[bengraven]

Hey man!

It's part of childhood man!

He grew out of bullying people for being gay!

[BeesEight]

Romney's response is pretty telling, but certainly not surprising. Holding this against him, though, is really uncalled for. Whether a candidate bullied someone in high school or not really doesn't impact their ability to lead a country decades later.

That said, Romney really missed a golden opportunity to stand up and speak out against bullying. He really shouldn't be trying to pass those actions off as a prank.

[Duane Cunningham]

Yeah, he could even say something like

"That was so long ago and I don't remember it or him, but I don't doubt it. We were little jerks. I'm sorry. Even if the story is only 20% true, I'm sorry anything remotely like it ever happened. In the decades since then, I've learned to treat people better and see the value in everyone I meet, and that's something I still try to do every day."

[Mr. B Natural]

Hey man! It's part of childhood man! He grew out of bullying people for being gay!

I did. It was 40 years ago. A lot has happened in 40 years socially.

How come this news is making liberals sound stupider than Romney?

[ElectricBlue187]

Because the fact that he's even being asked about the incident 48 years later is absurd? I almost don't blame him for not taking the question seriously. And frankly, he's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't, and we all know it. Mitt Romney says he's not sure he remembers this incident happening. Liar! Mitt Romney says he regrets having forcibly pinned down and cut the hair of a gay student in his high school days. Scumbag! Let's not kid ourselves. This story came out as a hit job. His response means little at the end of the day. It's the accusation that matters. That's how it works in this fine era we live in today.

The story itself in WaPo was actually very balanced and well written it included a lot of detail about Romney's life at Cranbrook as well as the people around him I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

[echoshifting]

Mitt Romney aka. fistfulofmetal

:lol....cold as ice

[JesseZao]

I wonder if he pushed a kid when he was in 8th grade during gym class.

Really...?

[FunnyBunny]

We are all guilty of doing silly, stupid or inconsiderate things as teens. It's part of growing up.

But very few of us were described as pulling pranks that were cruel, mean spirited and vicious. There is a difference, and I am glad I did not go through high school with those who argue that point.

[kaching]

Mitt Romney says he's not sure he remembers this incident happening. Liar! Mitt Romney says he regrets having forcibly pinned down and cut the hair of a gay student in his high school days. Scumbag!

No, for claiming not to remember (and also not denying the incident) but then offering a generic, blaise apology for "pranks" as a kid, he's either a liar or a scumbag.

But if he actually acknowledged the incident and offered a sincere apology, it'd be just about the most respectful, forgiveable thing he's done in his campaign so far.

[bengraven]

I did. It was 40 years ago. A lot has happened in 40 years socially. How come this news is making liberals sound stupider than Romney?

I think you missed the part that was sarcastic. That's all fine and good that you used to be a bully and stopped picking on homosexuals, but Romney hasn't. And don't try and tell me he's not bullying gays.

And yes, liberals are horrible for picking on Romney's past. Thankfully conservatives are not obsessed with the things Obama did in the past.

Pssst - that's more sarcasm.

[Tideas]

none of u guys did anything mean when you were a little kid?

[Angry Fork]

Kids are stupid and mean. People change. Dont get me wrong, I dislike Romney and I hope to god he never becomes President but stuff like this shouldn't be held against somebody.

none of u guys did anything mean when you were a little kid?

It was high school not elementary. He was old enough to know better.

[entrement]

none of u guys did anything mean when you were a little kid?

So? We're not running for president. All of this fair game.

[echoshifting]

none of u guys did anything mean when you were a little kid?

18 is not "a little kid"

[Lax Mike]

It was high school not elementary. He was old enough to know better.

Yes, because High school students are oh so enlightened and think so clearly.

[massoluk]

none of u guys did anything mean when you were a little kid?

I did. I was bullied and I was a bully. I kicked my sister in the stomach, I made lives of some people closed to me miserable.

I, however, never denied them or offered this stupid excuse of a "sorry for this shit I don't really remember."

