Mitt Romney - prep school bully

[RecycleMichael]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/article.aspx?subjectid=61&articleid=20120514_61_A7_Mostev333944

How could Romney forget such a 'prank?'
By World's Editorials Writers
Published: 5/14/2012 

Most everyone has done something in their youth that makes them cringe years later. The teen years are especially fraught with regrets. Mitt Romney evidently had a regrettable incident of his own. But he doesn't remember. A prep school classmate of the presumptive Republican presidential candidate told the Washington Post that he saw Romney and some buddies hold down a classmate and cut off chunks of his long hair. This allegedly took place at school in 1965. The witness, Phillip Maxwell, says he is still haunted by what he saw and wishes he had done something to stop it.

Maxwell is like most of us. Those embarrassing, sometimes hurtful, things we did or failed to do as kids never leave us. We think of them sometimes in the middle of the night. We have regrets.

That's the difference between most of us and Romney. He says he doesn't remember any of it. He did say that he engaged in some pranks that "might have gone too far" and he apologized for them: "Back in high school, I did some dumb things, and if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize for that." The victim of this "prank" is not around to verify or deny the story; he died in 2004.

The fact that the former governor might have been involved in what some are calling an assault is not the issue. No one is looking to bring Romney up on assault charges. What is disturbing is that he won't simply admit to making a bad decision when he was younger or categorically deny it and move on. It is very difficult for most people to believe that he doesn't remember such an event.

And there's this: If he really doesn't remember, it calls into question his conscience. If he does remember and chooses to deny, then that makes him disingenuous. This was not a "senior moment" for Romney. It would be something most people would never forget, no matter how old they are.

[Conan71]

I graduated from high school 28 years ago.  I don't remember every stupid or painful thing I ever did.  Who really does?  I'm sure if I polled some of your buddies from Will Rogers or Aqua Man's from Central, I might hear some really shocking stuff.  You might not even remember the incidents yourself, but as a football player, it's probably a better chance than not you bullied someone at some point.  I'm sure I probably called someone a fag for grabbing my gym bag.  I'm sure I probably pushed someone who pissed me off.  I'm sure I probably made disparaging comments toward someone I secretly envied or who was creepy and made me feel uncomfortable. 

Do your stupid actions in high school define who you are now or how you carry out your job duties?  Of course not.

It's obvious you libs are going to vote for Obama and won't vote for Romney.  If you think an incident which happened 46 years ago really defines a candidate, that means you can't find anything substantive in his professional record which makes him ill-suited for the presidency.  There apparently isn't much in Obama's record to defend or boast about so it's far easier to point to incidents in Romney's live which happened more than half his lifetime ago.  The other problem with this story is one person seems to be at the center of promoting it.  Even the "victim's" family knows nothing or little of the event.  Wow, he's been "haunted" by it for 46 years?  Get a friggin' therapist, pull the arrow out, and move on.

Aside from Bill Clinton, how many recent presidents or presidential candidates really are in touch with the average American or knew what it was like to grow up disadvantaged?  Obama sure as heck isn't in touch and doesn't appear to have been very disadvantaged unless you mistakenly think skin color is a handicap.

[Hoss]

I graduated from high school 28 years ago.  I don't remember every stupid or painful thing I ever did.  Who really does?  I'm sure if I polled some of your buddies from Will Rogers or Aqua Man's from Central, I might hear some really shocking stuff.  You might not even remember the incidents yourself, but as a football player, it's probably a better chance than not you bullied someone at some point.  I'm sure I probably called someone a fag for grabbing my gym bag.  I'm sure I probably pushed someone who pissed me off.  I'm sure I probably made disparaging comments toward someone I secretly envied or who was creepy and made me feel uncomfortable. 

Do your stupid actions in high school define who you are now or how you carry out your job duties?  Of course not.

