MORE PHONINESS – AT 11:42 A.M. ET:  The strutters in American higher education are at it again, going through their usual dance of feeling good about themselves, while ignoring larger problems.  This comes, actually, from London's Daily Mail:

A statue honouring Penn State football head coach Joe Paterno has been torn down as the university bows to massive public outcry.

Penn State ordered the removal of the statue of Hall of Fame coach early on Sunday morning.

Workers lifted the statue off its base and used a forklift to move it into Beaver Stadium early Saturday as the 100 to 150 students watching chanted, 'We are Penn State.'

The university announced that it was going to take down the monument in the wake of an investigative report that found the late coach and three other top Penn State administrators concealed sex abuse claims against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

Paterno, who coached the team for nearly 50 years before he was fired in disgrace last year at the height of the case.

The statue turned into a target for Paterno’s critics after former FBI Director Louis Freeh alleged a cover-up by Paterno and others that allowed Sandusky to continue molesting boys.

Police and construction workers barricaded both sides of the street and the sidewalks near the statue.

A chain-link fence was also erected around the area and a tarp was raised that concealed most of the statue.

In a statement released later on Sunday morning, the Paterno family said: 'Tearing down the statue of Joe Paterno does not serve the victims of Jerry Sandusky's horrible crimes or help heal the Penn State Community. We believe the only way to help the victims is to uncover the full truth.'

The family also chided the media for what they called one-sided reporting on a document that Paterno is unable to defend himself against.

COMMENT:  Oh, the self-righteousness.  It is clear that Paterno exercised very poor judgment in handling the Sandusky issue, and his reputation is properly affected.  But Paterno, now deceased, cannot defend himself or even explain his actions.

Joe Paterno did a lot of good at Penn State, including putting a stress on academic achievement by athletes.  The showmanship surrounding the removal of his statue wreaks of the kind of hypocrisy that we see in universities all the time.  What is required is a balanced judgment, after further facts are gathered, of the man's legacy.   

There are names of rogues on college buildings all over America.  Colleges look the other way because there's money involved, or because they just don't care.  Where is the punishment of faculty members and administrators at Duke University who encouraged and aided the persecution of three innocent lacrosse players for a crime that, it turned out, had never occurred?  Where is the asterisk next to the glorified names of college presidents who played nice with the Nazis in the 1930s, or who organized the rules of segregation that kept some Americans out of their schools?  If we're going to start pulling down statues, or painting over names, I've got a whole list available.

But sexual abuse of children – a horrible thing, deserving of severe punishment – has become a political crime as well as an actual crime.  When the trendy crowd moves on to something else, I wonder what will become of abused children?

And, of course, tearing down Paterno's statue is just pie for those who despise college athletics.  And that is part of this story.  A sad part.

July 22, 2012