Mitt Romney is having a rough go of it lately, the poor dear. Ever since the general election started, President Obama has had Romney against the ropes. Romney had a brief surge as a result of the Hilary Rosen debacle, but he royally screwed that up, and it’s been all downhill since then.
From Romney’s tone-deaf claim that students should borrow a cool $20,000 from their parents in order to get their fledgling businesses off the ground (nevermind the fact that $20,000 in 1983 is equivalent to approximately $53,000 in 2012), to Romney’s hiring and immediate firing of Richard Grenell as his foreign-policy spokesperson in response to the bigoted backlash from social conservatives –- social conservatives like Bryan J. Fischer who excoriated Romney for hiring a gay man and then immediately mocked Romney for bowing to — in Fischer’s own words — a “yokel” like him, to Romney’s attempts to convince us hapless noobs that the Republican Party is “extraordinarily pro-woman” even though Rommey expressly said that he would “get rid of” Planned Parenthood, it is painfully obvious that Romney simply cannot catch a break.
Today, the Mittastrophe reached critical levels.
Yesterday, after President Obama, in a historic moment, came out and affirmed his support for marriage equality, Romney quickly saw an opportunity to win back some of the wingnuts with whom he is desperately trying to curry favor in the hopes that they will forget that he’s hella Mormon. So Romney reaffirmed that he really doesn’t support gay marriage, you guys because marriage is one dude, one chick and gay people are kinda creepy. (I am paraphrasing.)
So today, what happens? We find out that Mitt Romney was a big old gay-bashing bully when he was in high school. So bad was Romney, in fact, that classmates have claimed that Romney’s behavior was “evil” and like “Lord of the Flies.”
I KNOW.
Back in the day, Romney and his friends attacked a presumed gay student, pinned him down, and cut his hair while the young boy screamed. Young Romney didn’t care, of course, because that dude was a homo with long hair, and Romney didn’t like homos — especially homos with girly hair.
Amazing.
As I’m reading and pondering this, I’m marveling at the political strategery of Davids Axelrod and Plouffe. Think about it:
On Sunday, Vice-President Biden comes out in favor of same sex marriage.
On Wednesday, President Obama comes out in favor of same-sex marriage, leaving some to speculate that he was backed into a corner, or that he should have done it sooner, or later, or whatever it is that people complain about when they simply can’t shake the need to be outraged about something, like, all of the time. (asiangrrlMN already covered this, but long story short, Obama’s record on LGBT rights is second to none; and he announced his support for the Respect Marriage Act last year, legislation which would repeal DOMA, so can we all calm down for a minute, please?)
Then today — Thursday, a front-page article drops in The Washington Post about how Romney was a big ol’ gay-hating gay-basher.
Are you kidding me?! It’s brilliant!
[Read the rest at TRS-ABLC]
Baud
My previous comment is more appropriate for this thread:
lamh35
My question is how long was the WashPO holding onto the story and if Obama had waited or never came out with his stance, were they gonna continue to sit on the story?
gaz
@Baud: Don’t you think it’s kind of unfair of you come in here and win the thread so early on?
cheers.
lamh35
But wait, there is more. To quote Greg Sargent “The Romney campaign tries to recruit a former classmate to push back on the “bullying” story, but it only gets worse.”
Romney Friend Stu White Says Campaign Wants Him to Counter Prank Accusations
Chuck Butcher
Privilege has its… privileges, I guess.
Comrade Jake
I think the real story with Romney is that he’s just a fundamentally insecure kind of jerk off. The bullying fits right in, not to mention his complete lack of a soul.
lamh35
@lamh35: How sad is it that dude can’t even get anyone to come to his defense. He has to ask someone to defend him(which I bet is a euphemism for I’ll pay ya $10,000 if you come forward)
beltane
No wonder the only people who truly like Mitt Romney are people who are paid to like him.
David Koch
Liberal media hit job.
They’re lynching Romney because he’s a Mormon.
The Christian-hating radical secular left’s war on religion continues.
Yutsano
@Comrade Jake: He’s the worst boss you ever had, only with more Daddy issues than ancient Greek dramatists could dream up. And he wants the button to fulfill Mormon prophecy.
Steve
Is it true that Mitt got a bounce because of the Hilary Rosen thing? I thought he got a bounce because he cinched the nomination and that was about it. Is there evidence that, for example, the bounce was mostly attributable to women?