[cartoon_soldier]

none of u guys did anything mean when you were a little kid?

I did. I never pinned someone to the ground and cut their hair though.

I come from India, homosexuality is illegal there (or was until some years back). Even in college in US, I used language that I would not be proud of today.

But I remember those incidents, and regret I acted that way. I don't laugh them off as pranks and blatantly lie about it.

[BruiserBear]

No, for claiming not to remember (and also not denying the incident) but then offering a generic, blaise apology for "pranks" as a kid, he's either a liar or a scumbag. But if he actually acknowledged the incident and offered a sincere apology, it'd be just about the most respectful, forgiveable thing he's done in his campaign so far.

I just don't buy it. He would be shit on regardless of his response, and he knows it. So he gave the halfway response.

But I don't look at things through a political lens, where everything is colored a certain way. I know that is very difficult for a lot of people. They're either 100% blue state, or 100% red state. I find that quite frustrating these days.

I think you missed the part that was sarcastic. That's all fine and good that you used to be a bully and stopped picking on homosexuals, but Romney hasn't. And don't try and tell me he's not bullying gays. And yes, liberals are horrible for picking on Romney's past. Thankfully conservatives are not obsessed with the things Obama did in the past. Pssst - that's more sarcasm.

Yes, because all of us are hardcore dedicated to a political "side". Projecting much?

[Angry Fork]

Yes, because High school students are oh so enlightened and think so clearly.

They do think clearly enough to know bullying someone else for their looks is wrong. And if they do it it's because there's something wrong with them. Normal people don't do that in high school.

[quadriplegicjon]

Bruiser is right that eyewitness testimony ain't reliable though. Then again Romney isn't denying this. Of course does being a jerk in high school matter in the race for POTUS?

I think one of those involved said it was horrible almost assault, and that he feels like shit that he never apologized to the guy before he died.

[captmcblack]

Yeah, so this is something from 10,000 years ago and I am loath to have this be something I condemn him by.


...but if you can criticize Obama for smoking cigarettes and any number of things from when he was a kid, you can certainly consider this bullying and bigotry as fair game for Romney.

[Ponn01]

none of u guys did anything mean when you were a little kid?

No i didn't. In fact I was one of the ones being bullied on a daily basis. Fuck bullies and the ones that try to excuse their actions as just childhood pranks. And this isn't Romney as a 8 year old, this is him in high school.

There is a reason childhood and teen years are labeled as the "Formative years"

[InvincibleAgent]

I bullied a kid... in grade school. The only time I shoved a kid against a wall was in middle school, because he stole something that belonged to my friend.

At 18? In conspiracy? Sick, Mittens.

[Iadien]

Fucking bullies. Their actions are either "pranks" or just "fun".

[tiff]

The idea that people itt would defend an act of cruel and vicious bullying on the part of an 18 year-old man is pretty sickening, but I suppose this is GAF.

On the other hand if even the family repudiates this story then I don't see much reason to believe it and hold it against Romney either.

[quadriplegicjon]

Yeah, so this is something from 10,000 years ago and I am loath to have this be something I condemn him by. ...but if you can criticize Obama for smoking cigarettes and any number of things from when he was a kid, you can certainly consider this bullying and bigotry as fair game for Romney.

Yeah, I was just going to make a post about this. Republicans really opened the door to this type of criticism. Especially after last election's, Obama went to a madrasa!!!! And this election's Obama ate dog meat when he was six years old!!!!

You reap what you sow I guess.

[carfo]

not a fan of Romney at all but this happened so long ago...kind of stupid to bring it up unless people are digging for ways to attack Romney. I hate these kind of attacks, and it happens on both sides.

[Souldriver]

Hey man! It's part of childhood man! He grew out of bullying people for being gay!

Arguably the best post of this thread. It just drives the point home how this youth story is relevant to Romney's character.

