Sometimes justifiable outrage evolves into a demented witch hunt. That point may have been reached with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's demand that Franco Harris step down as chairman of the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program for the crime of defending his friend Joe Paterno.

The mayor believes that speaking up for the fired Penn State football coach in the university's child sex abuse scandal is tantamount to "a callous disregard and indifference for the victims of sexual abuse at Penn State," making one of Pittsburgh's most respected figures unfit to be a "suitable representative for any organization, let alone ours."

What complete nonsense.

Of course Franco Harris does not condone child sexual abuse. In a statement, he reiterated what just about everybody else in Pittsburgh knows from his life's work: That his heart aches for the victims. He was merely speaking up for his old coach and now personal friend who has not been charged with any crime and whom he thinks has been treated unfairly.

That is not our view, by the way. This newspaper supported the firing of Joe Paterno because, while he met the letter of the law, he did not follow up to see that justice was done.

But we are not going to condemn Mr. Harris for being naive in his support. When the ex-Steelers great says, "My views on this matter are personal about supporting a friend under siege," that is not a sign of moral failure but of having the character to offer a brave dissent.

Already this stand has cost Mr. Harris in ludicrous ways. In the first place, this good man was held to be not fit for a business relationship with The Meadows Racetrack and Casino and now he is denounced by an ethics-challenged mayor.

Mr. Harris has stepped down temporarily as chairman of the Pittsburgh Promise but he remains a board member. He should be reinstated. The Promise is a program that helps send Pittsburgh public school students to colleges, institutions that respect dissent. If anyone should step down it is the politically opportunistic mayor, for his irrational and offensive slander.