Taking it Out on Bronze

(photo from http://sprocket-trials.blogspot.com/2012/07/joe-paterno-statue-finally-taken-down.html )

Of course I have to talk about the Joe Paterno statue debacle.

Joe was a hero and Joe was a scoundrel who sacrificed young children for the sake of saving face. He had, as so many heroes do, clay feet (to put it sculpturally). I don’t know enough about the actual events to make a solid judgment of his action or lack of it, but what I’ve read seems pretty damning.

This post is not about Joe Paterno the man, but Joe Paterno the statue. The seven foot tall bronze action figure who used to hail people in front of Penn State’s football stadium was removed in July and put into storage.

According to Penn State President Rodney Erickson, "I now believe that, contrary to its original intention, 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. I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse."

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-07-22/sports/chi-paterno-statue-20120722_1_freeh-report-joe-paterno-coach-paterno

This isn’t the first time that a public figure who is “in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes” has hit the ground. Take the famous Brazilian footballer Ronaldhino, whose 23 foot likeness was toppled after Brazil lost in the 2006 World Cup. And in 2009, all of Venezuela’s statues of Columbus came down as Hugo Chavez fingered him for the genocide of the Native American people. Of course, there were the Stalin, and Lenin, images that came down in the 20^th century, to say nothing of the Saddam Hussein statues that American troops pulled down for the Iraqis in 2003.

It’s better than killing the guys in person and it’s a great catharsis.