Going with the "sticking with what we know" theme, I would encourage anyone who's commented so far or will comment on this issue to very carefully read the grand jury report.
Having done that, and without a "horse in race", so to speak, I'm inclined to agree w/ tec regarding the probable knee-jerk firing of Paterno. The grand jury report does not say what the GA said to Paterno, or even what he said to his own father after he witnessed the incident.
The BoT may have more to go on than we do, and Paterno had to go after his own "I should have done more" comment. For Paterno, the red flag to me is why was he not involved with the GA's inteview w/ McQueary later? That reeks of the "I don't want to know or find out anymore than what I know now". I have very little doubt that his pursuit of his legacy was a part of his thinking.
Most of what we say beyond the grand jury report is speculation, including saying what we would do if we were in a similar situation. Context, as always, is king, and while it doesn't excuse the "ought" in what we do, it has a huge impact in how react to things. We all read of families who support their children, even when they've comitted heinous acts. They don't do it because they are cowards. They do it because they are blinded by the emotions invested. Rationality goes out the window to varying degrees when you're outside the confines of hindsight and forum chatter. This scandal will ruin the lives of many. Had McQueary done the right thing, his life and many others may have been ruined anyway. Rational thought and action is understandably absent, though certainly not excused. We all say what we would have done, but none of us are living within that environment, where the program is your life. It's easy for us to say what each person should have done because we don't have the investment that those people did.
At the danger of sounding like an excuse maker, after reading the grand jury report a few days ago, it makes me sick. My immediate thought is that this should be a "death penalty" dagger to their program. An investigation to find out the extent of the cover-up(s) should be launched immediately.
And for the life of me, why is McQueary still employed? He doesn't deserve the death threats he's getting, but c'mon. He needs to be gone yesterday. And the PSU students need to put the blame where it belongs:
1. Sandusky (obviously)
2. McQueary, Paterno, Curly and the other guy, the president (the entire group of them)