This'll probably escalate quickly

[J_Wales]

One should expect fearless leader to use all sorts of distractions to draw attention away from his record.

To hell with the son of a *****.

 

[griffin]

Bullying and assault and battery is not a harmless prank. It appears Mitt admits to doing this? He should remember if he did it or not.

 

[cqcn88]

I know a lot of people here are saying what's the big deal about a dumb "prank". I would agree if this were a prank. There is a huge difference between a prank and an act that is just mean spirited. Filling your buddy's car full of ping pong balls is a prank. That would be funny. Ganging up to jump a guy (who is not a friend) and forcibly cutting his hair is a bit heavy handed to brush off as a prank. It's not the act itself anyway, it's the attitude. If the story is true as written than Romney and his buddies were being A holes. I don't like A holes. I played sports in high school, I was part of much friendly pranking between teams and I know beyond a doubt I would never have been part of something like this.

 

[J_Wales]

And the story continues to crumble....

Advance Indiana: Washington Post Fabricates Story Of Romney Being Gay-Bashing Bully

Don't let that keep you from eating it up though, sheep.

 

[CarmelHP]

Beat me to it, but also:

Cracks in the Washington Post story on Romney’s ‘pranks’ emerge | The Daily Caller

I'm not a big Romney fan, but the gullible swallowing of this tale is over the top even by INGO standards.

 

[Vlad the Impaler]

I would feel better if it were discovered that Mitt Romney bullied someone for being a socialist, or cut the beard of a Karl Marx statue.

Mitt, is that you?

 

[steveh_131]

If it didn't happen, why hasn't he said as much?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Bullying and assault and battery is not a harmless prank. It appears Mitt admits to doing this? He should remember if he did it or not.

Maybe he didn't do it, maybe he did. Maybe he's not sure, so he's trying to be vague so that they can't pin a cover-up fabrication on him in case his memory is failing him on this incident. Can everybody but me remember everything they did 30+ years ago?

 

[.45 Dave]

Are we really doing any better in this thread than what we criticize the media and politicians for doing? I mean, it went from discussion to personal attacks, to outright silliness. Seems like in the long run, we're not really any different from the people we elect after all, or the media who comments on them.

There's a big difference between attacking a politician who's policies are destroying (Obama) or might damage (Romney) America to just out right hate because he doesn't reflect your personal world view. And certainly a big difference between judging Romney for an instance a long time ago and extrapolating from it how he might comport himself as President today.

Obama's a known enemy. I know there is a lot I don't like about Romney.
But just like the media, we're jumping on every little thing that comes along and shouting "SEE, SEE! I told you he was no different!"
I'm not a Romney fan. But he's what we've got to deal with. As has been said and I will paraphrase: when you go to war you use what you got, not what you wish you had.
I preferred Patton to the moderate, politically motivated Eisenhower if I would have had my choice to lead the war in Europe, but Patton was smart enough to realize that Ike was in charge even if he didn't agree with his decisions, and he did his duty. Like it or not, we're going to war with what we've got.

 

[Kutnupe14]

And the story continues to crumble....

Advance Indiana: Washington Post Fabricates Story Of Romney Being Gay-Bashing Bully

Don't let that keep you from eating it up though, sheep.

Romney: "Dude, why did you say that stuff to the news? I thought you were my friend. The media is killing me"

White: "Sorry man, those journalists are pretty tricky. I'll call them back and tell them they got it wrong."

Romney: "Thanks Stu!"

White: "No problem buddy. But hey, why didn't you deny it when the story first came out?"

Romney: "Well, I said I didn't 'remember'"

White: "Ah, gotcha, we'll be ok then, all we have to do is keep denying and blame the media for reporting false stories."

Romney: "Yep, that always works... sheeple are on both sides of the fence."

 

[CarmelHP]

If it didn't happen, why hasn't he said as much?

Because if you're defending, denying, or explaining, you're losing. Plus, it was nearly a half century ago. The person making the allegation now says he only found out about the incident "last year" and was not present. I don't know about your school, but if something happened like this it would be likely the accuser would have found out about it 49 years earlier.

 

[Pocketman]

If it didn't happen, why hasn't he said as much?

Romney says he doesn't remember the incident, which often means "I'm not admitting anything." He apparently did apologize though. Another participant remembers the incident and has spoken openly about it. I suspect this will mostly blow over, but sneak into the rhetoric during the campaign.

Regardless, like Obama's birth certificate and allegedly being a Muslim, some will believe regardless of the evidence.

EDIT: CBS is reporting that 5 Romney classmates remember the incident.

 

[CarmelHP]

Romney: "Dude, why did you say that stuff to the news? I thought you were my friend. The media is killing me"

So, even if all his friends deny it, and his accuser says he wasn't actually there, and the evidence supports Romney, he's still guilty. Nice. Very fair and open-minded.*


*(I hate being put in the position of defending Mitt)

 

[steveh_131]

Maybe he didn't do it, maybe he did. Maybe he's not sure, so he's trying to be vague so that they can't pin a cover-up fabrication on him in case his memory is failing him on this incident. Can everybody but me remember everything they did 30+ years ago?

I don't remember much from high school.

I would remember doing something that cruel, though. It would haunt me.

 

[CarmelHP]

Another participant remembers the incident and has spoken openly about it.

Who? Stu White?

 

[CarmelHP]

I don't remember much from high school.

I would remember doing something that cruel, though. It would haunt me.

Would you still remember it if it didn't happen?

 

[steveh_131]

Would you still remember it if it didn't happen?

If it didn't happen then I would say it didn't happen.

 

[steveh_131]

I understand the game he's playing.

He knows his media attack dogs will be all over this, tearing it to pieces as best they can.

So, if he did it: Pretend that he doesn't remember, issue a vague apology, and wait for his pets to go into attack mode. If they tear the story apart, he wins. If they don't, and some actual evidence comes out that he did it then he also wins because he apologized already and didn't deny it.

If he didn't do it: Deny it. Wait for his pets to go into attack mode. He can be confident that no new evidence will come out against him, since he knows he didn't do it.

He went with option 'A', which to me implies that he did it.

 

[Pocketman]

Who? Stu White?

CBS says five classmates. As this article points out, being "young and irresponsible" isn't rare. Mitt could have picked a better transgression though. Given today's political landscape, a Mormon getting drunk at the prom would have been better than bullying gays.

Does it matter what kind of kid Mitt Romney was? - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

 

[halfmileharry]

Typical BS Smear politics. I'm so sick of the crap already I hate to even turn on the tube.
I still have to watch though as I still haven't decided who to vote against.
One I can't stand, one I'm not impressed with.
I wish I had better choices.