[quadriplegicjon]

The idea that people itt would defend an act of cruel and vicious bullying on the part of an 18 year-old man is pretty sickening, but I suppose this is GAF. On the other hand if even the family repudiates this story then I don't see much reason to believe it and hold it against Romney either.

These are probably the same people that call Trayvon, a 17 year old, a scary thug who might have murdered Zimmerman with skittles and an iced tea

[adamsappel]

Short hair was big in 1965? You've got to be kidding me.

Has there been a picture released of the kid's hair? This is probably a "Beatles haircut" situation, isn't it? I look at pictures of them and think, "That hair made people angry enough to protest and burn records?"

i hope gaf is around when the facebook age people start running for president and other political positions. Fucking 40 years ago, everyone here can tell me that they didn't do at least one stupid thing in highschool that wouldn't hold them in too positive a light now?

I graduated high school nearly 30 years ago. I will gladly cop to having been a shitty person at various moments in that time, and I can recall most of those moments with great clarity and shame. And if someone were to remind me of those moments, or ones I'd somehow forgotten or repressed, I would apologize whole-heartedly. What is so hard about that? How could that possibly lose you votes? I think the incident is inconsequential, but Romney's handling of it right now is very telling.

[Angry Fork]

On the other hand if even the family repudiates this story then I don't see much reason to believe it and hold it against Romney either.

Maybe they're republican and don't want Romney to look bad.

[quadriplegicjon]

not a fan of Romney at all but this happened so long ago...kind of stupid to bring it up unless people are digging for ways to attack Romney. I hate these kind of attacks, and it happens on both sides.

First time I have seen it happen against a republican. At least on a national level.

[BeesEight]

The idea that people itt would defend an act of cruel and vicious bullying on the part of an 18 year-old man is pretty sickening, but I suppose this is GAF. On the other hand if even the family repudiates this story then I don't see much reason to believe it and hold it against Romney either.

I don't know if it's defending so much as recognizing it's inconsequential. It's similar to the whole Obama smoking bit. It's one thing I've never understood about American politics and this persistent idea that your candidates have to be blessed saints of virtue and morality.

People make mistakes and questionable decisions. The only relevant ones to a campaign should be those that affect their ability to do their job. Bullying a kid when you're a teenager has zero impact on your ability to operate in office.

But, then again, I'm from a country where a politician's religion is unimportant and investigating and commenting on the behaviours of their children is completely frowned upon.

[bengraven]

Yes, because all of us are hardcore dedicated to a political "side". Projecting much?

Well in fairness, he started with the generalizations, I was just continuing them because of my disgust at his post.

My point is that he doesn't seem to have grown out of his behavior. He's just doing it with a smile on his face.

[Lucky Forward]

Instead he could have said something like this, http://www.jamisonfoser.com/blog/201...ney-bully.html

But does the incident -- and lesser, but still serious, examples of Romney’s cruel prep school behavior, like leading a nearly-blind English teacher into a closed door -- tell us anything useful about Romney?

Romney’s victim was later expelled for smoking a cigarette. Yet Romney wasn’t punished at all for leading a physical assault.

WTF?

[shintoki]

Yeah, so this is something from 10,000 years ago and I am loath to have this be something I condemn him by. ...but if you can criticize Obama for smoking cigarettes and any number of things from when he was a kid, you can certainly consider this bullying and bigotry as fair game for Romney.

He is going for the most important position in the world. His actions are going to be examined, just like Obama's from many years ago. Shit just doesn't disappear and to be blunt, his response to it is bullshit. I don't remember, but everyone else does.

[FoneBone]

To paraphrase one of my friends: if it turned out Romney had had consensual sex with a male student in his high school days, it'd be a huge scandal and he'd be unelectable.

If he bullied someone, it's "not fair" to attack him for it?

[SwiftSketcher]

Today on GAF I learned that you can be absolved of assault when enough time passes, since by then you'll be a different person.

