Obama: Penn State abuse cause for 'soul-searching'

[alp227]

Source: AP

President Barack Obama says the Penn State sex-abuse scandal should lead to "soul-searching" by all Americans, not just Penn State.

"Obviously what happened was heartbreaking, especially for the victims, the young people who got affected by these alleged assaults," he told Westwood One Radio in an interview Friday night, in his first public comments on the scandal.

"And I think it's a good time for the entire country to do some soul-searching -- not just Penn State. People care about sports, it's important to us, but our No. 1 priority has to be protecting our kids. And every institution has to examine how they operate, and every individual has to take responsibility for making sure that our kids are protected."

The Penn State scandal has cost several university officials their jobs, most notably longtime football coach Joe Paterno and President Graham Spanier. They were fired because trustees felt they did not do enough to alert law enforcement authorities after an alleged assault in March 2002 by Jerry Sandusky, Paterno's former assistant and onetime heir apparent, who has been charged with molesting eight boys over 15 years.

Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=ncf&id=7222263

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Oh, for some entertainment, look at how low Freepers sink when commenting on this story. I was searching for this article and then this FR page came up... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2806301/posts

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[roguevalley]

2. souls can mean many things. I am not 'religious' but I know I have

a soul. It is the sum total of all that I am. Really, he is using language correctly and it can be taken as religious expression I suppose. I don't. I do agree with you however that he needed to speak sooner. That part of him needs to evolve. On that, Chollyocker, we agree. Take care.

[Merlot]

4. I didn't take it as a religious remark either,

You summed it up nicely,

[24601]

25. Speak sooner? You mean before the message was focus-group

tested with PA voters? Good joke - I'm still chuckling.

[tblue]

3. Well this was obviously a response to a question

from the interviewer. It wasn't so much a statement as it was an off-the -cuff comment. So I wouldn't give it more serious consideration than he gave it when he said it. Does he really think soul searchIng is the cure here? No. No one does.

[qanda]

5. The FR link is vile! Probably some of the worst comments I've read in a long time

How do these people live with themselves? And any voice of reason is considered a troll! Amazing.

[dogfacedboy]

6. The only thing more disgusting than a pedophile is a freerepublic poster...

[No Elephants]

8. A poster (anywhere) is worse than a pedophile? Seriously?

[JJW]

7. How about he do some soul searching

and pass some real laws, because I don't see anyone going to jail. This is terrible but, his banking buddies on Wall Street do much more harm, every day.

Dropping bombs from predator drones, on children isn't nice too.

[polmaven]

10. Define "real laws".

Perhaps you would like to see trials eliminated? Sandusky has been indicted on several counts. We do still, the last I checked, live in a country in which we are innocent until proven guilty. Should the president eliminate that part of our Constitution by executive order?

[truth2power]

12. "...innocent until proven guilty. " Tell that to al Alawki. Oh wait...he's dead. eom

[coalition_unwilling]

16. Yeah, you nailed the hypocrisy evident in Obama's remarks. If children

are the #1 priority, then dropping bombs on them with drone aircraft sort of undermines that priority.

Oh, wait, those are 'their' children and Obama was only referring to 'our' children.

OTOH, everyone knows they are terrorists disguised as children, so bombing them with drones is OK.

Hope I don't need the :sarcasm:

[woo me with science]

26. Thank you. Cutting safety nets during the worst economy since the Great Depression,

aggressively protecting criminal banks and tax cuts for wealthy cronies, and dropping drones on children.

Not exactly an effective high horse from which to lecture on right and wrong.

[No Elephants]

9. It's a cause for criminal prosecution, for all who knew, had a duty to report and did not report.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. The President cares about sports and his faith, as we see in

his words, but frankly, he is part of the 'no accountability' movement, he is the 'look the other way, turn the page' guy. The culture he builds, in which sports is paramount, bullies rule all, name calling and hate preachers are acceptable and no crime no matter how large is punished helps create the impunity under which more crimes are committed. DaVinci said- he who refuses to punish evil commands it to occur.

[ecstatic]

13. The President nailed it, and I think Americans are doing a lot of soul searching

1) People are imagining what they might have done if in McQuery's position, etc.

2) People are also thinking more about the signs of a pedophile, and what people should look out for.

3) We're also comparing the moral vs. legal obligations we have when it comes to protecting children.

4) Is it appropriate to remain quiet about a heinous crime to keep one's job? (Re: the posts defending the janitors for not calling the police)

[Quantess]

14. Interesting FReeper comments.

Apparently child rape is not nearly as upsetting to them as abortion. Gotta love those priorities.