It's obvious you libs are going to vote for Obama and won't vote for Romney.  If you think an incident which happened 46 years ago really defines a candidate, that means you can't find anything substantive in his professional record which makes him ill-suited for the presidency.  There apparently isn't much in Obama's record to defend or boast about so it's far easier to point to incidents in Romney's live which happened more than half his lifetime ago.  The other problem with this story is one person seems to be at the center of promoting it.  Even the "victim's" family knows nothing or little of the event.  Wow, he's been "haunted" by it for 46 years?  Get a friggin' therapist, pull the arrow out, and move on.

Aside from Bill Clinton, how many recent presidents or presidential candidates really are in touch with the average American or knew what it was like to grow up disadvantaged?  Obama sure as heck isn't in touch and doesn't appear to have been very disadvantaged unless you mistakenly think skin color is a handicap.

I'll likely not vote for Romney and still unsure if I will vote incumbent.  Romney's issue with me has nothing to do with bullying, or dog on the top of the car.  It has everything to do with pandering on a position....the so called "Etch A Sketch" issue with him.  First he was ok with abortion, then he was against it when it was prudent to do so.  Then he essentially created an "ObamaCare" in Massachusetts, but said the first thing he'd do if elected would be to repeal "Obama/Romneycare".  He's a flip-flopper, plain and simple.  And his apparent disconnect to the 'common-folk' is really what did it for me.  The comment during one of the debates where he bets a fellow Republican $10,000 on a point he made was a huge mistake and hurt him, IMO.

He panders to the extreme of the Republican Party, when his views don't reflect that's where he comes from.

[Townsend]

He panders to the extreme of the Republican Party, when his views don't reflect that's where he comes from.

Those extremists will cost him the election.  I heard one evangelical say "Jesus isn't on the ballot this election" on an interview on NPR.

What happened with McCain will happen with Romney.  They just won't show up to vote.

Those are the folks that make me dislike what the Republican party has become.

..and Romney's a hair puller.

[RecycleMichael]

It's obvious you libs are going to vote for Obama and won't vote for Romney.  If you think an incident which happened 46 years ago really defines a candidate, that means you can't find anything substantive in his professional record which makes him ill-suited for the presidency. 

Why would you assume this is the single incident that made us decide to not support Romney?

This is why I don't support Romney. I wrote it here five weeks ago...

I could never vote for Romney. I think he represents everything I hate about politicians. He has no core values and has been on both sides of every issue. He says what ever he thinks will make him popular. He was pro-choice, then pro-life. He was against the assault weapons ban, then was for it a few years later. Romney was supportive of the stimulus package, then said he was against it. He campaigned for Governor in a democrat state saying he was opposed to the economic policies of Reagan, then while running for president as a republican, says Reagan's policies were correct. He has flat out lied about immigration saying he has never hired an illegal immigrant, then minutes later admits to hiring a lawn company that used them. He believed in global warming in June, then said he did not believe in it in October last year. He said he would never sign a no new tax pledge, then announced he was the only candidate to sign it. He was for the auto bailout, then decided he was against it.

I believe in the ability and need to change your mind. I think it is one of the most important aspects of critical thinking. Circumstances do change. But with Romney, I don't think he ever really has given any issue any thought. He just says what he thinks people want to hear and stands for nothing.

Romney is a wind vain pointing whichever way the wind blows. I want a president who wants to change the wind, not point it out.   
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=18908.msg234754#msg234754

[Conan71]

Why would you assume this is the single incident that made us decide to not support Romney?

This is why I don't support Romney. I wrote it here five weeks ago...

I'm in the tank for Obama.  Pure and simple.  I've never voted for a Republican for president and it won't happen now.   
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=18908.msg234754#msg234754

Edited for brevity.

[erfalf]

Edited for brevity.

Could also be edited to say Obama instead of Romney.

[Gaspar]

I have it on good authority that Romney also used to burn ants with a magnifying glass.

[RecycleMichael]

OK conan.

Please explain why you support Romney. Try to focus on the actual candidate, his experience, his beliefs you agree with, etc.

Or are you just a poser?

[Conan71]

OK conan.

Please explain why you support Romney. Try to focus on the actual candidate, his experience, his beliefs you agree with, etc.

Or are you just a poser?

No I'm not a poser.  I'm a racist, that's why I'm voting for the homophobic white guy Romney.

