Moral clarity is one of the most seductive traits of social conservatism. Those of us outside that ideology may struggle to untie the Gordian knot of complex moral issues, wrestle over consciences in hopes of compromise and construct arguments in tenuous terms of, “If this, then that, but if the other thing, then …”

Last weekend, Penn State University played its first football game in 46 years without Joe Paterno serving as head coach. Paterno was fired after a child sex abuse investigation involving one of his assistant coaches, Jerry Sandusky, began last week.

Recent allegations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky’s molestation of eight preteen boys over more than 15 years and the university’s athletic department condoning the abuse by omission have brought public attention to the epidemic of child sexual abuse.

With the “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” only hours away from its grand opening, teenage girls and women at the age where they should know better are going a little crazy.

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. You hear that, America? That’s the sound of the “Occupy” movement’s 15 minutes of fame running out.

In yesterday’s issue of the Lariat, a columnist wrote that people ought to be more forgiving of Gov. Rick Perry’s mistake in the recent debate. He suggested the elimination of three U.S. government departments but could not remember the third, eventually admitting he forgot and saying, “Oops.”