The News Cycle Perpetuating Itself

I can understand the constant feeding frenzy of the cable "news" networks during the run-up to the Presidential election. But the election is over, and the networks have found a formula to keep their audiences all day long. Remember when Crossfire was a 30-minute show and not a way of life?

The news, itself, doesn't do it for the American TV consumers any longer. Unless they're invested in it. Hate guns? We got a show for you. Hate Obama? We got a network for you. Want an out-of-context soundbite mash-up to back up your own views? Just stay tuned.

We root for political sides now like we root for our sports teams, and down-the-middle news reporting is now extinct. Not that it's not practiced, but because so few believe that the reporting entity is without bias. With all the black helicopters out there and such.

There is only one thing that can derail the cycle, a salacious sports scandal. The Secret Service sex romp in Colombia and the Petraeus affair are a drop in the bucket compared to Tonya Harding, OJ Simpson, Tiger Woods, Jerry Sandusky, or Manti Te'o.

As Clay Travis headlined on OutkickTheCoverage.com, the Te'o story is the kind of thing that breaks the internet, and causes the whale to show up on Twitter because it's overloaded.

A sports scandal brings both political sides together and takes over the 24-hour cycle. Even on MSNBC's (smartly named) The Cycle, they led with the Te'o fake, dead girlfriend (or is it dead, fake girlfriend?) story. They even had Tom Scocca on, Deadspin.com's managing editor who broke the story.

While we spend the next day or two figuring out exactly how the Te'o situation all went down - as if we ever really will - the cable news networks will move back to partisan fights and rhetoric.

And that all comes from sports, since you can't like Alabama and still respect Auburn. And 24-hour sports radio preceded 24-hour cable news.

Meanwhile, The Penn State Cleanup Continues

In the spring of 2007, six Penn State football players were arrested and charged for their involvement in an off-campus fight. Joe Paterno decided that the team needed a lesson in accountability - that they were their brothers' keepers.

The entire team was assigned the grunt work of cleaning up Beaver Stadium Sunday mornings after the first five home games that season. The pay they would receive for their labor would be donated to Penn State club athletic programs.

At the time, it seemed to be the outside-the-box type of discipline that Paterno was famous for. But terms like "accountability" and "brothers' keepers" don't ring true today, knowing what we know now. Lessons will still be learned at Penn State, but first the punishments must be handed down for those so grossly unaccountable.

Jerry Sandusky has been incarcerated. The prosecution's case was swift and precise, and heavy justice was handed down.

Joe Paterno is dead. The posthumous fall from grace continues, which is the only recourse since he would have never had his day in court. 

A trial date has now been set for former AD Tim Curley and former VP Gary Schultz, who face perjury and possible "failure to report" charges. Jury selection begins January 7, 2013. They will have high-powered lawyers, and won't be thrown to the wolves as easily as Sandusky was.

As for President Emeritus Graham Spanier (that's his official title), still no charges have been filed. The Attorney General's office is likely doing its due diligence here, as it did with Sandusky where the Grand Jury collected all the testimony it could and they built an overwhelming case.

The AG would have to verify the findings from The Freeh Report, then likely make Spanier the backstop for everything associated with the coverup. That will take time. In the meantime, housecleaning continues in State College.

Since When Do High-Profile Criminal Defendants Do National TV Interviews?

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law...

It's the standard "Miranda" warning that we've seen on hundreds of cop shows. And it remains the best advice to any alleged criminal awaiting trial: Just Shut Up.

So why would George Zimmerman's attorney, Marc O'Mara, allow his client to speak to anyone while awaiting a trial for murder?

The Fox News platform with Sean Hannity may have a more sympathetic audience for Zimmerman to tell his story, but he's facing criminal charges. The court of public opinion has already spoken, and even if it could be swayed by Zimmerman's account, there is absolutely zero to be gained in his criminal defense. It only gave him a chance to contadict his earlier statements and further infuriate the nation that he had "no regrets" and it was "all God's plan" that an unarmed 17-year old was shot and killed.

Anyone that knows me could rightfully assume that Backtime's editorial department is no fan of Sean Hannity. But this was a very credible and competent interview.

