Tuesday, August 30

PA: State of Deflection (Part 1: Kane)

The Kathleen Kane and the Conspiracy of Silence cases show that the PA Corruption Network uses a deflection strategy to get rid of its opposition

By
Ray Blehar

The recent conviction of former Pennsylvania (PA) Attorney General (AG) Kathleen Kane will go down in history as another instance of the PA Corruption Network (PACORN) using a prosecution to deflect attention away from its own wrong-doing.

Kane was alleged to have leaked grand jury information regarding the case of J. Whyatt Mondesire.  

Unlike the previous cases in PA where the media was "all in" for writing stories from leaked information --  her alleged grand jury leaks were treated as the crime of the century.  


There were numerous leaks (to the Philadelphia Inquirer) from the Montgomery County grand jury that investigated the Kane case, but neither the PACORN's media arm nor prosecutor Kevin Steele nor former  prosecutor Lisa Vetri Ferman seem the least bit concerned over the Montco leaks/leakers. 


The Patriot News won journalism awards for its coverage of Bonusgate and the Sandusky cases -- both of which were plagued by grand jury leaks.   Interestingly, both cases were prosecuted by Frank Fina -- but he is never mentioned in association with leaks.

How about that?

Fina grand jury cases leak -- no problem.  
Montco grand jury leaks - no problem.   
Kane's alleged leaks -- crime of the century.


Wednesday, August 24

Franco: Always Remember Who WE ARE...

REMEMBER WHO WE ARE...

We will never surrender to lies, no matter how long they continue to flow.

We have faced a struggle that none of us could ever have imagined; they have attacked our culture and taken down our wall and the damage done is incalculable....and a lot of people paid the price.

Remember Who WE ARE...

It’s not been easy but our belief in Joe, in our culture and in each other has never wavered.

Joe was a visionary, a pioneer, a teacher and a coach and he had faith in all of us. The culture that Joe created and gave to us

was for each of us to embrace in our own way and in our own time. It wasmeant to impact our journey beyond Penn State.

Now it’s up to us, Penn Staters, to take back our history. On September 16th, when we are celebrating Joe’s first victory, I will place a brick on the vacant space where our wall once stood. We must remember our history and honor it. It is our history and cannot be erased.

Always Remember Who WE ARE...

Franco Harris ‘72

Friday, August 12

Coach Bradley Denies Any Knowledge of Sandusky Abuse

by Barry Bozeman

ESPN and other outlets reported yesterday that Coach Tom Bradley stands by his previous statements that he never observed Jerry Sandusky doing anything inappropriate at Penn State despite claims by Mike McQueary that surfaced earlier this summer. 

UCLA defensive coordinator Tom Bradley issued his first public comments since testimony unsealed in July by another former Penn State assistant, Mike McQueary, that indicated Bradley was aware of sexual abuse by Jerry Sandusky at Penn State dating to the 1980s. 
"First of all, I've been deposed, I've been vetted. I've issued a statement," said Bradley, a former Penn State assistant coach, following UCLA practice Wednesday. "All of that speaks for itself." 
The previous statement released by his representative, Brett Senior, denied allegations made in testimony from McQueary, who testified Bradley "said he knew of some things" about Sandusky dating to the 1980s. 
"At no time did Tom Bradley ever witness any inappropriate behavior," the statement read. "Nor did he have any knowledge of alleged incidents in the 80's and 90's. He has consistently testified as such. Any assertions to the contrary are false. When he became aware of the 2001 incident it had already been reported to the University administration years earlier."

The reports that appeared in May on NBC evidently included Coach Bradley

Sandusky Case Bombshell: Did 6 Penn State Coaches Witness Abuse?

But sources told NBC News that one former Penn State assistant coach witnessed an incident in the late 1970s. Three other coaches — who have gone on to work in the NFL and at Division I colleges — allegedly saw inappropriate conduct between Sandusky and boys in the early and mid-1990s.
"You won't believe what I just saw," one of those three coaches blurted out after bursting into a room filled with Penn State football staff, according to sources who spoke to a person who was in that room.
A lawyer for one of the three '90s coaches denied his client had seen anything. A second coach declined to comment. A third could not be reached, and the name of the fourth was not disclosed to NBC News.
It appears that Mike McQueary was the source for at least one of these reports that have surfaced to once again muddy the waters and start another media tempest based on flimsy journalism.

Wednesday, August 3

Bumsted's Keystone Corruption Cover-Up

Brad Bumsted's book, Keystone Corruption, provides a smokescreen that ignores the real corruption in Pennsylvania. 

By
Ray Blehar

Keystone Corruption is supposed to be a book about the history of corruption in Pennsylvania with particular emphasis on recent political figures who were prosecuted for alleged corruption related to election campaigns.   However, the book is nothing more than a smokescreen that attempts to convince the readers that Tom Corbett and his associates were pursuing prosecutions in the name of fighting corruption.

The truth is that Keystone Corruption is a smokescreen that attempts to cover up Corbett's and the PA GOP's use of the criminal justice system to take out political (and personal) opponents.