Three False Assertions by the Grand Jury turned the Press and Public against Joe Paterno and Penn State
On 5 November 2011, all hell broke loose for alumni and die-hard supporters of Pennsylvania State University and its legendary football coach, Joe Paterno. It was on that date that the Attorney General’s office issued the incendiary presentment written on behalf of the Thirty-Third Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, which had been hearing testimony concerning allegations of sexual abuse of young boys by former Penn State assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky. In Pennsylvania, thirty citizens are selected from a pool of fifty—which had been winnowed down from an initial pool of two-hundred – to become the seven alternates and twenty-three members that constitute the grand jury. Grand jurors are empowered to subpoena witnesses and documents in order to determine—under the lead of state … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Sandusky Scandal
The Myths That Buttress America’s First National Pastime: A Review of Baseball in the Garden of Eden by John Thorn
It was Cardinal Fleury, adviser to the king of France, who observed (around 1720) that “a man of mediocre status needs very little history; those who play some part in public affairs need a great deal more; and a Prince cannot have too much.” [John Lukacs, The Future of History, p.4] Obviously, he was writing some five decades before Colonial Americans threw off British rule — and nearly a century before U.S. voters (largely men of “mediocre status”) launched a political revolt against the type of aristocratic rule that the Founding Fathers represented and envisaged. Consequently, as H. L. Mencken observed, the United States found itself in the grip of third-rate men. “Third-rate men, of course, exist in all countries, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Book Reviews, Featured, History
Rick Santorum Flunks “The History of the American Family”
Readers of Senator Rick Santorum’s book, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good, should examine it closely, including its concluding “Bibliographical Note.” Then they should ask themselves: “Is there any evidence in the text or bibliographical note to suggest that Mr. Santorum has ever read a serious, comprehensive history of the American Family?” This reviewer found no evidence whatsoever. Yet lack of comprehensive knowledge doesn’t prevent Mr. Santorum from pontificating about the current crisis of the American family by sketching “the past forty years of American history in light of our founders’ vision.” [Santorum, p. xi] Yet, even if one assumes that Mr. Santorum has mastered both the past forty years and the founder’s vision (which he hasn’t), there’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Book Reviews, Featured, Politics
The Nation: Editor's Picks
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- Why Investors Must Do More Than Divest From Fossil Fuels June 17, 2013 Dan Apfel
- The Making of a Global Security State June 17, 2013 Tom Engelhardt