Obama: "Soul-searching" from Penn State scandal

President Barack Obama watches the first half of the Carrier Classic NCAA college basketball game between Michigan State and North Carolina with Medal of Honor recipient John Baca aboard the USS Carl Vinson, Nov. 11, 2011, in Coronado, Calif. / AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi

CORONADO, Calif. - President Barack Obama says the Penn State sex-abuse scandal should lead to "soul-searching" by all Americans, not just Penn State.

"Obviously what happened was heartbreaking, especially for the victims, the young people who got affected by these alleged assaults," he told Westwood One Radio in an interview Friday night, in his first public comments on the scandal.

"And I think it's a good time for the entire country to do some soul-searching — not just Penn State. People care about sports, it's important to us, but our No. 1 priority has to be protecting our kids. And every institution has to examine how they operate, and every individual has to take responsibility for making sure that our kids are protected."

The Penn State scandal has cost several university officials their jobs, most notably longtime football coach Joe Paterno and President Graham Spanier. They were fired because trustees felt they did not do enough to alert law enforcement authorities after an alleged assault in March 2002 by Jerry Sandusky, Paterno's former assistant and onetime heir apparent, who has been charged with molesting eight boys over 15 years.

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Obama said that the scandal shows that "you can't just rely on bureaucracy and systems in these kinds of situations. People have to step forward, they have to be tapping into just their core decency." When kids are mistreated — or anyone, for that matter — "all of us have to step up, we don't leave it to somebody else to take responsibility."

Obama spoke at halftime of a college basketball game — the Carrier Classic — between No. 1 North Carolina and Michigan State, held on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

The president, a huge basketball fan, also discussed the NBA lockout.

"It's killing me!" he said. But he said he had no plans to intercede.

"My attitude is that, in a contest between billionaires and millionaires, they should be able to figure out how to divvy up their profits in a way that serves their fans who are allowing them to be making all this money," Obama said. He made a similar comment about the NFL lockout a few months ago.

The president was also asked about a new policy approved by the NCAA allowing conferences to add up to $2,000 annually to athletic scholarships to help cover the full cost of attendance. While saying he wasn't familiar with the specific proposal, Obama said he supported the general idea that student athletes stay amateur but also have all of their expenses covered.

"They're bringing in billions of dollars into all the institutions that they support," he said. "I hope that we're able to preserve that sense of amateur athletics that makes college sports so terrific."

Obama said that even though he plays golf, basketball remains his favorites sport.

"I play golf for two reasons. One, it's my only excuse to get outside, and two, I'm getting too old to play basketball," the 50-year-old chief executive said. "But when it comes to true love, basketball will always be first in my heart."

[streetrace442]

Conparing the income of Obama to the average America, he himself is a millionare many times over. Wonder when he plans on practicing what he preaches?

[Colony14Author]

Obama should be reminded that he appointed a sexual pervert as his "safe school czar." Kevin Jennings, his Assistant Deputy Secretary in the Office of Safe Schools, is supposedly responsible for overseeing safety in America's public schools. As noted n The Obama Timeline, Jennings is the founder of a homosexual activist group called the GLSEN—the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. GLSEN promotes homosexual clubs in high schools, middle schools, and even grade schools, and promoted a national "Day of Silence" in schools to celebrate homosexuality. Jennings' own website says he "has spent the last 12 years building GLSEN into a national organization at the forefront of a bold movement that now works with over 3,000 Gay-Straight Alliances." Linda Harvey, of the group Mission America, calls the Jennings appointment a "tragedy" and says, "It is unconscionable. This is educational malpractice and child corruption." Harvey cites an Iowa example of what Jennings may push for on a nationwide basis. In Council Bluffs, Iowa, teachers attend a two-day training course called "How to Make My Classroom Safe for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual) Students." The seminar includes videos "...from Anderson Cooper 360, 'Will and Grace,' and several popular film segments like 'Brokeback Mountain' and 'Latter Days.'" Jennings has claimed that 10 percent of all children are homosexual. According to WesternJournalism.com, "GLSEN promotes pro-pedophile books such as One Teenager in 10, which contains at least a half dozen stories involving sex between children and adults. Another example of a GLSEN-promoted book featuring child/adult sex is Growing up Gay/Growing up Lesbian: 'When I was 15, he must have been 29-39... I seduced him... it was a wild night. We did everything.' Another GLSEN-recommended book has a story about a minor boasting about how he met his 25 year old 'boyfriend' who 'picked me up right away when I joined the group.'" The site's article continues, "It is now abundantly clear that Obama is a political animal who cares only about power and destroying America's Judeo-Christian culture. The appointment of Kevin Jennings essentially means that the promotion of a deviant and unhealthy lifestyle to our children is now a federal priority..."