JPL
@Baud: I’m sending an email to John cuz he won’t read it but I still want Tunch on a tee with those words. You can argue the legalese later..
some guy
didn’t Romney’s family flee to Mexico because they found repellent the very idea that marriage is a union between one man and one woman?
the Conster
@Baud:
Romney to America: You can’t look like that! That’s wrong!
beltane
@lamh35: Most of his former classmates are probably well-off enough that Mitt’s $10,000 won’t go too far, thus his difficulty in finding old “friends” to tell us what a wonderful guy he was.
FlipYrWhig
@Comrade Jake: I can’t imagine anyone ever meeting Mitt Romney, at any age, and liking him. He’s not funny, he’s not friendly, he’s not interesting. Even the other preppie douchebags didn’t like him, you can tell.
Baud
@JPL: LOL. You’re too kind. Consider it licensed.
FlipYrWhig
@some guy: Yes, indeed.
boss bitch
How did O team know about the story?
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@lamh35:
__
That sounds a little too common for the future Lord Romneymort. Flies? Really? Those dirty things which you pay the servants to swat for you? Lord of the Vampire Fruitbats is more like it.
jrg
Not sure if harping on Romney’s behavior in high school is a winning strategy.
There’s plenty of more recent evidence for the fact he’s a soulless piece of shit.
Mnemosyne
My Obot friend at work saw this story and said, “Wow, I didn’t think I could hate Mitt Romney any more than I already did, but he managed it.”
JPL
@Baud: I actually did send an email but he won’t read it.. Please don’t cut my hair bro, though
fuzed
Mitt’s worried about the budget, well take this: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-10/u-s-posted-budget-surplus-of-59-1-billion-in-april.html
U.S. Posted Budget Surplus of $59.1 Billion in April
By Meera Louis – May 10, 2012 2:28 PM ET
The U.S. government posted a budget surplus in April, the first in more than three years, as tax revenue climbed and spending dropped.
katie5
@lamh35: Interesting, although I don’t think this story hurts Romney in the slightest. America loves/envies the bully. Or the sociopath. Wall Street is full of them.
Steve
@jrg: Certainly wouldn’t be a winning strategy if he had responded with a forthright apology and nipped it in the bud. Instead they’re fumbling around trying to convince old classmates to lie for him and making it even worse. The Romney campaign seems very skilled at turning one-day stories into one-week stories.
Mnemosyne
@jrg:
I think it’s partly a gloss on Obama’s story about how he “evolved” to supporting gay marriage. The implication here is that Mitt has never evolved past the emotional level of a high school sophomore
4tehlulz
@Mnemosyne: That may be his only true talent.
Chuck Butcher
Romney:
I wasn’t real secure as a high school male and there were altercations that resulted in both myself and my attackers getting hurt and I certainly hurt some feelings. All that said, not once, not fucking ever did it occur to me to physically attack someone in order to do something as stupid as cut their hair. In point of fact, as a witness to something like that there’s a good chance there’d have been some punches and kicks thrown and gay rights was not on my radar. And no shit Willard, that was a long time ago for me, too.
JPL
@jrg: This is what I have a problem with..he was 18..I haven’t researched the number but I am sure there were lots of 18 year old soldiers that died in Nam that year…
Steve in DC
Has anybody read about the uncanny valley? Basically it means that the closer an artificial life form (or representation of one) comes to human the more revolting it becomes. As if we can innately sense something is not right there even though it appears to be human. It’s most often used with robots and CGI animation.
I think that sums up Mitt’s issue. At first glance he looks like a human. But his mannerisms, his movements, the inflections in his speech, all of them are slightly off.
Combined with just flat out fucking crazy behavior that keeps leaking out. Mean to the family pet, yeah sure plenty of people have kicked the cat once or whipped the dog when it destroyed the couch… but strapping it to the roof of a car for a drive into another country? Bullying a kid in school? Again, not uncommon, making fun of people, fighting, or stuffing someone in a locker is just part of growing up. But going after someone saying “they can’t look like that” and giving them a haircut while they cry for help? Enjoying firing people? Hell most people hate firing people that deserve to be fired. A 10,000 dollar bet? Hell I love gambling more than most but that was a stupid way to go around it.
All of it is just fucking odd as hell. It’s not even “oh well he’s an asshole” sort of behavior, it’s “what the fuck is wrong with this guy in the head” sort of behavior.
Even watching him smile and laugh something just doesn’t sit right.
MikeJ
Romney will soon declare that he’s being persecuted for prematurely mourning Vidal Sassoon.
lamh35
@katie5: here’s the thing though, the original story is that Romney bullied a classmate ok, so Romney should say I was young and stupid and I apologize instead of the half-apology he gave (which either way won’t mean much to the young kid, he has since died in 04 I think). But the fact that they campaign is “looking for friends” to come out in support of the story is making this story worse than it should be.
