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Fill me in on this Penn State/Paterno thing.

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TheCowsCameHome Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:37 AM
Original message
Fill me in on this Penn State/Paterno thing.
Edited on Thu Nov-10-11 11:39 AM by TheCowsCameHome
as briefly as possible, what exactly has gone on there? I don't follow football much, I don't follow Penn State at all.

Serious request.

Thanks.
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Blue_Tires Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:39 AM
Response to Original message
1. read the grand jury report first:
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TomClash Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:01 PM
Response to Reply #1
18. One of the few intelligent comments I have seen on this incident anywhere nt
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Laura PourMeADrink Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:25 PM
Response to Reply #1
21. wowzer !! quit a read. thanks (I suppose) for posting this - unbelievably
creepy. It is amazing that all this happened without the whole campus, and the rest of the world knowing
about it.

I was feeling sorry for JoePa and I guess I still do. But, I can see how it would all be tempered a bit with 1) the guy's long past with
coaching and 2) concern for overall PS reputation and his retirement.



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Blue_Tires Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 03:12 PM
Response to Reply #21
30. The real ugliness is the ass-covering amnesia the AD and VP got when questioned
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Laura PourMeADrink Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 06:37 PM
Response to Reply #30
32. Yep. It's very simple, actually. They decided to push the problem
toward the charity, because it would hurt PS's reputation.

I really don't think Paterno was as much to blame...he told his boss..the PTB. It's not like he
would have jumped over them and gone straight to the cops. His whole career and livelihood
were on the line. BUT, he could have met with them and INSISTED something be done.

All those episodes, all that queer behavior (no pun intended), surely everyone who knew him
knew something wasn't right.

It's all sickening..but I do understand the moral and personal dilemma these people were in.
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MineralMan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:39 AM
Response to Original message
2. Read one of the threads on DU. There are many.
Have fun.
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LoZoccolo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:40 AM
Response to Original message
3. Joe Paterno logged on to Google News last night and found out he was fired.
He was real upset that he found out by Google News that he was fired, rather than being told personally. Also, he thought that the reasons that he saw on Google News were unfair, which he saw in an article that he found via Google News.
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mdmc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:40 AM
Response to Original message
4. Here is what I got from DU
College kids riot. Some dude gets fired from coaching.. And it has something to do with pedo--

I didn't follow the story at all obviously..
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PoliticAverse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:41 AM
Response to Original message
5. Timeline of events...
Edited on Thu Nov-10-11 11:41 AM by PoliticAverse
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hlthe2b Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:53 AM
Response to Reply #5
12. I'm going to post that timeline here as following the links to see it all...
is a bit confusing and this is the best overall capsule summary I've seen:
*********

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/feed/2011-11/penn-state-scandal/story/penn-state-timeline-jerry-sandusky-joe-paterno-mike-mcqueary

A capsule look at the events leading up to the firing of Penn State coach Joe Paterno and school president Graham Spanier.

1969: Jerry Sandusky starts his coaching career as defensive line coach at Penn State.

1977: Sandusky starts The Second Mile, a foundation to help at-risk children. Its website states that Second Mile is a “statewide non-profit organization for children who need additional support and who would benefit from positive human contact.”

1994: Victim 7 meets Sandusky through The Second Mile at about the age of 10.

1994-95: Boy known as Victim 6 meets Sandusky at Second Mile picnic when he was 7 or 8.

1995-96: Boy known as Victim 5 meets Sandusky through Second Mile when he is 7 or 8.

1996-97: Boy known as Victim 4, age 12 or 13, meets Sandusky in Second Mile program.

1998: According to the grand jury report, an 11-year-old boy’s mother called university police to complain after finding out her son had showered with Sandusky. A state Department of Public Welfare investigator told the grand jury that Sandusky had showered with the boy (Victim 6) and hugged him and “admitted that it was wrong” and promised to not shower with the boy again. The case is closed after then-Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar decides there will be no criminal charge.

1999: Sandusky retires after learning he will not be the successor to Joe Paterno. Sandusky holds emeritus status.

Summer of 2000: Victim 3 meets Sandusky through The Second Mile when he is between seventh and eighth grade.

Fall of 2000: According to the grand jury report, another boy (Victim 8), age 11 to 13, was seen by a janitor, Jim Calhoun, pinned against a wall while Sandusky performed oral sex on him. Calhoun was described as “upset and crying” over what he’d seen, another person testified. Calhoun tells his supervisor, Jay Witherite and other staff members. Witherite tells Calhoun, a temporary employee, who to report the incident to, but Calhoun never files a report.