[Colony14Author]

Two words: Kevin Jennings

Obama's NAMBLA pervert and "Safe Schools Czar" should be heading to prison along with Sandusky.

[doneinone]

No Obama, this will not interfere with the football schedule.

[kayers43yahoocom]

Wow! For years it's been mostly priests who worried me with regard to child molestation, and not being catholic I was angry at them but not "touched" by too much of their escapades. BUT, having raised 3 kids in junior high and high school sports it's brought things full circle as a caring mom. The audacity of this coach and I'm sure many others all over America to use our children for their sexual gratifications. It's sickening to imagine young children being tortured by grown men who actually "blended" into our local neighborhoods, school, churches, grocery stores, doctor's offices, and it goes on and on and on. To be that sick and no one is aware is unimaginable to me. Once I found a child porn magazine hidden at the back of a drawer in my own home and it sickened me and I threw it in the trash. But from then on my husband was under my watchful eye with our kids and now their kids. Can't help it. Trust is something that is earned and bad things cannot be blatantly placed in front of you and not put a halt to that trust....forever. Wake up everyone and keep your eyes and ears open around each and every child's interaction with an adult. There are some real sickos out there.

[DualAzul]

I'm so sorry to hear that you found that in your home. That must have been heart-wrenching for you. Child pornography is also illegal and should be reported to the police. You can only do so much to keep an eye on your husband, but I'm sure you are not with him all hrs of the day. It's downright dangerous to let things like this go.

[ReckonedTruth]

President Obama's comment is what it is and nothing more than any other EDUCATED american can attest too.

Furthermore.. to the RACE BASED THINKER who commented earlier.. Mike Vick paid his dues for the crime he committed and DESERVES A 2ND CHANCE LIKE ANYONE ELSE WHO IS A CITIZEN OF THIS NATION. Plus Vick was not accused of rape like the Steelers' player(Ben Roethlisberger)who was accused twice publicly of rape..and again the "good ole boys" protected the accused..and made it go away for the victim as if it didn't happen ... shame on the "good ole boys network" ..again..

What happened at PENN State is a testament of the HAVES' and HAVE-NOTS and how the perversed HAVES'take advantage of the HAVE-NOTS. The HAVES' who invest in corporate america..such as PENN STATE have a duty to PROTECT THE CHILDREN who are THEIR marketed commodity. The "good ole boys network" FAILED our children again.. at the expense to protect corporate america's greed.

[sepa2]

this is generating much more public, press and presidential interest and outrage than country bankrupting 2008 financial scandal for which no one has been indicted

[DualAzul]

Hey - I hate to be the one to tell you this, but it's 2011...almost 2012. Time for the country to move on and find real ways of improving our economy. Off the table should be take more of other tax payers' money. Free up businesses to be able to create jobs for us. This issue, on the other hand, just happened and affected innocent children. The way we legislate and mandate that business and individuals deal with this issue will help ensure childrens' safety. It finally addresses a problem that is rampant in our society and largely suppressed until something major happens that affects our holy sports programs. Thousands of underage kids are sex-trafficked at the Super Bowl, for crying out loud. That story just went national - what - last year? None of this class warfare means a thing if we're producing generations of psychologically-damaged children who become seriously troubled adults. But sure, indict some people. There were guilty parties. Just remember: the news cycle is based on relevance, timeliness of the story. Just because a bunch of protesters are finally affected and angry about the scandals of 2008 doesn't make it today's news.

[Jenna1955]

"but our No. 1 priority has to be protecting our kids" Really, Mr. O'Bama??? Kids are physically and sexually abused, negelected, living in poverty, placed back into abusive homes, murdered every single day in America....all under YOUR watch! Why don't YOU back up your words and make harsher laws and longer jail sentences for any piece of trash who hurts an innocent child or elderly person. Child molesters are RELEASED from prisons in America everyday.

[julesarcher1]

I would respectfully like to offer my opinion, which is that the original poster's comments were idiotic. Is that any better?

[farmerw]

The Media coverage shocks me!! Where is the Media when it comes to the Church? Billions and Billions of bucks go to the Church and the Molesters get away.This case reminds me of the Church with all the money and POWER to cover up the Molestation!!!Keeping the School in the Highest can do no wrong status in public's eyes.

[Grittykat]

RON PAUL 2012