Apparently, it's one with no sense of decency and a penchant for looking the other way. Penn State's Joe Paterno, like other head coaches at other college football mega-powers, had built an empire where his every need was catered to and every decision went unquestioned.
But with great power, as Spider-Man reminds us, comes great responsibility. So when a "freaked-out" grad student went to Joe Pa with a horrific story of pedophilia by a top-level staff member, he needed to do more than just send an email to his "boss," the (now indicted for perjury) athletic director, clap his hands twice and go palms down like a blackjack dealer leaving the table, and step away.
So when Paterno notices that the (alleged) pedophile still has free run of the Penn St. facilities and for years continues to show young boys around the locker room, where was the nagging voice in Paterno's head saying, "hey, did that thing with the grad student get resolved?" Or did he just assume that somebody else took care of it? And there's the failing that Paterno's supporters don't get -- when you are the big dog, with all the adulation, with all the power, with an entire town that worships the ground you walk on, you don't get to assume that somebody else took care of it.
Paterno is not legally liable -- he did not commit any crime. But his moral liability is huge. And it's a shame that after all the years of mentoring and leadership he has demonstrated at Penn St., he and his apologists haven't figured that out.
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