PSU: THE BACKSTORY

SOMEONE ALWAYS

COMES OUT ON TOP

IN THE WORST

OF SITUATIONS.

By Lew Marcus

NEPAtoday Magazine Editor

There is a secret agenda behind the child abuse scandal at Penn State. The realNEPAtoday Magazine Editor Lew Marcus story was hinted at a few days ago but speculation in that direction all but disappeared. There are more than a few bizarre elements in this ongoing tragedy and I am not going to dwell on the actual events. I am just going to try to explain the back story.

   Before I start let me agree with my dear friend, Dr. Tiffany Griffiths, a psychologist with a special expertise in human sexuality. Reducing her position to a few sentences, she and I agree that child abuse cases are often hidden away in dark corners of society, where everyone just hopes it will miraculously go away. What is needed, and Tiffany points this out so well, is the glaring spotlight of truth. We certainly have not seen that spotlight in this situation.

   Writing about this Penn State scandal has become a front page obsession in every newspaper in the country and as the lead story on countless news programs. I don't want to talk about the whole sordid affair and how badly my alma mater bungled just about every aspect of this. There is hardly anything good to be said about anyone involved and all who were touched by this painful ordeal.

   My cardinal rule in dealing with any information that I come across is that if I follow the money I will get to the real story. I distilled the concept of following the money from Charles Austin Beard, once the most prominent historian in the country who ruined his career in opposing America's entry into World War II. Forget his politics.What is interesting is that he taught me that to understand what is happening, look beneath the surface to see who benefits. Usually that benefit is a financial one. I think the benefit in the Penn State story is a political one.

   Let's set the stage first so we understand the answer to the question, "Who is benefiting?"

JOE PATERNO   It is no secret that there is an element in the Penn State Board of Trustees who had not been thrilled with Coach Joe Paterno. As I recall, a handful of years ago there was a quiet movement to ease Paterno out of his position. Some on the board wanted to do what most boards do when faced with a popular figure they can no longer tolerate: kick him upstairs never to be heard from again. Others just wanted to give him the boot. In either case, Paterno's considerable power prevailed and he survived with another multi-year contract.

   Another icon in Pennsylvania is Tom Ridge, who served two terms as governor and then became the country's first Secretary of Homeland Security under his friend, President George W. Bush. Bush wanted Ridge as his Secretary of Defense, but that ran into a buzz saw ostensibly because Ridge lacked experience in that realm. Ironically, the man that ran Bush's search committee for the Defense position got the job: Dick Cheney.

   Since leaving Homeland Security, Ridge has been doing ok for himself. He started RidgeTOM RIDGE Global and wound up on the boards of Home Depot, where he makes $100,000 a year; SaviTech, which holds lucrative Defense Department contracts; Exelon, an electrical utility that pays him $35,000 a year in cash and $60,000 in stock options, and The Hersey Corporation. He's a paid advisor to TechRadium, PURE Bioscience and Deloitte & Touche. Nice day's work, if you can get it.

   The current governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, traces a connection to Ridge in having served as an advisor to Ridge's first gubernatorial campaign. As a favor for his services, Ridge named Corbett to the unexpired term of Ernie Preate when Ernie was convicted of election irregularities and ousted as the Pennsylvania Attorney General. Corbett also is connected to the Bush family, having been named a United States Attorney by George H.W. Bush.

GOVERNOR TOM CORBETT   Ready for me to start bringing it all together? Corbett is now the governor and a de facto member of the Penn State Board of Trustees by virtue of his office. Ridge is making big money and is connected to a good number of powerful businesses in America. But something is missing from his life. Money doesn't give you power and fame, both of which he had as governor and as Homeland Security Secretary. I see Ridge as a man who would love to be President. He's not the only former governor of Pennsylvania with his eye on Pennsylvania Avenue. If anything, Ridge is a patient man. He turned down a run for the U.S. Senate, sensing a run against Rick Santorum in the Republican primary and then Bob Casey in the General Election was not in his best interest. And it wasn't.

   Now I am moving into the realm of fantasy here. For all I know this never happened. But it could have. Tom Ridge bumps into Tom Corbett one day. It could have been at the Pennsylvania Society Dinner last Christmas at the Waldorf Astoria. And as one Tom to WALDORF ASTORIAanother, Tom Corbett mentions that he is sitting on one hell of a scandal -- the scandal that will take down Joe Paterno. And the light goes off in Tom Ridge's head. "This is my opportunity here," he might have said.

   How does the opportunity work. Follow this. Knowing how boards work and how Penn State's trustees have not been too happy with Paterno of late, Ridge sees the shit storm brewing. He knows that Penn State and Pennsylvania will be thrown into chaos. He sees that not only could Paterno be toppled from his Ivory Tower but PSU President Graham Spanier is going to catch the pie right in the face.

   Being a smarty, Ridge also figures that football, which propelled Penn State into the upper reaches of fame, will be its undoing. He could see how the students would riot. He could see how the state, even the nation, would take the side of Paterno, but to no avail. He certainly could see Spanier leaving Penn State in a real funk.

   Ridge also could see that the only way to save Penn State would be for a national figure --a man of integrity and honesty, a man who got things done on a statewide level and on a national scale against formidable odds-- to assume the presidency of Penn State. It would fall to Tom Ridge to save Penn State. It would fall to Tom Ridge to heal the nation, like he did once before. And once he does his work here, what better position could he assume than to heal the nation, again, after President Obama's second term.

   The Republican Party is on a death slide in this pre-election season with their disastrous and even torturous primary debate among the 14 candidates. They will devour their young and move on, leaving the national GOP in shreds with no front runner and no one left to wave the banner. Ridge figures they will look for a fresh face. And what is better than a fresh face? It is the face of someone whom you know and trust. Like Ivory Snow, Ridge is 99 and 44/100 percent pure.

   Well, pure might be a big stretch, considering the two Toms seem to be tied into the mammothly wealthy natural gas cabal. Corbett took big bucks from Big Gas to fuel is campaign. Ridge took big bucks from Big Gas to show them how to rape and pillage Pennsylvania. But, so what, that's just business as usual. Big Gas' big money will help Ridge capture the White House, along with Ridge's other corporate friends, and their friends.

   Rod Erickson, Penn State's replacement president, is just a placeholder. He has academic credential but he is as plain as white bread. Penn State needs charisma. It needs pizzazz. After JoePa we need BigPa; someone to wipe our tears and help us on with our boots.

   OK, I'm a cynical, hard-assed, paranoid conspiracy theorist. But I learned my lessons watching Kennedy, Kennedy and King shot out from under me. I watched Nixon turn my paranoia into reality. I watched Bush & Bush sell America to Big Petroleum. And now I watched them lynch JoePa, stampede Spanier, crucify McQueary and disappoint all those young boys. How do you want me to feel. I know there is a deal to be cut in the backroom. My deal sounds like it could fly. Let's watch and see.

   Forty years ago, when I walked into the Pattee Library at Penn State, I would gaze up over the columns and read the inscription: May no act of ours bring shame. Penn Staters believed those words. We lived by them. What happened?