Pressure Cooker Overflow

Child molestation and the inverted power structure that surrounds college football are two subjects that a great many Americans are too squeamish to talk about or even read about.

Like a seafood stew that's simmered in a pot too long, the culture of "King Football" as CBS's Dennis Dodd calls it, must be ended. The culture of silence that surrounds child molestation is also one that is long overdue for a swift and final death. For too long, Americans have attempted to ignore both subjects, like a child who insists you've disappeared because they've hidden their eyes from you.

With the trial over, and the official report on the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State finally released, it's obvious that simply closing America's collective eyes didn't make the monsters go away.

The report on the Jerry Sandusky case, as compiled by former FBI director Louis Freeh made that sad fact all too clear when it was released last week. Four of the most powerful people at Penn State - and indeed, some of the most powerful people in all of college sports - protected a child predator and a college football program while they let the real victims suffer in silence for years.

We've watched as story after story has rolled out insisting Penn State be vilified for their blatant lack of responsibility. We've seen more than one call for the NCAA to give the football program at Penn State the "death penalty" as they did to SMU in 1987. We've even read comments from some of the same knee-jerk reactionary fans who raced into the streets of Happy Valley last fall to defend the so-called honor of Joe Paterno, now insisting that Paterno's statue should be torn down right away.

Those foolish people weren't correct last year when they defended Paterno to the hilt -  and they're not right now.

We do agree that the statue should be torn down. Any legacy of goodness Joe Paterno once had has been erased by the sad and disgusting refusal to deal with the multiple acts of child molestation by Paterno's assistant and friend, Jerry Sandusky.

The sick culture of coaches and players as demi-gods should also be torn down, though that's a completely separate commentary all by itself.

We also agree that Penn State should be penalized by the NCAA, by the State of Pennsylvania, and possibly even by the Feds. Finally, we believe the individuals responsible, most of whom are no longer with the university, should be punished most sternly of all.

We don't however, believe the students and professors currently at Penn State should have to suffer for the transgressions of those in positions of responsibility who failed so horribly at being decent human beings. Guilt by association will travel with those students and professors their entire lives, when they hold up their diplomas and resumes with the name "Penn State University" in bold type.

For now, those who are nominally in charge at Penn State will have to struggle through the bureaucratic minefields that anyone else would have to encounter, if they were to challenge a long-held status quo. The troubles Penn State's trustees will face should be no less painful and frustrating than the institutional denial that Jerry Sandusky's victims encountered.

What should also happen in the interim is that both the former and current executives in the school and the athletic department should be marched through the campus at Penn State once a day, regardless of weather, down to the statue of Joe Paterno. They should be forced to scream aloud, at the top of their lungs, the quote from Paterno that is etched there: “They ask me what I’d like written about me when I’m gone. I hope they write I made Penn State a better place, not just that I was a good football coach.”

When those executives, trustees, and coaches finally have their spirits crushed and can take no more, then maybe some small measure of justice will have been truly served for the kids abused by Jerry Sandusky. Justice for those boys who cried for help for years and received none.

Friday Funday: A Lucky Day

For those of you who are a bit superstitious, today may have a bit of extra meaning, as it’s Friday the Thirteenth. Or as the cousin of one of our staff members calls it, her birthday.

For us, we’re thinking of it as a bit of a lucky day. Temps are a bit cooler than they have been lately, in all three of our locations, even with the massive drought conditions affecting the U.S. right now. We’re all home safe, and gainfully employed. And there’s plenty of work to be had.

In fact, there’s still a massive pile of very serious topics waiting to tackle. For example, the most recent revelations about Mitt Romney’s past aren’t small potatoes. He was either lying to the SEC when he said he wasn’t employed at Bain Capitol after December of 1999 - which is a felony -  or he’s been lying about not being involved in the companies connected to Bain Capitol that outsourced thousands of American jobs. As Wall Street expert Henry Blodget says, you can’t be Chairman, CEO, and President of a company, and not be responsible for what it does.

Many of you also seem more interested than ever in the details of the Affordable Care Act. What’s it mean for you? What about the folks who don’t have insurance? How’s this whole thing work, where Republican governors are turning away millions in Federal funds that are supposed to help the poor and uninsured?

We assure you - we’re not setting you adrift to fend for yourselves on these issues. Make sure that you sign up for the Daily Felltoon e-mail edition, and you’ll get all the links to the stories we work from every day, when tackling tough issues like the ACA and Mr. Romney’s past with Bain Capital.

