Hater, by Calvin Klein

Many ridiculous blog posts ago I wrote about how I define the word, and usage of the word, "hater." My definition of hater can be summed up by the Harry Truman quote, "I never did give them hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell." When someone gets called a hater, it's usually because they are saying something of truth that the other person knows has truth, but can't or won't admit to.

Some of this inability to admit to things comes from the hard line stances people take, seemingly now more than ever. Most debates have become , "either/or" propositions. Some debates necessitate such stances because the two sides are diametrically opposed to each other, while other debates devolve into hard line stances because people seem to have a need to search for ultimate truth. Once someone has found his or her ultimate truth, it follows that everything else must be opposing to what he or she has found to be truth. To oppose someone's ultimate truth is to be a hater.

The other contributing factor to the labeling of the hater is the new way of the world to accept things, almost blindly, as they are sold to us at an ever quickening pace. There seems to be so much superficiality now that true quality has all but been erased in the name expedience and marketability. To question anything is to be called a hater, when in years past that person may have only been a skeptic.

I am a skeptic. I like calling something what it is and having an honest talk about the pros and cons of something. For me, it always goes back to sports for examples because I feel that sports encapsulates what is happening in the greater society.

I have to turn now to sports to put Tim Tebow squarely in the example crosshairs. Tim Tebow is a polarizing figure. To criticize him is to be a hater. I can understand this, because he engenders strong emotions from his supporters. I am a confessed hater of the media creation known as Tim Tebow: Legendary Quarterback. This is entirely different from hating the person. I take issue with the media obsession with him and their unfettered desire to proclaim him legendary. Can't we call him what he is? He is likable, and by all accounts works very hard in practice and games; he just isn't good at quarterback. Can't I say that he isn't a good quarterback without it being an attack on the other stuff? Can't I want to take a wait and see approach on him to see if he can make a career out of how he plays? Why does it have to be I either accept all of it or none of it? I just want to see if his skills can match his marketability.

This is just one current example of the problem of the search for ultimate black and white truth. There is no ultimate truth, there is only truth with all the shades of gray that come with it. To be a hater is to understand that it's ok to take issue with something and talk about it. A hater understands that truth is found in the gray between the sides of ultimate black and white truth.

Sci-Fi

I constantly wonder why people dismiss sci-fi movies and books as geeky flights of fancy. In years past I could understand this, but in 2011 it boggles my mind. Here I sit, typing this blog on a personal computer in preparation for posting it on my Facebook page; until a few years ago this was a notion that would only have been from the realm of geeky sci-fi ideas.

Saying sci-fi isn't your thing while you are checking news, stocks and pictures on your smart phone while posting on Twitter is such a contradiction I don't even know how to address it.

Usually people that say they don't like sci-fi will also say that they like books and movies that are more "real." My question would be, what could be more real than stories that incorporate interesting new sciences and technologies that fundamentally alter the way the world works? The old saying goes that truth is stranger than fiction; the proof of this is all around us. If I was to show the people of the 1960's Facebook and tell them a story of a world of people obsessed with posting updates of their lives in pursuit of a level of narcissism that has no equal in human history, they would ask me if Asimov or Bradbury wrote that one.

So much of our current culture has been informed and shaped by sci-fi; just look to Star Trek and it's portable communicator for the inspiration of the cell phone. Give sci-fi a chance. After all, one day it may be Scotty on the other side of that cell phone making preparations to beam you up.

Perspective

Perspective is a funny thing. Being able to grasp the larger picture is often difficult, especially when emotion plays a role. This is the only reason I can imagine the Penn State students and alumni are so outraged over the Joe Paterno firing. It is obviously a political decision, given the current circumstances, but that doesn't mean it isn't the right one as well.

Yesterday I wrote a lengthy post about Joe Paterno needing to be removed immediately and that he should not be allowed to go out on his terms after the end of this season. Despite horribly screwing up every decision of importance related to this case, Penn State got that one right. This decision was more than just political necessity, it was moral duty.

We find ourselves talking about perspective in the wake of Joe Pa's firing. Many people are arguing that this is unfair and that we must keep perspective and remember that Jerry Sandusky is the criminal and not Paterno. Students have begun rioting and tipping over cars in State College because their beloved demi-god is being removed. I ask those people, and anyone that still supports Paterno to have some perspective of their own and consider this: did Joe Paterno fulfill his bare minimum legal obligation and report what he was told to his superior? Yes. Did he fulfill his role as a man, as a father, as a role model? In no way shape or form can you answer yes to that. He failed completely.

Many of his supporters will point to all the work he has done. They will tell you he and his family have donated more than $4 million dollars to the school and that his program is clean and his players graduate. All of that is fine. Those things are what he has done with people watching. Those things were done to enhance his own legacy. I don't judge him on those things. I judge people on what they do when they don't believe anyone is watching. No one knew of the allegations when they were first reported, and clearly the goal was to keep it quiet. It ended there because it was not brought to public light.

