Don't ask don't tell

Did Penn State have its own version of don't ask don't tell in place since the mid 90's? If so, it doesn't appear that it was formal or sanctioned by the university but nonetheless there is the impression that many more people in the community and at the Universaity knew what was going on with Jerry Sandusky and the kids he was molesting than have let on.

According to published reports authorities were notified numerous times through the years of Sandusky's alleged abuses but nothing was done until just recently as a result of a Grand Jury investigation.

Penn State officials, including coach Joe Paterno, have indicated that they fulfilled their legal responsibilities by reporting things through the appropriate channels but for some reason warning lights didn't go off when Sandusky frequently turned up at football games and other events accompanied by children. There were also claims that he would take kids out of their schools for periods of time.

Is it too much to expect that football coaches, university officials, teachers, townspeople and others pay as much attention to details like these as they do to the details in a game or to what is happening with their employees, or other students or their neighbors?

What many members of the public think is that these folks noticed some things but may have chosen to ignore them either due to formal directives or informal pressures to keep quiet. Perhaps the football program or the University or the Head Coach or all of them were deemed to be more important than the boy's well being.

Identify the cause not just the reason

During the election for Montgomery County Commissioners this week the Republicans lost control for the first time in about 100 years. There were some comments on the story on KYW and after reading them I thought I would offer an opinion.

'Bruce Castor, Republican candidate and incumbent commissioner, may be right in his assessment of why the Republicans lost the Montgomery County Commissioners race. According to Castor the Democrats won because they had more money and more votes. That is more the reason than the cause.

But I think it comes down to the lack of a compelling reason to vote for the Republicans or even a compelling reason to vote. Republicans many times seem to come up short on motivating the voters.


Certainly it can’t be because the other side doesn’t provide the material to work with. I think the GOP has to figure out how and when to use that material rather than expecting that people will automatically vote for Republicans just because they talk about lowering taxes or creating jobs. It has to become a more personal message directed at the voters.'