The simple fact is, there is SO much more to life than just politics.

For example, our friends at the UNL Dairy Store in Lincoln are having another day of P.O. Pears “Burger Madness” today - which we always love.

We also love the fact that the Dairy Store has begun to bring more of the flavor of the old P.O. Pears to their events with live music. Today, it’s not just any band that will play some great sounds while you’re eating some great food.

This one's a group called “The Upstairs Blues Band” made up of high school aged kids, who’ve been tutored by some of Lincoln’s finest musicians, including some of the great folks associated with the legendary Zoo Bar.

Teaching the next generation to master and appreciate any worthwhile talent - from music and cartooning, to writing and design skills, to mechanical skills or sportsmanship - is something that makes us smile almost every time we hear about it being done well. Apparently, a friend of ours in Lincoln, with a great ear for blues says these kids have a sound that even people who don’t think they like blues will enjoy.

Which means these kids apparently have learned not only to love to play music. They’ve also apparently learned how to take their musical education and make it work for them outside the classroom.

For us, even with all the serious issues to cover, that ability to learn and grow is music to not just our ears, but also our hearts.

Of course, the prospect of great food to go with that music doesn’t hurt either.

Whatever you’ve got planned for this weekend, remember to take some time for good food, good music, good friends - and remembering those things which are truly important.

Think of it as our prescription for a lucky day, every day.

Magic Beans & Fairy Tales

In the midst of your normally busy life, we hope you had a chance to see Mitt Romney address the NAACP on Wednesday in Houston.

Not surprisingly, there was was some disrespectful booing of Mr. Romney at the event, when he claimed he would repeal the Affordable Care Act if elected. Overall, Romney’s speech to the national convention of the NAACP was judged a surprising success in some corners, even if it was more bland and detail-free than usual - and that’s pretty impressive, even for Mitt Romney. That said, any success he may have reaped from his speech was likely spoiled by Romney's vague insult late Wednesday night about the NAACP crowd, when Romney said, "If they want more stuff from the government tell them to go vote for the other guy."

The fact is, Romney has been attempting to sell Americans vague promises and fuzzy details for almost his entire campaign, without giving us any real details. We looked in our daily notes for the last six months and could only find three instances where we or any other reliable media source hadn’t asked for some further specifics from Mr. Romney on… well, anything.

Romney may as well be selling magic beans, for all the specifics he’s been willing to give to the public so far - which, we still firmly believe, is a feature of his campaign, not a bug.

Even Republican Party mainstays are letting it be known that they’re now getting worried about the lack of details coming from the former Massachusetts governor. On topics ranging from Mitt's history with Bain Capitol, to his personal tax filings, Mr. Romney has continued to sidestep, evade, obfuscate, and generally try to not offend anyone with his positions.

That's a problem, when you consider the folks who might legitimately vote for him range from moderate, sane Republicans to extremist, GOP nutjobs. Point blank, you can’t keep both of these groups happy at all times, let alone the other fifty-to-sixty percent of the country.

Sadly, Mr. Romney’s über-vanilla non-committal positions fit perfectly with the odd insanity of the Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The House on Wednesday, for the thirty-third time, voted to attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act - and for the thirty-third time, their efforts were both unsuccessful and completely symbolic.

In fact, since January of 2011, the Republicans in Congress have wasted 89 hours of taxpayers' time, attempting to remove the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. At a cost of $2 million dollars a day, every day that the House of Representatives has wasted on this is an amazingly wrong-headed action for a group of people who claim so strongly that they are fiscally responsible.

One might even think the Republicans in the House were crying wolf, politically, on an effort they have no real chance of winning - especially after the decision of the Supreme Court two weeks ago today.

All this blatant denial appears to have made the political right breathless and powerless to respond to the death of one their favorite traditional talking points, that Americans are paying too much in taxes.

In fact, as the report released this week from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office details, the average Federal tax rate paid by Americans is at the lowest rate in thirty years.

When you add up all the facts, with the House Republican craziness, and Mitt Romney’s constant attempt to sell political magic beans to the least informed citizens, our American political landscape is starting to look like some kind of twisted fairy tale.

In truth, this is just what you get when one party is relatively direct about their attempts to move forward, while the other party is in severe disarray and denial about their attempts to take America backward.

We recommend hanging on to your magic carpet for the remainder of the political season. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.