An interviewer's job is to ask open-ended questions and elicit new information from the subject, not to spotlight his/her own theories. If Hannity appeared to be a friend, it only made Zimmerman wore comfortable and talkative. I believe Hannity did a much better job than Larry King or Chris Matthews or Barbara Walters would have in the same situation.

And O'Mara did Zimmerman no favors by letting him ramble off-script. You'd think he would have learned something from the events of November 14, 2011.

On NBC's Rock Center that night, Bob Costas was scheduled to interview Jerry Sandusky's attorney Joe Amendola. Sandusky had been arrested just over a week earlier, and Joe Paterno had been fired just a few days after that. In a blockbuster twist, right before air, Amendola offered up a phone interview of Sandusky. It was the first of several head-scratching moves by Amendola.

Not only did the interview cement the public opinion as to Sandusky's guilt, but an unaired excerpt from the interview was actually used in court. Many have called out NBC for not revealing this portion, that this may have been the smoking gun:

BOB COSTAS:

19:00:28:00 But isn't what you're just describing the classic MO of many pedophiles? And that is that they gain the trust of young people, they don't necessarily abuse every young person. There were hundreds, if not thousands of young boys you came into contact with, but there are allegations that at least eight of them were victimized. Many people believe there are more to come. So it's entirely possible that you could've helped young boy A in some way that was not objectionable while horribly taking advantage of young boy B, C, D, and E. Isn't that possible?

JERRY SANDUSKY:

19:01:01:00 Well — you might think that. I don't know. (LAUGHS) In terms of — my relationship with so many, many young people. I would — I would guess that there are many young people who would come forward. Many more young people who would come forward and say that my methods and — and what I had done for them made a very positive impact on their life. And I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped. There are many that I didn't have — I hardly had any contact with who I have helped in many, many ways.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2011/11/16/2988948/interview-with-joe-amendola-and.html#storylink=cpy

So once again, here are the words. Words that never would have reached a jury had a reckless attorney not served up his client when he should have remained silent:

And I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped. There are many that I didn't have — I hardly had any contact with who I have helped in many, many ways.

So Jerry Sandusky "helped" a number of young people, but selectively chose which ones would fulfill his sexual needs. His own words in an unnecessary TV interview helped put him away.

Maybe we should be thankful that Zimmerman and Sandusky have received such poor legal counsel, as we watch these words create a web they can't spin out of. But it's the unparalleled stupidity of these attorneys that make us very uneasy about the profession itself. 

Are they using their clients to make a name for themselves? Even if that was the case, who would hire them after these fiascos?

Backtime Dissects The Freeh Report

When a fishing boat veers off into dangerous waters, it can change course and/or seek help.

When an aircraft carrier finds itself in dangerous waters, it has no turning radius. It is the danger. It keeps charging forward and you'd better get out of the way.

Welcome to the USS Penn State.

Sixteen days ago, Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 criminal counts and will spend the rest of his life in prison. That was not the beginning, middle, or end of the story.

The 267-page Freeh Report really begins in earnest on page 11, titled: INDEPENDENCE OF THE INVESTIGATION. And it gets right to the FINDINGS on p. 14:

"The most saddening finding by the Special Investigative Counsel is the total and consistent disregard at Penn State for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims."

"Four of the most powerful people at The Pennsylvania State University (Spanier, Schultz, Curley, Paterno) failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade. These men concealed Sandusky's activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities."

"These individuals, unchecked by the Board of Trustees that did not perform its oversight duties, empowered Sandusky to attract potential victims to the campus and football events by allowing him to have continued, unrestricted, and unsupervised access..."

On October 29, 2011, Jerry Sandusky sat in his normal club suite at Beaver Stadium and hobnobbed with University officials as Joe Paterno collected his record-setting 409th career victory. It was 7 months after the Harrisburg Patriot-News reported that Sandusky was the subject of a Grand Jury investigation. More importantly, it was 10 years after Assistant Coach Mike McQueary witnessed Sandusky and a young boy in the shower.

It was also two days after Penn State attorney Cynthia Baldwin learned that Sr. VP Gary Schultz and AD Tim Curley would be included in the Grand Jury presentment.

Curley had tried to remove Sandusky from the season ticket list in July 2011 (p.105), but when Mrs. Sandusky inquired about it, the access was reissued.

Steve Garban, then the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, was "astounded" (p.91) by Sandusky's attendance in the Nittany Lion Club, and just assumed that the Attorney General's office didn't have a case.

