Thanks, friend!

It feels good to know that one's opinion is valued. I actually addressed this issue in a recent post, although I did so in a very brief and out of context manner.

You can read it here:

https://annabelleigh.net/messages/543159.htm

I read the grand jury presentment, and frankly, it doesn't sound very promising. On the other hand, these sorts of allegations can very easily be exaggerated in this climate. Because I'm not in a position to know what really happened, I shall take Baldur's lead and withhold judgment on Sandusky himself. However, even if it is true that his behavior with young boys was forceful and inappropriate, I think we should keep the issue in context, and what I'm seeing is the usual melodramatic reaction to allegations of child sexual abuse. Evidence: firing people who are only tangentially related to the scandal, as if they had been the ones holding the boy(s) down.

It's all a big media circus, calculated to put on a show and cater to people's excited emotional responses, which they just love to fan. Even taking actual abuse itself - it's a serious crime and no laughing matter - but it's still not on the order of being murdered or some such. Making a big deal out of it only serves to further stigmatize and traumatize - not abusers - but the abused themselves, as if they haven't been victimized enough. Of course, the truth in these cases is often not as serious as the most outraged claim, and it's neither honest nor ethical to label a consenting partner a victim if that's not how he/she sees him/herself. Since we can't really know the truth through all the bullshit, the best thing to do is take a neutral stance, and calling for the heads of anyone remotely involved, even by three degrees of separation, is dangerous and uncalled for.

I may have more to say after I've read the rest of this thread.