Okay, seriously, I think either choice is still a pile, it's figuring out which one has the least disagreeable aftertaste.

In my mind, the biggest single issue still facing the United States after four years is the economy.  My personal belief is Romney is better suited to lead the country to a full recovery with his better understanding of what it really takes for business to be successful.  Of course Bain has had failures, what the cutesy Youtube videos fail to take into account is how much success Bain has incubated which might not have happened without their funding and management guidance.  I think he's a smart businessman, brilliant leader, and moderate enough to get the country moving forward again.  I'm hoping he will be a good consensus builder and will do a better job at bi-partisanship than "take it or leave it" or sticking "gotchas" into every piece of legislation he'd like to make Democrats look like crap.  He's at least shown as much as Governor of Mass.  He's shown great leadership in every endeavor he's undertaken.

On the other hand, I think President Obama is an all-around nice and charming guy.  He comes off as a great family guy with great family values.  He's a bright guy, great scholar, good orator, but he's never run a business in his life.  He looks at the economy through theory only, not theory mixed with a real world working knowledge of it.  I think had he walked in under any other economic circumstances he would have had a great first term in office and could be a shoo in for a second term.  To be perfectly honest, I don't think McCain had really much more of a grasp on real world economics either, he's been in D.C. far too long.

I'm interested to hear more about proposed energy policy from both candidates.  That's a major issue to my personal economics.  I haven't made my mind up yet on which way I will vote though I can honestly say there's very little chance I'd vote for Obama based on his first term performance.  His priorities were out of whack, he went right to work on healthcare reform when we needed 100% focus on saving the economy.  He's abdicated leadership to Congress and others on our most pressing issues.  He's ignored the advice of what I thought was a brilliant economic panel, and his only excuse for poor performance and unmet expectations was it was all the fault of his predecessor.  He's a great mid-level management guy, someone who could inspire a sales team, but he's not really fit for CEO duty.

Hey, you axed.

[nathanm]

Running a business is not like running the government, else Hank Paulson would have been one of the best Treasury Secretaries in history. The problem is that all of the Republicans who make it to the point where they are running for high office don't run businesses very well at all. They make their money from government subsidies, like when Bain buys a company and dumps its pension obligations on the PBGC after sucking money out of it with management fees. Or when GWB made a bunch of money on the Rangers thanks to the stadium taxpayers paid most of the cost for (and arguably abused eminent domain to get the land).

Why would I want a President who is going to lead us even farther down the road of corporate socialism? At least Obama talks about forcing companies to stand on their own two feet.

[Conan71]

Running a business is not like running the government, else Hank Paulson would have been one of the best Treasury Secretaries in history. The problem is that all of the Republicans who make it to the point where they are running for high office don't run businesses very well at all. They make their money from government subsidies, like when Bain buys a company and dumps its pension obligations on the PBGC after sucking money out of it with management fees. Or when GWB made a bunch of money on the Rangers thanks to the stadium taxpayers paid most of the cost for (and arguably abused eminent domain to get the land).

Why would I want a President who is going to lead us even farther down the road of corporate socialism? At least Obama talks about forcing companies to stand on their own two feet.

You have to have an inner knowledge of how business works to help business succeed.

Force companies to stand on their own two feet and give the workers no incentive to find a job.  Check.  Obama talks a good game, but what has he done significantly different than President Bush in terms of corporate welfare?

[Hoss]

You have to have an inner knowledge of how business works to help business succeed.

Force companies to stand on their own two feet and give the workers no incentive to find a job.  Check.  Obama talks a good game, but what has he done significantly different than President Bush in terms of corporate welfare?

Bush ran several companies.  Look how well he ran our economy.  Into the ground.

[erfalf]

Why would I want a President who is going to lead us even farther down the road of corporate socialism? At least Obama talks about forcing companies to stand on their own two feet.

Oil companies maybe. No subsidies for them.

[Conan71]

Bush ran several companies.  Look how well he ran our economy.  Into the ground.

Yeah, because we know he did that all on his own, right?