Tea at Trianon: "We Are Penn State"

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, July 19, 2012

"We Are Penn State"

Here is an article which sums up the whole hideous debacle. I used to live in State College, PA and I am afraid that what we have seen so far is only the tip of the iceberg. To quote:

This entire sad and tragic tale brings to mind my favorite definition of what it means to have character. Character isn't just a function of public actions or pronouncements, but is more about what you do when no one is around to see you do it. When you're all alone and faced with a difficult choice and you choose to do the right thing even though no one is watching, that's the ultimate definition of character. At least four powerful men at Penn State faced those private moments and pivotal choices and made their private decisions about what was right and what was wrong. No one was watching, until now. (Read entire post.)

julygirl said...: Unfortunately, in the minds of those involved in the 'cover-up', they DID consider themselves as having principles and loyalty in their misguided goal to protect the College and the football team. From what I have observed of the State College mentality is they are so very insular that it has turned them into elitists. They are an hours drive from the real world and believed they did not have to answer to anyone who they consider outsiders.; July 19, 2012 at 1:19:00 PM EDT
Nancy Reyes said...: It's more complicated than that.

These were the days when such sex was considered a lapse in judgement but consensual, and that if you persecuted the man for his lapse in being attracted to the beautiful young boy, you weren't being compassionate.

I myself wonder if the attitude of the local Catholic bishop didn't make things worse... anyone living in the Penn State area can at the time this was going on can tell you about the struggle of good Catholics against the bishop's gay friendly attitudes. link and link and the psychologist used by the diocese (from Penn State)

and of course back then, one was reading that sex with teens and preteens was seen by some as okay, California started treating serial Child molesters as outpatients, medical journals were saying the court case was more traumatic to the victim than the abuse so don't report it, and Newsweek had an article saying don't report incest because it would break up the family. This article at the Daily Beast links to two such studies. link

Judith Reisman has a book on all this, but she is ignored...

without seeing the causes of why abuse was seen as okay, we won't stop such abuse from continuing.

If you really want to get sick, read this CDC report, which got little or no publicity, especially table 55:LINK.; July 19, 2012 at 6:12:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: True, Julygirl. Boinky, you are dead right and I speak as one who knows more than I want to know...thanks for the links!; July 19, 2012 at 9:52:00 PM EDT