Thoughts for a Monday in July

There’s a lot going on today and I can’t seem to settle on one idea or event. So, let’s do a quick recap of what’s on the TV screen and in the newspapers and give them a comment or two.

1. Penn state was hit with the worst penalties in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It was fined USD 60 Million, its football wins from 1998 to 2011 were stripped, it will be banned from post-season bowls for 4 years and it has had severe restrictions placed on its recruiting function. The abuse of the youngsters was obscenely wrong. It shook the university and its leadership, many of whom are now gone or under criminal investigation. But, I would like to know just why the Penn State football program, with its excellent athletes who were clearly not involved in the sordid Sandusky affair should be the victims of a pogrom by the NCAA. Sandusky has been tried and convicted. He will spend the rest of his life in prison, as is just and fitting. But, why penalize young men who simply loved the game of football, were very good at it, and who went to Penn state to excel and be led by a man everyone knew to be the best in the business of coaching university football. And, just once, amidst all of the statue hiding, and fresco erasing and casting into outer darkness of Joe Paterno for faults neither proven nor even clearly defined, I would like somebody in the NCAA or on the Penn State Board of Trustees to stand up and say that he was the greatest university football coach of all time. Just once for the record.
2. Syria has now said that it has consolidated its store of chemical and biological weapons closer to the al-Assad regime stronghold in Damascus. It has stated that it will not use these weapons against its own people in any case, only against foreign attackers. We may ask exactly what is the difference between the use of chemicals and slitting throats, bashing skulls against walls, torturing and killing children and brutally seeking out and eliminating rebels. I feel sure al-Assad could explain that to Kofi Annan, but I would rather be spared the delicate details of the conversation. However, what was not said was even more important. Israel is next door to Syria and is shaken by the prospect of being attacked with chemical or biological weapons launched with scud missiles from Syria if al-Assad feels that it the only card he has left to play. Mr. Annan, may we be reassured about that, too, or is that too much to ask of the butcher who is known as Bashar al-Assad.
3. Europe is in free fall. Spain’s latest bond auction took its interest rate (the price it pays to borrow money) to 7.5%. This is the highest ever in the Euro era for Spanish bond interest. Italy seems stable for the moment, but with experts now admitting that it is only a matter of time before Spain will have to ask for a bailout, the question shifts to Italy inevitably. And, if Italy and Spain fall from Euro and European Union grace, then when will the Euro itself collapse, or morph into a much different currency covering many fewer countries? And, when will Germany admit that the austerity forced upon Greece and now Spain is not working, but rather it is making things worse. Greeks are now saying that their country is not viable - no jobs, no shops, no social services. It is being likened to the Great Depression. And, when will Spanish citizens see that they are on the same German path to oblivion and demonstrate until they get relief? These questions, rather than the niceties of Greek payment schedules or Spanish bond interest rates should be front and center. But, France and Germany are strangely quiet these days. Perhaps because they have run out of even bad ideas and are now waiting for the crisis-collapse scenario that the rest of us have seen coming for 18 months.
4. And, just one last word for those suffering in Aurora in the aftermath of the slaughter last Friday. I sympathize and am keeping the families, the victims and the traumatized people of Aurora in my prayers. But, I have one question for Americans. Why are US flags at half mast until Wednesday for these victims when US soldiers are killed almost every day somewhere in the world as they try to protect freedom and America, without a word from the President or even one flag at half mast. Simple justice demands better.