And now up to bat, Gov. Corbett

Dear Editor:

It was six long months ago when I wrote to you and made the damaging proclamation that the beloved Joe Paterno was not a hero. My 'opinionated' life has been quite a roller coaster since the publishing, but nevertheless, it was well worth the proverbial ride. My opinions on how JoePa acted during some very crucial points in his life have been at the very least vindicated with the release of the Freeh Report. This vindication, however, does not make me proud or happy … in fact, it sickens me.

I wanted to be wrong about Joe Paterno for the sake of all that has ever been good and pure in the eyes of a young boy who dreams of and dreamed of wearing the Nittany and White. 'Say it ain't so, Joe!' Unfortunately, and much to the dismay of family members and friends of mine who chastised, criticized and 'blackballed' me, there is some pretty harsh evidence against what Joe wanted us to believe as opposed to what really happened. The most damaging evidence in my mind is his own testimony of having no knowledge of the 1998 investigation and now the proof that he was a very important player in the investigation and its outcome. This one lie to the grand jury is only the lid on 'Pandora's Box,' and I truly didn't write this to open that box once again.

I think Joe Paterno suffered in his own heart and mind more than we will ever know and I think he did so to protect Penn State Football, which truly in his heart and soul, was his 'favorite child.' Many parents would do the same and suffer the same way inside for their own children's protection so with all the evidence or much of the evidence out in the open, it becomes easier to see who and what he was protecting, but the fact still remains that in doing so he sacrificed the lives, memories and emotions of countless other young men that may have been able to be saved. I hereby stand by my initial feelings on and about Joe and in my eyes, he died NOT a hero.

There is a difference between NOT being a hero though and being a complete and utter scumbag which is all I can say for our current Governor. Yes, I don't want to open the Pandora's box on Joe, he can now rest in peace, I want to open the CLOSET DOOR IN THE GOVERNOR'S MANSION. Governor Tom Corbett's is guilt in this whole debacle needs to be declared and it needs to be found before he has the chance to make more of it disappear, Ray Gricar style. Is anyone aware of how much our current Governor knew about this whole situation? Are you REALLY aware?

Do the general public and the countless thousands of people who voted for this disgrace know that two years after placing ONE (1) man on the case to investigate Jerry Sandusky for what was the third separate investigation we know of over a span of 15 years, our Governor Corbett accepted $650,000 in donations from the Second Mile Foundation? Could we correlate this donation as our Governor accepting $650,000 in donations from a large prostitution ring that his office was currently investigating? I think we can. I don't think it is a 'big' jump to do so. Does everyone know that one year into his service (or disservice) in office he then in turn provided a THREE MILLION DOLLAR ($3,000,000) grant to The Second Mile foundation? Yes, while our Governor was cutting and trimming the budget right down to our local schools and affecting all of our children, he granted 3 million dollars in taxpayer's money to an organization that his own attorney general's office had under a 3 year investigation. This is atrocious! This is the biggest disgrace that has ever come across our top elected official in the state of Pennsylvania.

Does anyone wonder why we haven't heard anything about the board of trustees and The Second Mile's knowledge and involvement in this disgraceful scandal? You don't have to look beyond the front door of our Governor's Mansion. Tom Corbett not only accepted money from an organization he and his office was investigating … he took it one step further and joined the board of trustees at Penn State, who were also being investigated at the time. This is much more than 'CONFLICT OF INTEREST.' This is completely 'DERELICTION OF DUTY' displayed, portrayed and carried out by Governor Tom Corbett.

If you think that Penn State having the power to cover this up for almost 20 years was a travesty, just wait until you all see how far, long and deep the Governor has gone to keep the blood off his shoes. Ray Gricar? What happened to him, Tom? $650,000? How long did that 'buy' the Second Mile reprieve from your prosecution, Tom? $3,000,000? Is that how much it cost to keep your name clean and your 'Second Mile' secrets covered up, Tom? When you cut the money for education and care for the special needs and gave it to the prison system in PA, did you do that so they take care of you when you finally get there? … Or are you ensuring the Oil companies will protect you with their money by giving them billions of dollars in tax breaks before we finally get to prosecute YOU?

Fact of the matter is, Governor Corbett, you never did keep the blood off your shoes … you just painted them RED instead, red like a BIG CLOWN. Guess what, Tom, the paint is wearing off, and I think you have a lot of answering to do to the people wearing Nittany and White. Joe may have hid behind his legacy, but you don't have a legacy so you are trying to hide behind Joe and all the others you have thrown under the bus. We all now know that 'the body' is all guilty in some way, shape or form … NOW IT IS TIME FOR 'THE HEAD' TO ANSWER AND PAY THE CONSEQUENCES!

I am hoping we can get an answer from our local politicians who supported Governor Corbett's campaign, budget and bills as to how they could do so with this information now 'on the table.'

I will wait to hear from you Jerry and Dave.

Thank You,

Steve Schickram

steveschick13@gmail.com