Contrasting the Penn State scandal with the US government's conduct

[noise]

This is what a process of accountability looks like. People actually get fired and prosecuted. Their pathetic excuses and warped priorities aren't condoned. Penn State doesn't have the arbitrary authority to invoke state secrets and claim that an investigation would damage national security. The College President wasn't able to tell everyone to move on and stop rehashing the past. The Board of Trustees didn't care if firing Paterno would be divisive. They knew it was the right thing to do regardless of the fallout. So far there hasn't been an attempt to claim everyone acted in good faith.

[Octafish]

1. Integrity requires Accountability, which comes from Transparency.

Cover-ups exist for a reason. Bush and his warmongering crew should be in Leavenworth for lying America into illegal, immoral, unnecessary and disastrous wars, among other things.

The Board of Trustees got into the game, IMO, after the scandal became too big to contain. Several people in authority at PSU had kept it contained since 1998.

Why that was will be one of the central questions when it comes to holding the institution and its officers accountable before the law.

EDIT to add: The government of the United States has condoned the torture of children and the killing of children and other non-combatants, including a 16-year-old U.S. citizen. The only ones who can hold the USG accountable are We the People. We try, through elections and our representatives, but are increasingly frustrated.

PS: Fuck the Un-Reccers.

[noise]

2. It is hard to understand how this scandal was covered up for years

At least in regard to the Penn State scandal there is an admission that the coverup was outrageous. The notion that a powerful official should be held accountable for failing to live up to his responsibility is resonating with the public. Sadly this has not been the case with powerful government officials who have used their power to conceal all sorts of corruption.