[chubigans]

They do think clearly enough to know bullying someone else for their looks is wrong. And if they do it it's because there's something wrong with them. Normal people don't do that in high school.

Where the hell did you go to high school? Or were you home schooled?

[DY_nasty]

I don't know if it's defending so much as recognizing it's inconsequential. It's similar to the whole Obama smoking bit. It's one thing I've never understood about American politics and this persistent idea that your candidates have to be blessed saints of virtue and morality. People make mistakes and questionable decisions. The only relevant ones to a campaign should be those that affect their ability to do their job. Bullying a kid when you're a teenager has zero impact on your ability to operate in office. But, then again, I'm from a country where a politician's religion is unimportant and investigating and commenting on the behaviours of their children is completely frowned upon.

That makes too much sense.

Lets just keep going and equate this with murder and then ask people if they would vote for a murderer.

Today on GAF I learned that you can be absolved of assault if enough time passes so that you're a "different person".

If that's assault then the jails would be overflowing.

[Angry Fork]

not a fan of Romney at all but this happened so long ago...kind of stupid to bring it up unless people are digging for ways to attack Romney. I hate these kind of attacks, and it happens on both sides.

If it was found out Obama was bullying people in high school people would not have a problem doing the same towards him.

Elementary/middle school is different but when you're 18 years old and leading blind teachers into doors? Nah that shouldn't go unnoticed for nominee to president of the united states.

Also why are people equating smoking with bullying? I don't understand.

Where the hell did you go to high school? Or were you home schooled?

Lehman High School in the bronx. People were rarely bullied. If people fought it was a legitimate dispute and not a group of people fucking with 1 person. We had 4,000 kids in our school I don't know if that makes any difference.

[DY_nasty]

If it was found out Obama was bullying people in high school people would not have a problem doing the same towards him. Elementary/middle school is different but when you're 18 years old and leading blind teachers into doors? Nah that shouldn't go unnoticed for nominee to president of the united states. Also why are people equating smoking with bullying? I don't understand.

Because supporting drugs is supporting the mexican cartels who KILL people

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Bullies never change, they just find new channels for their asshole behavior.

[MonkeyKing]

......it's not about what Mitt did when he was 18 years old. Its about how you react when confronted with the unexpected. Romney never saw this line of attack coming, and his reaction was to go into weasel mode. Is that what he would do as president, deflect and evade?

[Dude Abides]

This is a pretty dumb story. Mitt's contemporary statements on gays are bad enough. There's no need to drag up this nonsense.

[echoshifting]

eh, people do make mistakes. I did things I wasn't proud of at 18, 19, 20.

The problem isn't so much what he did, as I see it. It's what he's doing today. He's dodging it...a man worthy of my vote would not only apologize, but make this into a tentpole issue: Romney is going to stop bullying. He recognizes what happened was horribly wrong, and that it's very easy to fall into a bullying mentality without realizing how far you've sunk. It is one of the most critical issues today, and this story was an opportunity for him to seize it, make it his own, and really make a positive impact on kids today.

But he didn't. He dodged, he squirmed, he slithered. That is what I have a problem with...I won't speak for everyone here, but that is my big issue. Want votes? Be a leader.

[polyh3dron]

This calls for a swift boat style ad from the witnesses

The bitter tears will be glorious

[SwiftSketcher]

If that's assault then the jails would be overflowing.

And that tackling someone with scissors in hand is not assault.

[ElectricBlue187]

Because supporting drugs is supporting the mexican cartels who KILL people

But Hawaiians don't get their weed from Mexico! (I actually have no idea where it comes from)

[DY_nasty]

......it's not about what Mitt did when he was 18 years old. Its about how you react when confronted with the unexpected. Romney never saw this line of attack coming, and his reaction was to go into weasel mode. Is that what he would do as president, deflect and evade?

Probably. That would make him different than the majority of presidents how though?

And that tackling someone with scissors in hand is not assault.

So everyone that gets into a fight in high school belongs in jail for assault? That's where this is going now?