Penn State, The Clergy, Wall Street and political ruling class

I know, I know. A rather long-winded title to a rather dry essay. But hang in there and I'll make it worth your while. This week the media is buzzing with outrage over the Penn State child abuse scandal as well it should be. I ran into a guy on the street two days ago that feels strongly that the people involved should be taken out and shot. It goes without saying that child rape doesn't go down well in these quarters. The entire football program at Penn State is now in danger due to the inaction of Joe Paterno and the enabling mindset that allowed it all to happen. It has been said that you don't "mess" with college football, that it is an institution that is above criticism, oversight and perhaps above the law. That remains to be seen but my main thrust (no pun intended) is that this scandal, this story, doesn't exist in a vacuum but is rather part of a greater American pathology. It is our tendency to give institutions and the people who occupy them a free pass when it comes to accountability.
The Catholic Church is only now being brought to account for it's enabling of pedophile priests. An accounting that many say is too little, too late. And there are those that even now defend the Church as if they're beyond mortal criticism. Once again, we have a problem holding an institution responsible when caught wrongdoing.
It has been over three years since the financial meltdown of late 2008. We know how the banks did it and many news organizations have given us a road map of how it all went down. Yet not one Wall Street banker has been arrested or brought up on charges in one of the worst financial collapses in history. We just can't do it. Maybe it's because they all look so respectable in their Armani suits. It's so much easier to pepper spray or arrest the Occupy Wall Street protesters and sweep it all under the rug than arrest a sharply dressed investment banker. Just the term "investment banker" sends us into rapture with it's overtones of respectability and success. How does one slap someone like that into the slammer?
Some eight years ago the advisors to George Bush engaged in a whispering campaign to "out" a CIA operative who was married to a man that openly criticized the Bush administration's reasoning (excuses) to invade Iraq. Only one was held accountable while the others are still walking around as free men. The man that actually leaked the story to a journalist openly admitted his error as if it was something trivial, as if it merely a family secret. Oops, sorry. Nothing of a legal nature was ever pursued against this man. Once again we have failed.
These events are not separate things. There is linkage between all of them. They all have one thing in common... our complete inability to hold powerful people and entrenched institutions accountable to the law. Whether they are politicians, the clergy or celebrities we are totally unwilling to punish people of wealth and power. Until we have the nerve to do so the inequality that those OWS protesters are talking about will escalate. We dare not even ask or leaders tough questions. The news media fawns over the politicians and can't even ask an unscripted question anymore without the pol in question whining about how unfairly they were treated. At least Joe Paterno and his people haven't complained about being asked what newspapers they read. But the day is young.