Once again you burden us with a bullshit thread title. At no point has Obama said a word about Romneys bullying.
How about taking a 5th grade reading comprehension class? It's not that you like starting shit, it's that you're so incredibly bad at it.
A distraction
SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2012
ARTICLE OPTIONS
A Washington Post story is reaching back more than a half-century to Mitt Romney’s high school years to taint his character.
According to the Post account, the presumptive Republican opponent of President Barack Obama was one of several boys at a prestigious prep school who, in accusers’ terms, taunted and assaulted a classmate due to his nonconformity and maybe his sexual orientation.
The group — the Post described it as a posse — held the youth down while Mr. Romney clipped the boy’s bleach-blond long hair, which at that time was just gaining acceptance for boys. One participant said it was “like a pack of dogs.” The victimized boy, John Lauber, died in 2004, but the 1965 incident was recounted by several classmates, some of whom now express regret for their role.
Mr. Romney, who could not recall the incident, said he had no reason to believe Mr. Lauber was homosexual, which was the “furthest thing from my mind back in the 1960s.” Since then, Mr. Romney said, he has admitted to stupid high school pranks and apologized “if I hurt anyone by virtue of that.”
But what relevance does it have for today?
The incident, remembered or not, was cruel. Fifty years ago it would have been dismissed with a “boys will be boys” attitude or just another high school prank. But it will be judged by today’s standards that have criminalized bullying and elevated it to a federal issue. President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have prominently made it part of the national agenda.
So for political gain Mr. Romney’s high school prank will be contrasted with the president’s anti-bullying efforts. Romney critics may point to the antigay overtones (true or not) in the incident, especially since the Post story came a day after President Obama endorsed gay marriage. Mr. Romney opposes it.
In response, some of Mr. Romney’s defenders have noted that President Obama admitted to using pot and cocaine during his college years. And one web site notes that President Obama admitted in his autobiography to shoving another high school student, a female, when he was being bullied by other students.
Such incidents are supposed to tell us something about the candidate’s character, but who would want to be judged by what we did 40, 50 or 60 years ago as immature high schoolers? Mr. Romney should be judged on his political record and by his words and actions today.