March 1, 2002: Mike McQueary, then a graduate assistant and now the receivers coach and recruiting coordinator, saw a naked boy (Victim 2) with his hands against the wall in the shower area of the locker room at the Lasch Football Building on the University Park Campus as Sandusky subjected him to anal sex, according to the grand jury report. McQueary told the grand jury that Sandusky and the boy both noticed him. McQueary went to his office and called his father, who told him to leave the building and come to his home.

— The next morning (Saturday), McQueary called Paterno and went to Paterno’s house and reported to the coach what he had witnessed.

— The next day (Sunday), Paterno called athletic director Tim Curley to his home and reported that McQueary told him that he had seen Sandusky in the showers fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy.

— About a week and a half later, McQueary was called to a meeting with Curley and vice president of finance and business, Gary Schultz. He reported what he had seen and was told they would look into it. Paterno was not at that meeting.

— A couple of weeks after that, McQueary was contacted by Curley, who told him that Sandusky’s keys to the locker room were taken away and the incident reported to The Second Mile. Curley advised school president Graham Spanier of the information he’d received and the steps taken as a result. Spanier testified of his approval of the approach taken by Curley. The incident was not reported to the University Police or any other police agency.

2005-06: Boy known as Victim 1 meets Sandusky at The Second Mile at age 11 or 12.

2008: Sandusky was a full-time volunteer coach at a Clinton County high school. Steven Turchetta was the assistant principal and head football coach at the school attended by Victim 1. Turchetta became aware of Victim 1’s allegations after the boy’s mother called the school to report it. Sandusky is barred from the school district and the matter was reported to the authorities as mandated by law.

2008: Sandusky told The Second Mile that he was being investigated on allegations of sexual assault in Clinton County.

2009: The Pennsylvania attorney general begins an investigation when a Clinton County teen boy tells authorities that Sandusky has inappropriately touched him several times over a four-year period.

Sept. 2010: Sandusky retires from The Second Mile.

Nov. 5: Sandusky is charged with sexually assaulting eight boys over a 15-year period. Among the allegations, a graduate assistant—McQueary—saw Sandusky assault a boy in the shower at the Penn State practice center in 2002. Sandusky is released on $100,000 bail after being arraigned on 40 criminal counts, including charges of multiple counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of a child, indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor.

— Spanier gives his support for Curley and Schultz, saying “I have known and worked daily with Tim and Gary for more than 16 years. I have complete confidence in how they handled the allegations about a former university employee.”

— Curley and Schultz are charged with perjury after being accused of failing to alert police, as required by state law, of the investigation into the allegations against Sandusky. Paterno is not charged. In a grand jury testimony, Schultz told jurors he was aware of a 1998 investigation involving sexually inappropriate behavior by Sandusky with a boy in the showers at the Penn State athletic facility. Jurors wrote that Schultz “never sought or received a police report on the 1998 incident and never attempted to learn the identity of the child in the shower in 2002.” Part of Schultz’s job is overseeing campus police.

Nov. 6: In a statement issued by his son, Scott, Paterno said, “The fact that someone we thought we knew might have harmed young people to this extent is deeply troubling. If this is true we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families. They are in our prayers.”

Paterno added, “It was obvious the witness (McQueary) was distraught over what he saw, but he at no time related to me the very specific actions contained in the grand jury report. Regardless, it was clear that the witness saw something inappropriate involving Mr. Sandusky. As coach Sandusky was retired from our coaching staff at the time, I referred the matter to university administrators.

— Curley stepped down, requesting to be placed on administrative leave so he could use the time to defend himself against perjury and other charges, Spanier announced after an emergency meeting of the Board of Trustees. Schultz also stepped down.

The resignations of Paterno and Spanier were not discussed at the meeting.

Nov. 7: Curley and Schultz appear in a Harrisburg, Pa., courtroom, where a judge set bail at $75,000. They were not required to enter pleas.

— At a press conference held by Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly and state police commissioner Frank Noonan, Kelly says that Paterno is not a target of the investigation of how Penn State handled the accusations but stopped short of saying the same for Spanier.

— On Paterno meeting his legal requirement to report suspected abuse, Noonan says, “somebody has to question about what I would consider the moral requirements for a human being that knows of sexual things that are taking place with a child.”

Nov. 8: Joe Paterno’s weekly news conference is canceled, setting off a firestorm of criticism from media nationwide. Paterno’s son, Scott, said Spanier canceled it, not Paterno. He also stated that a New York Times report that preparations were being discussed for Paterno’s exit as coach was premature.

— A potential ninth victim contacted authorities after seeing media accounts of Sandusky’s arrest, The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa., reported.

— Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said he plans to attend Friday’s meeting of the Penn State Board of Trustees, along with three Cabinet members.

