for all sorts of things, least of which using slurs and downright meanhearted nastiness. Nothing she says is clever or interesting or meaningful.
Just a broken record of homobashing and fear of libruls.

Not likely by the Mediaite regulars, though.
Check this thread and see the only thing they’ve got inside their tiny skulls is bashing libruls.
The bizarre stretches and reaches to turn this into a political thing appalls me.

Don’t even try. Clint and the rest of the Mediate righty-tighty regulars simply don’t have
the capacity to understand this kind of thing.
The only opinion they have of ANYTHING is that somehow the libruls were involved.
Infinite idiots.

actually sandusky is NOT charged with rape. the most serious count against him is “first degree involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.” In Pennsylvania, rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse are separate crimes.
Both include oral and anal intercourse, but only rape includes vaginal intercourse. that may seem ridiculous, but it’s true. So it’s inaccurate to say he’s accused of rape — despite the heinous acts described in the grand jury report. one might say he’s accused of forcing children to have sex with him, as opposed to just “he’s accused of having sex with kids.” and  ”child sex abuse scandal” as opposed to “child sex scandal.” if the charges were rape, the media would call it that. 

Kudos to you Mr. Chrisopher for calling this what it is…RAPE.
Nothing sexual in nature here at all. Yours is the first article that I could relate to and agree with since I first started following the story. Keep up the true and accurate tone. We need more like you in journalism.
Melissa Franceschini

Thank god I’m not the only one. I watched ABC’s news coverage of this story and it was atrocious. They made it seem like a sex scandal instead of a rape. They also added a video clip of President Obama spewing out some pre-made statement about “protecting America’s children” which was obviously a generic statement and not related to the story what-so-ever.

Anyone else think that ABC’s story that was on TV 11-11-11 was an absolute debauchery of televised journalism? Maybe ABC is just shit and I don’t watch enough TV to have previously came to that conclusion…

Thank you for your article. It’s rare to see someone stand up and speak his mind.

This man would be charged with at least two crimes committed in a court of law.

1. Rape

2. Sex with a minor (pedophilla)
The law doesn’t charge the man with an exclusive title such as homosexual rape or heterosexual rape because gender is irrelevant to the crime committed. Saying otherwise would imply gender inequality.

Same goes with pedophilia.

Spacegod, I’m about as far to the left as you can get. But it’s nice to know you are incapable of actual discussion.

Pedophilia is a fetish, not a crime.  You can’t charge somebody with pedophilia. The term is usually something along the lines of “indecent liberties with a minor”, at least that’s how it appears on the sex offender registry where I live.

“Don’t even try. Clint and the rest of the Mediate righty-tighty regulars simply don’t have
the capacity to understand this kind of thing.
The only opinion they have of ANYTHING is that somehow the libruls were involved.
Infinite idiots.”
Spacegod, you’re an idiot. I’m about as liberal as you can get. Obama is way too far to the right for me. But the fact that all you can do when somebody has an opinion different than you is to declare that they are on the other team  indicates just how minuscule your mental capacity for reasoned discussion is.

McQuery said Sandusky and the 10 year old boy saw McQuery when he saw them in the shower.  Can you imagine, the boy probably said I’m saved, but no help.  And, that same boy was probably raped again and again, with now no hope for a rescuer.

http://www.moneyteachers.org/Boystown.Penn.State.html As the pedophile scandal continues to unravel at Penn State University, it is important to recognize other interesting connections in this story:

Wendell Courtney: Courtney represented both Penn State University and “The Second Mile” charity founded by indicted pedophile Gerald Sandusky.

“According to the Grand Jury presentment, Courtney was at the least made aware of the allegations against Jerry Sandusky that were leveled in 1998. ”Schultz testified that the 1998 incident was reviewed by the University Police and “the child protection agency” with the blessing of then-University counsel Wendell Courtney,” it reads.

“Courtney was then and remains counsel for The Second Mile.” (Source)

The 1998 accusations, which involved Sandusky showering nude with a 10 year old male at Penn State, were apparently covered up and not prosecuted. Ray Gricar did not prosecute the accusations, in-spite of witnessing Jerry Sandusky confess to them. Gricar disappeared in 2005, along with the hard drive from his computer, and has since been declared dead.

Courtney, being aware of such actions, and representing both Penn State and The Second Mile, which claims to have helped over 100,000 youth, finding all of this OK is another scandal in and of itself. At the very least, he had the responsibility to advise Penn State and the Second Mile to terminate their relationship with Sandusky, or face exposure from numerous civil lawsuits from the future victims of a confessed pedophile!

Dawg Dirt evil man to have done this to a vulnerable child.