Penn State Scandal: Joe Paterno Should Be Fired, Newspaper Argues

In his latest column, Dale Lolley of the Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter calls for Joe Paterno to be fired for his role in not reporting the alleged rape of a child by Jerry Sandusky in a Penn State locker room.

No call was made by any of those in charge at Penn State to law enforcement agencies or a child protective agency, which is required by state law …

What’s worse, there are allegations against Sandusky dating back to 1994, when he was still employed as an assistant coach under Paterno. Sandusky remained a Penn State employee until his retirement in 1999 …

Jim Tressel was forced out as coach by Ohio State for reportedly covering up far less than this. His offense was lying to the NCAA about players trading memorabilia for tattoos and other favors.

Expect to see lots and lots of these kinds of calls in the coming days. Spencer Hall of SBNation.com issued one on Monday:

And yet no one said anything. If everyone at Penn State is okay with this, then the heads stop rolling here. If you’re not, then you demand the resignations of everyone involved. This includes Joe Paterno, who knew, but then abandoned his moral responsibility to the cold dictates of the org chart.

It’s been an ugly week for Penn State, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the ugliness continues until Paterno leaves.