Time to go, Ms. Simon

One of the big questions about the continued investigation into Larry Nassar's crimes is what extent of contrition ought to be required of the national gymnastics union and Michigan State University, both of whom employed Nassar for a long time and did (or did not do) investigations of Nassar's behavior.  And along those lines, it was the right thing when the board of the gymnastics union resigned soon after walking away from Karolyi Ranch, where much of the abuse occurred. 


Along the same lines, MSU President Lou Anna Simon needs to resign or be fired for her role in this.   Some specific things that happened on her watch include her failure to review Nassar's Title IX report in 2014, ordering MSU athletes not to speak of Nassar in 2017, and allowing Patrick Fitzgerald to wrap up his investigation without filing a written report--and then claiming that she could simply accept his conclusions without a review of the data.


All of this indicates something very simple; she's simply not taking sexual abuse seriously, and for that, she needs to go.   The selection of Fitzgerald is especially problematic for me, as his history includes continuing the Valerie Plame investigation nearly two years after he learned no crime had been committed, as well as his office ending the investigation of Rod Blagojevich just when the list of names of bidders for Barack Obama's Senate seat would have gotten very, very interesting.  One has to wonder whether Fitzgerald's history of bending with the winds of opinion was seen by Simon as an advantage in his investigation at MSU.  


Whatever their motivations, he certainly pulled a neat little stunt by not filing a full report--it reminds me of something a mentor once told me; if you don't document it, you didn't do it as far as he was concerned.  My sentiments exactly.  President Simon, it's time for you to go.  You go with her, Mr. Fitzgerald.