He must be judged for that terrible indiscretion as much as anything else he has done in his career. He is Joe Paterno. He had the clout and power to go over people if needed and do the right thing to protect the children that were being abused by Sandusky. He chose to do nothing. Make no mistake, this wasn't about the kids or the school, this was about Joe Paterno covering his own ass. He did his legal duty and was off the hook.

The American President is one of my favorite and most often quoted movies. One of my favorite lines comes at the end when Michael Douglas gives his big moving speech. He starts the speech by saying,

"That's all right, you can keep your seats. For the last couple of months, Senator Rumson has suggested that being president of this country was, to a certain extent, about character and although I have not been willing to engage in his attacks on me, I've been here three years and three days, and I can tell you without hesitation: Being President of this country is entirely about character."

Being a leader of any kind, let alone an iconic football coach at a major university, has to be about character as Douglas suggests. A failing of character like this has to count heavily against someone. It must overshadow many of the other things because this type of failure goes to the very core of who Paterno is and what he was supposed to stand for.

Finally, the students and alumni that continue to treat themselves and the larger Penn State community as victims need to have some perspective. The Penn State family lost a long time football coach who failed to protect young boys when he had the chance. He may not have raped the children, but he stood by and did nothing while it was going on under his roof.

The victims lost the chance to have a happy life. The damage done to them is many times more serious than having a football coach fired. Students and alumni should feel terrible not for his leaving, but for why it was that he left.

When I see people writing comments like,

"Aside from the fact that the blame doesn't belong on Paterno here in the first place, Joe Paterno is a legend, whereas a few boys are just that, a few boys. Paterno deserves more respect." (actually taken from the ESPN comments section), it's clear people are missing the point.

People writing things online like," Joe Pa shouldn't go, Penn State Forever!" clearly don't have any perspective on what they are saying.

You can't want to keep Joe Paterno and continue to take pride in your institution. Paterno represents everything that is wrong with big program football. He put himself above the school and above the safety of children He failed himself and everything he claimed to have stood for. If he was allowed to stay, it would be just another black eye to the tradition that everyone involved wants so badly to protect. Try to keep that in perspective the next time you yell, "We are...Penn State."

WE ARE...PENN STATE!....And That's the Problem

I am angry over the Penn State scandal for a number of reasons. We can start with the obvious reasons like Jerry Sandusky molesting kids in Penn State showers. Or the fact that Sandusky was on campus as recently as last week after having free run of the campus for years after the initial allegations against him were made.

Some of my anger goes toward the school administrators that covered this up and the board of directors that seems to be concerned now with covering their own asses. They have been formally charged and will, most likely, pay for their role in the cover up. The one person caught in limbo is, the head coach, Joe Paterno.

Though it seems clear that, when Paterno became aware of the situation he passed it along to his superiors thus fulfilling his legal obligation, he stopped there. He never followed up and more importantly let Sandusky continue on in the school for years. For Paterno to say now that if the allegations are true, "we were all fooled" is a total joke. He obviously knew about something. It shouldn't come as a surprise to him, since he was involved in the legal chain when the allegations were first brought to him.

Now Paterno is going to retire and save the school the effort of asking him to resign, right after he coaches the last game of the season because he is, "devastated." Is this guy for real? Talk about not getting it. The school shouldn't let him get away with walking out on his terms, given the situation. They should remove him immediately pending a full scale investigation.

Finally, my extreme anger is directed at the Penn State family and a large number of the students. I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge that I have a number of friends who went to Penn State. They should not count themselves as part of this tirade as I've not seen or heard them say anything along the lines of the following. With that out of the way, let's take a moment to consider what the student body and alumni have done since this scandal unfolded. They have taken to organizing outside Paterno's house in show of solidarity and support as well as echoing the Penn State rallying cry, "WE ARE...PENN STATE!" I can understand the love for Paterno, he is nearly a god in Happy Valley, but the support is misplaced. He may not have molested anyone, but he certainly has to be counted as an accomplice to the cover up for not taking more steps to ensure something was done about Sandusky. He should not be supported and should not be allowed to get off so easily.

The Penn State alumni that are portraying the PSU community as the victims are crazy for this and their continued admiration for the disgraced leader is absurd. Paterno must shoulder blame and using the rallying cry in this context should be re thought. Paterno put the school, and to an extent himself, above the welfare of children. The collective attitude of "We are!..." is the mindset that school officials subscribed to when they swept this under the carpet in the first place. I don't even know what it means that PSU folks are using this as some kind of rallying cry. Basically these actions amount to them saying, "we just found out one of our uncles was a child molester and our dad and other uncles have kept it hush hush all these years, but we are still a determined happy family and have some sympathy for us that we just found out there is a wolf in the fold." Have some humility and respect for the victims. This isn't about you and the school right now. If anything I would be ashamed to count myself as a part of this family right now. Blindly flocking to support the school is the worst possible action that can be taken right now.

To me, this is an indirect endorsement of the what has transpired. If I was part of the student body or alumni, I would be calling for people's heads and for those responsible to be tossed out the door at the first opportunity. The rallying cry starts with, "we are..." Perhaps it is time for PSU to take a hard look and find out what they are.