TIPPING POINT: JoePa Statue Taken Down ...

AS HAD BEEN ANTICIPATED ON THIS BLOG from a post of July 12. In an ESPN story on the 15th Penn State trustees still clung to the vain hope this outcome could be averted: "The embattled members of Penn State's Board of Trustees quietly have decided to leave Joe Paterno's statue standing — at least for now and, some hope, forever, according to sources with firsthand knowledge of the trustees' private discussions this week."

Today, their misguided desire "not to offend alumni and students who adore the late coach despite the damning findings of his role in the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse cover-up detailed in the Freeh report" finally came face-to-face with reality. It's astonishing how even in the face of the most damning evidence against Joe Paterno some of the trustees were still enacting the same pattern of behavior — protect the institution above all — which enabled horrific sexual crimes against children to take place, "by the most senior leaders at Penn State," including Joe Paterno.

That some trustees would consider leaving the most visible symbol of those heinous crimes, Joe Paterno's statue, untouched shows just how out of touch they are, even now after release of the Freeh report. They just don't get it, and some probably never will. Penn State University president Rodney Erikson said, in a statement: "Coach Paterno's statue has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing in our university and beyond. For that reason, I have decided that it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue and store it in a secure location."

Here is how we imagined the Paterno statue coming down, like the toppling of Saddam's statue, and a photo of the real thing as workmen removed the statue outside Beaver Stadium this Sunday morning.