The Board of Trustees first heard of the investigation on May 12, 2011, when President Graham Spanier "downplayed" (p. 89) the Grand Jury situation, saying that it did not "involve" (p.88) Penn State.

"Some Trustees reported that their meetings felt "scripted" or that they were "rubber stamping" major decisions already made by Spanier." (p.101)

After the Trustees were briefed on the Sandusky investigation at the May meeting, it was not revisited in subsequent meetings in July or September. Spanier may not have known the depths of Sandusky's crimes, but he probably assumed it would just be more water under the deck of the Penn State aircraft carrier.

"There are 76,460 undergraduate students and 9,745 graduate students that currently attend the University. The University's annual operating budget is approximately $4.1 billion..." (p.32)

Insignificant efforts were made in the past. After the 2001 McQueary/shower incident, the Gang Of Four - Spanier, Schultz, Curley, and Paterno - agreed (conspired) on a "humane and reasonable way to proceed." (p.75) This would involve three things: informing the Second Mile (Sandusky's charitable organization), the Department of Welfare, and telling Sandusky himself to stop brining children around Penn State football facilities.

How the information was relayed to the Second Mile is murky since that organization ultimately viewed it as a "non-incident" (p.64). The Dept. of Welfare was not informed. And how would barring Sandusky from the football program be enforced? Especially if Sandusky, a Penn State professor emeritus defied the order (request). Who was going to stop him?

"there is an over-emphasis on "The Penn State Way" as an aprroach to decision-making, a resistance to seeking outside perspective, and an excessive focus on athletics..." (p.129)

Only 4 people knew the plan. There were no legal grounds to keep him away unless the authorities were informed, and that would involve expanding the circle of knowledge, and that would mean exposure. That would mean smearing the pristine Penn State image, tarnishing Paterno's legacy, and bringing down the whole house of cards.

It was considered "very rare" (p.49) for a situation like this not to be reported the the Office of Human Resources.

It's not surprising that The Second Mile didn't act. Several months after "the plan," Penn State sold a tract of land to The Second Mile in September 2001 for $168,500 (p.79).

So please excuse the awful analogy, but Penn State University, Penn State Football, and The Second Mile were all in bed together. Could we say that they were all married to one another? A spouse can't be compelled to testify against another. If corporations are people, can they marry? How does this polygamous situation fall under the Defense Of Marriage Act?

It's like how the American economy is intertwined with the big banks. We may be furious with them but without them the whole system crumbles, and thus they are untouchable. And nobody has yet been held criminally accountable for the 2008 financial crisis.

What exactly Joe Paterno knew died with him. He was an old-school football coach who never touched a cell phone or used e-mail. He is referred to as "Joe" or "Coach" in various Tim Curley e-mails, but his level of complicity can only be assumed.

The transfer of Paterno's home in the summer of 2011 to his wife in exchange for $1 is thought to be a protection of his family should he ever have been a target in a civil suit.

The discussion now is whether Penn State should suffer the NCAA "death penalty," whether the Paterno statue should be removed, and what should happen to the three remaining obstructors of justice.   People call for NCAA sanctions based on a "lack of institutional control," when it was more akin to TOTAL institutional control.

I have no idea. I merely followed the case and read the report. I have faith in the system, especially having seen the swift and exact punishment that was handed down to Sandusky once authorities were able to investigate. (Though DA Ray Gricar failed to do so in 1998 - he later disappeared and is presumed dead in another twist to this case)

The Freeh Report recommends sweeping changes in Penn State policy and hierarchy.

I know that universities are beholden to their athletic programs. Especially football, and especially when icons are involved. This situation could have taken place in previous eras at Nebraska or Alabama.

Today, the University of Alabama's NCAA Compliance coordinator makes approximately $45,000 while Nick Saban makes more than $6 Million. There is no way to reasonably keep college football programs in line when the universities and entire states involved are so co-dependant.

The only way to try to reign it in is to make it all transparent. Each school needs independent auditors to have unlimited access to paper trails, phone records, travel logs, etc. But how is that to be implemented? By the school itself? By the NCAA? By the Federal Government? And what happens if they encounter obstruction? What's the recourse?

Backtime's ultimate diagnosis: College Football is too big to fail.