Keller @ Large: Why Can't We Hold People Accountable For Bad Actions?
BOSTON (CBS) - Last week, when the Penn State board of trustees fired popular football coach Joe Paterno and the university's president for not doing enough to stop an accused pedophile coach from molesting young boys, there was quite the outcry.
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Students staged a riot of sorts on campus, and many voices denounced the move as premature, an overreaction that was denying the beloved coach his "rights."
I've been following the fallout over the last few days, and it seems that as the horrific details of the alleged perp's crimes have sunk in, and the extent of Paterno's and the president's unwillingness to aggressively pursue evidence of the child molestation comes into focus, the outcry over their firing has abated quite a bit.
But the fact that it occurred at all outside of their immediate circle of family and friends speaks to an unpleasant truth about our contemporary culture – we just can't seem to bring ourselves to hold offenders of all kinds properly accountable.
Consider the financial industry bailouts of the last few years, where the very same irresponsible greedheads who drove our economy off a cliff have been rewarded with huge bonuses and huge sums of money from the public treasury, with little or no punishment for their selfish folly.
Think of Congress, a study in failure for years where the people in charge get re-elected at a staggering rate.
And as the Globe has documented over the last three weeks in a must-read investigative series, we live in a state where some of the most reckless criminals among us, drunk drivers, routinely walk free because of irresponsible lawyers and judges.
When did we start to lose touch with the idea that you should be held accountable for hurtful, damaging, or irresponsible actions?
I don't know, but we're pretty far down a dangerous road when a board of trustees charged with overseeing an institution are slammed for valuing that trust over the image and alleged "rights" of those who've put it at risk.
Maybe we all need a reminder of that old saying – if you can't do the time, don't do – or fail to report – the crime.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
