A Mannly Thing that Mann could do

I really detest Dr. Michael E Mann, mostly for what I consider to be an attack on the first amendment -- his defamation lawsuit against Mark Steyn, Rand Simberg, National Review and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. He's an incredible intellectual narcissist and tireless self promoter. He's done some really shoddy science (his most notable work, the hockey stick, has been completely discredited at Climate Audit), yet he's managed to cultivate  a public persona as one of the worlds leading experts on climate. He's also very vindictive and likes to publicly trash opponents. He's kind of like the Donald Trump of Science. This doesn't mean everything about him is bad, just like with Donald Trump (whom I voted for and will probably vote for again).

What I would like to suggest for him is that, with his prominence, he could show some support for someone at a low point, who showed some for him, when he was at a low point. Former Penn State president, Graham Spanier is being scheduled for sentencing, and may be facing prison time for a bogus misdemeanor conviction related to crimes that didn't even happen!

Why the Penn State Scandal Matters

The Penn State, Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky scandal was a very special, perfect storm, situation. And to be sure, I am coming at it from the position that Jerry Sandusky is almost, with complete certainty, innocent of the things he was charged with. In this post, I want to explain why it matters in the big scheme of things. For those new to this point of view, I'll just have to say that there is a growing list of knowledgeable people who find it credible, including renowned science writer, Mark Pendergrast, former Federal Investigative Service agent, John Snedden, memory expert, Elizabeth Loftus, journalist, Ralph Cipriano, and mainly, journalist, John Ziegler, who's done the most extensive documentation at his site, framingpaterno.com. There are also a lot of journalist who interview him and come away impressed.

There is a lot of injustice in the world and nobody can focus on all of it. How many victims were there? There were three administrators and an aging, long retired coach. Another legendary head coach was also fired. These people had their hard earned reputations destroyed. This is not a lot of people in the big scheme. The university was scammed out of over $100 million. I suppose it could be argued, using the broken window fallacy, that it was paid for by the insurance company, and that it helped stimulate, among other sectors, the fancy sports car market. A charity that attempted to help at risk kids was also dissolved. Something that should also be recognized  is that a lot of people had emotional investments in these institutions.