[freshwest]

19. No paradox there. Will create more children to abuse. Supply side pedos.

[JJW]

15. Did I miss the part of the speech

about soul searching about those secret prisons of torture, waterboarding, invading another country with no justification? So when are the war crimes trials Mr O?

[No Elephants]

18. We still engage in "extraordinary" rendition. And, I believe, still operate Bagram.

Amnesty International has, I believe, called upon President Obama to end both.

[chervilant]

17. Oh, noes!

Oh, the hand-wringing! Oh, the teeth-gnashing! Oh, the raucous cries of "if it had been me"!

Child abuse is rampant in our species, in large part because so many of us are in deep denial about both the actual occurrence of child abuse AND about how pervasive is this horrific crime. Think how much more denial occurs when the perpetrator is a trusted friend or family member.

For those of us who are SURVIVORS of childhood sexual abuse, the pain of these experiences remains with us for the duration of our tenure on this earth. Survivors must find their own measure of recovery, often without the support of family or friends. In fact, here are a few of the messages I got after my baby sister outed our abuser (and, I had no idea he had abused my two younger sisters):

"I cannot BELIEVE that Homer would do such a thing!" (name changed to protect his adult children)

"Did you like it?"

"Why did you let him do that to you?"

"He says you seduced him."

"I never let Homer get to me!" (this from my other baby sister, also a survivor, because our abuser never raped her vaginally)

To this day, many members of our family--and some of our family's friends--blame me, my two sisters, and virtually ANYONE else other than the abuser.

For those of you who continue to pontificate about "who's to blame," or what you might have done if you had witnessed the rape of a ten-year-old boy: you can channel all of your anger and disgust to a positive end: be an advocate for ALL children. Learn to recognize the signs of abuse. Be a Big Brother or a Big Sister. Most importantly, ALWAYS BELIEVE a child who tells you that Uncle Homer "makes me do yucky stuff."

[Jennicut]

27. I also am a bit pissed that this discussion is about President Obama.

I was molested as a kid by a family friend and I later worked with children that were sexually and physically abused after I graduated college with a psych degree. It was a group home and the pain these children were in...trying to commit suicide at the age of 7 is heartbreaking. Depression, loneliness, lack of trust of adults. I even had one 10 year old boy try to touch me inappropriately. It was all he knew in terms of affection toward adults because his mother sexually abused him.
I get that some people have issues with Obama. But I prefer to focus on the issue he addressed. A lot of people at Penn State dropped the ball here.

[Poll_Blind]

20. You could use some soul searching too, Mr. President, regarding child soldier waivers.

2010: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/10/25/presidential-memorandum-child-soldiers-prevention-act">Executive Order Presidential Memorandum -- Child Soldiers Prevention Act
2011: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/04/presidential-memorandum-child-soldiers-prevention-act-2008">Executive Order Presidential Memorandum -- Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008

http://www.facebook.com/notes/leadership-directories/obama-ignores-child-soldiers-protection-act-for-the-second-year-in-a-row/10150333330011129?ref=nf">Obama Ignores Child Soldiers Protection Act for the Second Year in a Row
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/05/obama-child-soldiers-waives-penalties_n_995379.html">President Obama Waives Penalties On Countries That Use Child Soldiers
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/obama-waives-child-soldier-ban-yemen-congo/story?id=14663930">Obama Waives Child Soldier Ban in Yemen and Congo

From the article in the OP:

Obama said that the scandal shows that "you can't just rely on bureaucracy and systems in these kinds of situations. People have to step forward, they have to be tapping into just their core decency." When kids are mistreated -- or anyone, for that matter -- "all of us have to step up, we don't leave it to somebody else to take responsibility."

PB

[unionworks]

21. instead of soul searching

I searched google and found this. In 2006, the Centre county DA bagan an investigation into Sandusky. For reasons unknown, the DA did not follow through pressing charges. Not long after, the DA'S car was found beside the susquehanna river. The DA's broken computer was found nearby, minus the hardrive and no information could be recovered from it. The state AG AT THE TIME WAS TOM CORBETT. FORGET SOUL SEARCHING HOW ABOUT A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION

[unionworks]

22. almost forgot

To mention. The body of the Centre county da Has never been found.

[brentspeak]

23. Kind of the like the "soul-searching" Obama has done by letting Wall St. off the hook

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/banks-111339-citigroup-times.html

[unionworks]

24. fact check

Sorry. Turns out the centre county d.a. investigated Sandusky in '98. He turned up missing in '06. There still may be a connection. And imho a full scale fed investigation would be the best thing to come out of this.

[Taverner]

28. Fire anyone who knew and didn't say, hire anew and move forward

Make sure this NEVER happens again

[defendandprotect]

29. Obama says #1 priority has to be protecting kids ... ???? hmmmm....