— U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan said he’s asking Education Secretary Arne Duncan to look into whether Penn State violated the Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities to prepare, publish and distribute an annual security report disclosing all criminal offenses reported to campus security or local police.

— Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, along with The Patriot-News and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, called for Spanier to resign.

— Sandusky’s preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday is delayed until Dec. 7.

— The Centre Daily Times reports that Sandusky has been barred from being alone with his grandchildren under a temporary order on behalf of three children.

— Penn State students congregate on Paterno’s lawn in a show of support for the 84-year-old coach. Paterno briefly addresses the students, telling them to pray for the victims.

— The Board of Trustees releases a statement, saying it is “outraged by the horrifying details contained in the Grand Jury Report.” It also states that at Friday’s meeting, the Board will appoint a Special Committee to investigate the circumstances that “gave rise to the Grand Jury Report.”

Nov. 9: Penn State's Board of Trustees fires head coach Joe Paterno and president Graham Spanier, effective immediately. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley is named interim head coach and Rodney Erickson will serve as the interim school president. The news comes after Paterno announced he would retire at the end of the season. In that announcement, Paterno said, “This is a tragedy. It is one of the greatest sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more,” he said.

— U.S. Department of Education announces plans to launch investigation into the scandal at Penn State

Sources: Grand Jury report, Associated Press

Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/feed/2011-11/penn-state-scandal/story/penn-state-timeline-jerry-sandusky-joe-paterno-mike-mcqueary#ixzz1dK28TXNw
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Marrah_G Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:54 AM
Response to Reply #5
14. Reading the timeline makes it all even more revolting
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Denninmi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:43 AM
Response to Original message
6. Two words: Pervert, Coverup.
What more does anyone need to say.

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HopeHoops Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:45 AM
Response to Original message
7. Bullshit cluttering the front page of the paper.
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TheWraith Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:45 AM
Response to Original message
8. Okay, but it's pretty graphic.
1998. Mother accuses Penn State assistant coach Sandusky of molesting her son. An investigation is done, but not reported in the media. No charges are filed. Sandusky "mysteriously" resigns from Penn State shortly thereafter, though he continues running his "charity organization" for young children. Sandusky retains "coach emeritus" status giving him an office at, and access to, Penn State's athletic facilities.

2002: Grad student walks in late at night on Sandusky having anal sex with a 10 year old boy in the Penn State locker rooms. The boy was apparently one from Sandusky's "charity." The next day the grad student goes to Paterno and tells all. Instead of going to the police, knowing there's a history there, Paterno informs the administrators of the athletic program. Their response is also not to inform the police, but to tell Sandusky not to bring any more boys from his charity to Penn State.

Since 2008, Sandusky has been under some level of investigation, culminating in being charged with 40 counts related to child molestation, 20 of which occurred before he left Penn State. During the investigation, the athletic program administrators apparently lied to investigators about whether they had had any reports of Sandusky's behavior. The admins were sacked almost immediately, now Paterno and the college President who also knew are being shown the door for their failure to report to the police or do anything else that would have prevented Sandusky from molesting more victims.
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TheCowsCameHome Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:54 AM
Response to Reply #8
13. So briefly -
Paterno (and others) helped keep the roof from falling in on Sandusky.

What a sordid tale.

Ugh.
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TheWraith Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:56 AM
Response to Reply #13
15. Correct. They basically kept it quiet and allowed him to continue raping little boys.
Given their reaction, or rather the lack of it, I have a hard time believing they didn't know or at least suspect something long prior to 2002, at the very least since the 1998 accusations.
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TheCowsCameHome Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:00 PM
Response to Reply #15
17. I read the first few pages of the GJ report someone posted above
It makes me want to vomit.
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TheWraith Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:03 PM
Response to Reply #17
19. One more reason it's hard to believe Paterno wasn't deliberately covering everything up.
If someone told you your long-time right hand man, someone you'd worked with for ~20 years, was raping a little boy in YOUR showers, using the access YOU gave him, wouldn't you be a little more motivated to find out what was really going on? Most people would report that to the police instantly, and the ones who didn't would probably have hunted down Sandusky and confronted him personally.
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seabeyond Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:28 PM
Response to Reply #19
22. not to mention not allow him around kids anymore. that is the simplest, easiest
maybe weakest, but effective way to stop it if nothing else.
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TheWraith Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:29 PM
Response to Reply #22
23. And there's the irony. Know what the university leadership did?
They asked him not to bring any more boys from his charity to Penn State facilities. How much more of a tacit admission can you get that they knew something very wrong was going on, and were turning a blind eye?
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seabeyond Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:34 PM
Response to Reply #23
26. that at least makes a little more since though they knew in 1998. but i couldnt understand
why they allowed him unsupervised access to the kids. protection would be the least they would have to do. wow. didnt even do that much.
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TheCowsCameHome Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:35 PM
Response to Reply #23
28. Yes. It's like saying just don't do it in front of me *wink*wink*
I'm really at a loss on this one.

