An Inconvenient Truth (Sarah Palin vs. Facts)

The only regret I'd have if I were making a documentary about Sarah Palin's attitude toward facts is that the ideal title has already been used by another fairly recent film, An Inconvenient Truth. The latest example is the former governor's comments suggesting that the recent Secret Service scandal can be traced to "poor management skills" on the part of President Obama.

As usual, Palin seems to have missed a few key facts, including one that was right in front of her (or, technically speaking, behind her). One of the agents caught up in the Colombia scandal, David Chaney, was part of her security detail during the 2008 campaign. In short, if Chaney is somehow indicative of a "boys will be boys" culture at work in the Secret Service, it's a culture that predates the current administration.

Even if you want to make the case that the current administration should be trying to change the culture of the Secret Service, the facts are still not on your side. As reported in The Washington Post and other outlets, the decisive action of Paula Reid, head of the Service's Miami office (which oversees its operations in South America), once she first heard the allegations about the agents in Colombia was key to limiting damage and putting the current investigations in motion.

Reid is a 21-year veteran of the Secret Service who's steadily risen up the ranks of a decidedly male-dominated agency. She was promoted to her current position, one with international ramifications, on President Obama's watch. I'll be curious to see if Sarah Palin weighs in on how Reid reflects on the President's management skills or whether she represents another inconvenient truth the former governor would rather avoid.

Game Over? (Not At Penn State)

As the Jerry Sandusky case shows, clearly there was a strong current of secrecy at work at Penn State. Some might be inclined to debate whether this strain of insularity in the university as an institution constituted some sort of equal and opposite reaction to the open and friendly nature of the actual residents, but that's simply a distraction from the fact this culture needs to be understood and changed to avoid future tragedies. At the same time, the rush of books on the subject, including the just released Game Over, gives me pause - and not just because I'm an alumnus.

By the authors' own accounts, Game Over was written to a very tight deadline. This all but guaranteed that its publication would precede both Jerry Sandusky's trial and the various investigations into Penn State's conduct related to the charges against him. In short, whatever the claims on the dust-jacket, it can't possibly tell the whole story.

Whatever Joe Paterno did or didn't do (let alone should have done), it's hard to deny that there was a rush to judgment to decide his fate. Like many of the Penn State faithful, what bothered me about Paterno's treatment by the university was not really his dismissal but rather the fact a man who had done so much good for Penn State and the community seemed to get less due process than an accused child molester.

Game Over seems to be riding the same wave of judgment. Even putting aside some cynical musings about what the authors intend to do with the proceeds of this insta-book, I can't shake my instinct that it will not in any way help the pursuit of justice for Sandusky's victims. I hope I'm wrong, but that's the thing about cynicism - expecting the worst seldom makes you look like a fool.

Jackie Robinson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Make a Double Play)

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of watching the Washington Nationals play the Cincinnati Reds on Jackie Robinson Day. Though I knew when I got my tickets that they were for the day where Major League Baseball commemorates the day Robinson first played in the major leagues, the significance of it didn’t fully register until well after the game’s 11th-inning conclusion. Robinson’s debut in the majors and the overdue process of integrating baseball that it started is certainly worth celebrating. At the same time, it’s important to remember that commemorations of our society’s advances are in some ways more significant for what they tell us about the progress we have yet to make as they are for what’s been accomplished.