I mean, I have friends who’ve I known since HS. We still are friends. I’ve used a few of those friends as personal references as adults. 75% of my FB page is from HS classmates. I haven’t seen some of these people in almost 30 years, yet we clown and joke on FB as if we never left HS… and Romney CAN’T FIND ONE HS FRIEND willing to “come to his rescue”…
That says something.
beltane
@Steve: I am also left with the distinct impression that there are many other stories like this left to be unearthed. Romney is coming off as a rich-boy misfit and weirdo with very unpleasant personality traits.
JPL
@beltane: It’s the entire family though. The apple doesn’t fall from the tree. His son laughed while telling the story about the dog’s shit covering the station wagon’s window while driving 12 hours to their vacation home. Granted I’m divorced but I’d be more likely to put the hubby on the roof.
JPL
@lamh35: ABC news found one but it didn’t help cuz he said he thought it was just sounds of snip, snip, snip not actual snip, snip, snip.. kinda sad really…
David Koch
Obama’s gangland thugs in Chicago can plant all the negative stories in they want but good God fearing Christians will see this for what it is — character assassination of those who stand for traditional values.
MikeJ
@beltane: Uncorrected personality traits that may seem whimsical in a child may prove to be ugly in a fully grown adult.
handsmile
@jrg:
You must be joking. These revelations of Rmoney’s sadistic behavior when he was 18-hardly a child and by no means a prank-were just published today. “Harping” seems a little premature and judgmental. I would suggest “digesting” and “responding with appropriate disgust and condemnation.”
Besides so much more shit is going to come flying out of the Cranbrook closet on Little Lord Willard’s behavior there, and undoubtedly elsewhere.
By the time this is over, Willard’s going to feel like a dog caged on a car-roof.
That sure sounds like a winning strategy to me.
Steve
@Steve in DC: If you check the tags at the bottom of this very post by ABL, you will see that one of them is “Romney of the Uncanny Valley.” In fact, we have a whole category of posts at BJ under that term. So, short answer, yes we agree with you.
Calouste
@Steve in DC:
One of the tags of this post is “Romney of the Uncanny Valley”. It’s been a meme around here for months.
katie5
@lamh35: Sure, but this only works with people who already won’t vote for him. You wouldn’t vote for him; I wouldn’t vote for him. We still have friends from HS, College. However, we live in a cheerleader, quarterback, glorify the Type A, jerk society. I don’t know whether these guys have friends or whether they have proto business associates or know people who fear them.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
@lamh35:
” I haven’t seen some of these people in almost 30 years, yet we clown and joke on FB as if we never left HS”
OT, but how does that work??? I graduated in ’82, am not yet 50 and really don’t consider myself an “old fart” (more like one in training), but I can’t find *any* of my old classmates on FB, not even the ones I know have gone to the reunions. Mrs. Pantload is 10 years my junior, and she has no problem finding childhood friends on FB. But it’s like my gen thinks the internets are for their kids. Weird.
OK, On Topic: I’m thinking of selling bumbper stickers with my proposal for the Romney 2012 Campaign’s slogan: “I’m Running For Office, For Pete’s Sake!”
bemused
@katie5:
Mitt really can’t pull off acting the bully. He backs off too quickly, laughs nervously and looks like he’s about to break out into a massive fear sweat. He’s no Chris Christie and that’s one reason conservatives haven’t warmed to him.
beltane
@Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn: I’m class of ’86 and FB is a virtual HS reunion for me, with the added benefit of only having to engage with the classmates I liked.
Steve in DC
@katie5
But he’s not that sort of jerk, and that’s the issue.
Bullying, whatever honestly, it happens. But “he can’t look like that” and then cutting someones hair while other people hold them down, that’s just odd. Had it come out that Mitt beat the kid up, stuffed him in a locker, it wouldn’t make your skin crawl.
He can’t even be an asshole or a bully in the “normal sense of the term”, he even fucked that up. I spent a good part of high school beating the dog shit out of people, pulling fire alarms, and being a genuine jackass and a bit of a bully. And honestly, holding someone down and cutting their hair because “they can’t look like that” strikes me as really crazy behavior.
katie5
Okay, then the guy’s a clinical sociopath, which bullies frequently are. From Dr. Hare’s 20 signs of sociopathy:
the Conster
Mitt Romney Completely and Utterly Imploding as a Human Being Challenges Obama to Water Ski Competition
Steve
@the Conster: Whoa, I thought you were linking to the Onion. Now you know what would have been a better answer? “I won’t play golf with the President, but I’d be happy to go bowling with him.” Just leave out the part where you offer to bet $10,000 on it.