So many must have known.
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ScreamingMeemie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:30 PM
Response to Reply #19
24. And then, added to the story of Penn State player Dan Connor
who was suspended by Paterno for making prank (harassing) phone calls (in 2005!) to Sandusky's home.

http://pennstate.scout.com/2/426475.html
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seabeyond Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:33 PM
Response to Reply #24
25. really? uh oh. nt
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rocktivity Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 06:23 PM
Response to Reply #15
31. DING DING DING! Wraith, you're our grand prize winner!
Edited on Thu Nov-10-11 06:37 PM by rocktivity
I have a hard time believing they didn't know or at least suspect something long prior to 2002...

Finally, a logical explanation for everyone's behavior: They were well aware of it, but said and did nothing because it would have scandalized the school and its money machine, and welfare of the victims be damned!

:(
rocktivity
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seabeyond Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:48 AM
Response to Original message
9. to add to the post above, paterno is a hero to many. they want to justify
him allowing a known rapist to sontinue to be around children. as if he did all he could.

and honesty, i hear the man has done a lot of good. he dropped the ball on this.
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Marrah_G Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:50 AM
Response to Original message
10. Grad student sees asst coach raping a 10 year old in a shower
Grad student tells head coach, head coach tells his boss, and so and so on. All these people see the rapist, know he still has access to at risk children and do not call the police. These people continue to associate with known pedofile even after he retires from football. These people continue to be involved with his charity that they know he used at least once to obtain a victim. Grad student becomes coach himself after failing to stop the rape of a child.

Asst coach is arrested, 2 others arrested, head coach and university president fired.

Current students riot in support of not the victims, but of the staff and coaches.
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Kber Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:51 AM
Response to Original message
11. Basically
Edited on Thu Nov-10-11 11:53 AM by Kber
Paterno's long time assistant defensive coach and one time heir apparent set up a charity for "at risk" boys. This guy is accused of abusing at least 8 of the boys he met via his charity (aged 10 - 14 at the time of abuse).

He was initially investigated in 1998, no charges were brought, and he resigned from coaching, but kept an office at Penn State, continued to use the facilities, continued to interact with his charity, and often brought boys on campus.

In 2002 a graduate assistant (and the current Wide Receiver coach) observed him assaulting a boy, about 10 years old, in the locker room showers. The Grand Jury details the assault and it's pretty ugly and I don't feel like relaying here.

This grad student tells Paterno, who tells the Athletic Director, who tells the University Vice President. No one calls the police, however, and the upshot is that the tell the abuser that he can not bring boys on campus.

However, somehow (not sure what triggers it, but I think a parent of an abused child called the police) an investigation is started and this past Sunday he was charged with multiple counts of ugly stuff and Penn State's Athletic Director and VP were charged with perjury and Obstructing Justice (or something similar).

JoePa was not charged, but has been publicly castigated for not doing more to report the assault or to prevent other victims from being assaulted. As a result, I think, he announced yesterday that he would resign at the end of this season.

In the mean time, Penn State's board of trustees (or directors?) has become increasingly upset about how 1)the situation has been handles and 2) that they were kept in the dark. They decided that resignation at the end of the season was not a fitting response to the situation and have instead fired JoePa and the current University President.

My comment on the situation (as a Penn State graduate, btw) is that if you don't draw the line at stopping children from being raped, the question isn't where do you draw the line, but do you even have one?

Just saying.
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warrior1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 11:57 AM
Response to Reply #11
16. also there is a DA missing since 97
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TheWraith Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:05 PM
Response to Reply #16
20. No, he's been missing since 2005.
He declined to file charges in the 1998 incident. In 2004 he announced he wasn't running for reelection. The following year he disappeared under circumstances which seem to imply he intended to drop off the face of the Earth. He planned out how to destroy the data on his laptop computer, then vanished. No body was ever found.
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TomClash Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:34 PM
Response to Reply #11
27. Paterno was fired last night
So was the University President.

The Grand Jury found that the A.D. and V.P. of Finance/Business committed perjury.



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TheCowsCameHome Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 12:37 PM
Response to Original message
29. So these student rioting or whatever -
evidently see no wrong in this?

Wow. Just wow...........

*facepalm*
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onecent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 06:38 PM
Response to Original message
33. WHY don't American's get THIS VIOLENT about our government??????? n/t
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11 Bravo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-10-11 07:02 PM
Response to Original message
34. Sports suck. People who play sports suck. People who enjoy sports suck.
That pretty much sums up the thoughtful dialectic currently being employed at good old DU.
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