Steve in DC
@the Conster
Does he not realize how odd that sounds?
FlipYrWhig
@katie5:
But that’s just it. Romney isn’t a jock. He doesn’t come across as a campus hero or class clown or any of the recognizable alpha male archetypes. He’s just a rich dick, like James Spader in a John Hughes movie.
FlipYrWhig
@the Conster: Does he WANT us to picture an actual recreation of “jumping the shark”?
Spaghetti Lee
@the Conster:
Obama should respond “How about a game of HORSE?”
FlipYrWhig
@Spaghetti Lee: Romney would think he meant show-jumping.
gbear
Is it in poor taste to call this the Swish-boating of Romney? I hope so…
I find it so telling that all but one guy involved in this is willing to come out by name and talk about how sorry and ashamed they’ve felt about this for all these years, and the Mittbot won’t even fess up to having a memory of the event. What a fucking lying sleazebag.
beltane
@FlipYrWhig: My husband played football in high school and he always uses the forbidden p-word to describe Romney.
Spaghetti Lee
@beltane:
“Patrician”?
FlipYrWhig
@beltane: I’m stuck on Romney as Judge Smails in _Caddyshack_. The clincher was the fundraiser where he was wearing white pants and a blue blazer.
cckids
@Baud: Probably been said, but I want the t-shirt
beltane
@Spaghetti Lee: Um, yeah, “Patrician” sounds good. We’ll just leave it at that.
gbear
@MikeJ: Robyn Hitchcock reference!!! Win.
lamh35
@Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn: Shit, that should read almost 20 years, I forgot to proof read…lol
Steve in DC
@FlipYrWhig
Yeah, that’s the issue. I played rugby and boxed and thus got along with the jocks. I also ran with the skaters. Both groups were the bullies, and I just can’t place Mitt’s behavior at all.
It’s not alpha male type behavior, it’s some odd sort of sadistic behavior. Frankly it seems like something upset his world and was not right and he tried to solve it in the most idiotic manner possible.
My first reaction was not “oh that poor kid” but “what kind of crazy person gives someone a forced hair cut”.
handsmile
@beltane: , @Spaghetti Lee:
“Poltroon”?
lamh35
@the Conster: OML. WTH does this dude even realize how stupid this sounds??? So what water skiing is less bougie than golfing???
Baud
@Steve in DC: After he loses in November, expect to see Mitt Romney guest star as the serial killer in Criminal Minds.
Steve in DC
@beltane
Just say it, dude’s a fucking pussy.
Roger Moore
@Steve:
Yeah, like that was going to happen. A forthright apology would have required Romney to admit wrongdoing, which will happen about a week after flying pigs hold a snowball fight in Hell.
Suffern ACE
@lamh35: Noodling would be better. You know it’s what he wanted to say, but water skiing just came out instead.
lamh35
@Suffern ACE: I’ll admit my ignorance, I have no idea what noodling is, but I’m pretty sure if it’s a sport it sure wasn’t played in the ghettos of NOLA?
Raven
@JPL: 16,592
Raven
@lamh35: Reaching in holes on riverbanks and grabbing big ass motherfucking catfish. Also called hoggin.
Suffern ACE
@lamh35: Yep. God fire his writers. Here, I’ll take a stab. “I wouldn’t play the president in a round of golf. I’d much rather meet with him in a office to discuss how businesses create jobs, something he’s been ignoring during his term.” How hard can this be?
Mark S.
test
Mark S.
Is there something fucked up about the top post. I keep getting error messages when I try to leave a comment. Maybe because ca$ino is in the title?
Suffern ACE
@Mark S.: I graduated 20 years ago. No thanks. Never again.
ant
But he does remember that no one thought this kid was gay.
To me, this is the story. Mitt lies so much, that he does it when he doesn’t even need to.
I don’t want to have a beer with someone who is constantly full of shit.
The Other Chuck
I don’t much care that Romney bullied some kid in school. I don’t even care about his half-hearted apology. I do care that he’s a despicable human being now, based on the things he’s said and done within my own lifetime. Or heck, within this week.
Roger Moore
@FlipYrWhig:
I’m sorry, but the only think I can imagine when thinking about Romney, water skis, and a shark involves blood in the water and an emergency search for a new Republican Presidential candidate.
BarbCat
I’m late to this but I’ve been elsewhere and marveling at this sequence of events all day. Mr. Cat and I have been stopping each other often, and saying of the Obama campaign, “It’s like they had this planned out for a long time”. Either that or the President has made his own luck with his own preparedness.
This story feeds a parallel narrative that threads this episode in cruelty to the Seamus story, then to feasting on the spoils of gutted pension plans at Bain.
The dead behind the eyes I see in him when he speaks is where he goes when he needs to show the nice Romney.
TaMara (BHF)
You have to hear the one man who came forward on ABCNews to “defend” Mittens. It’s so awful, I can’t imagine who approved it:
It starts at the 2:20 mark
(fingers crossed that link works)
FlipYrWhig
@Mark S.: Yes, I think it’s because of the title.
dmsilev
@Roger Moore: I dunno. The shark might leave him alone out of professional courtesy. Besides, actuators and microchips aren’t very tasty.
Roger Moore
@dmsilev:
I was talking about my imagination, not what would actually happen. Of course, Mitt knew Obama would never take him up on it, so it’s mostly a moot point, anyway.
ed
Someone (Biden?) realy needs to show up at next press conference or whatever sporting a blonde wig which covers one eye. Perhaps Obama saves it for the first debate. At any rate, there’s a real opportunity here.
Mark S.
@TaMara (BHF):
That was pathetic.
“Yeah, it was probably spur of the moment. They probably were just pretending to do it. Maybe the guy was traumatized about it, who the fuck cares?”
The guy is almost as devoid of empathy as Mitt is. What the hell kind of school was this? Finishing School for Sociopaths?
dmsilev
@BarbCat:
It’s been mentioned before, but it bears repeating: Obama’s true superpower is the ability to induce his opponents to self-destruct.
I can’t wait to see how Mittens manages to somehow botch his VP selection.
Baud
@dmsilev:
GAME CHANGE!
Roger Moore
@Mark S.:
Just about. What do you think the function of elite preppie boarding schools is?
Mark S.
@dmsilev:
I have a feeling Mitt’s going to pick the biggest teabagging fundie he can get away with. He needs to keep the 27% in line.
lamh35
@TaMara (BHF): hmm, well this story will have legs at least until the Sunday shows. Only 2 stories big enough to talk about…”Obama endorses SSM” and “Romney was an anti-gay bully at teen”
“Assault And Battery” By “A Pack Of Dogs”
ksmiami
@FlipYrWhig: Hey – James Spaeder is at least eye candy for all the inner psycho stuff//
Villago Delenda Est
The only apology I’m willing to entertain from W. Mitt Romney ia a Captain Needa apology.
Cacti
If Romney had said something to the effect of…
“Even though it was a long time ago, I acted shamefully that day and have regretted it ever since. I’m sorry for the hurt that I caused Mr. Lauber.”
It might have actually raised people’s opinion of him.
Claiming he doesn’t remember it shows that he’s either a liar, a sociopath, or both.
...now I try to be amused
@Cacti:
I suspect that making a sincere apology never crossed Romney’s mind because he’s never sorry, and he’s never wrong.
Romney is looking more and more like Dubya. At this rate, Obama will get to run against Dubya twice without him being on the ticket. Damn, Obama’s good.
PanurgeATL
@Baud:
Pointless. America’s ALREADY cut its OWN hair, both literally and figuratively. (Maybe it was pre-emptive; I dunno. What I do know is that you can get lots of men to do lots of things they wouldn’t do otherwise if you threaten their sex and/or their job prospects.) Heck, not even “homos” like homos with “girly” hair–they haven’t for decades. I mean, even Occupy Wall Street keeps going on about how it’s Not The Sixties Any More. Time for all this not just to stop, but to go in the other direction again. “Back to the future” indeed.
Odie Hugh Manatee
There have always been more bullied than bullies in school and I think that can hurt Mitt to some degree. I was tall for my age so I was able to push back against anyone who pushed me. Since I was pretty much left alone by the bullies, I even intervened in two instances of bullying. One of those got me kicked out of school for three days but my Mom was proud of me. The bully backed off afterward, so it was worth it.
My point is that everyone who was bullied or lived in fear of bullies will relate to this, regardless if the guy was gay. For bullies, gay was but one of many reasons to abuse others. Those who were overweight, ugly, had some deformity, were a different race, a geek, poor or whatever, they will remember how they felt when they were being tormented and beaten by a bully like Mitt.
Xenos
Whatever happened to Lauber? Anybody ever track him down for comments?
bob h
There’s a connection to Seamus here- Romney as mean and callous.
A Humble Lurker
@Xenos: I believe he passed away in ’04.
Town
Lauber died in 2004.
Phoenician in a time of Romans
Oh, this is just too fucking rich. All Obama has to do when gay marriage or rights come up in a debate is mention gay bashing or bullying and watch Mitt fucking *squirm*…