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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > People and Politics > Liberal media slamming Mitt Romney unfairly for actions in high school -- What’s next a demand that he apologizes for passing gas?

People and Politics by Patrick Roberts

Liberal media slamming Mitt Romney unfairly for actions in high school -- What’s next a demand that he apologizes for passing gas?

Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012 at 09:04 AM

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Mitt Romney

What will Mitt Romney have to apologize for next?

Being born perhaps, being Republican maybe, perhaps for having a strong marriage and successful kids.
The liberal media has really shown its colors on this occasion slamming Romney for being a high school bully --allegedly.

Show me a high school kid and I’ll show you someone who at some point or other bullied or was bullied.

It is called growing-up but in the PC world we live in it seems Romney’s actions almost a half century ago are fair game in this election.

Actually I’d like to know if he passed gas anytime in the past ten years and whether he apologized for that awful sin.

The GOP presidential hopeful has apologized for behavior that might have hurt anyone after he was described as the high school bully, picking on a boy he thought was gay, in a lengthy Washington Post report.

The article describes a young Romney as the leader of a pack of students at Cranbrook School, Michigan, where he bullied students, including one incident where he cut off a student’s long blonde hair as the victim screamed for help.

Oh my goodness, call the police and the Lord High Executioner?

Romney’s team told the Post he did not recall the incident, involving his fellow student who died in 2004, but other students described the attack as “vicious”.

The student with long blonde hair was John Lauber. A number of years later according to the Post’s article Lauber came out as gay to his friends and close family, after he was expelled from Cranbrook.

In the article described how Romney marched “out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair.

“It happened very quickly, and to this day it troubles me,” said Thomas Buford, the school’s wrestling champion, who said he joined Romney in restraining Lauber. Buford subsequently apologized to Lauber, who was “terrified,” he said. “What a senseless, stupid, idiotic thing to do.”

Romney the gay bully boy -- how convenient in the week that Obama came out agreeing with gay marriage. Except it was a half -century ago, kids are kids, cruel yes and stupid also.
But this incident does not belong in a presidential race.

On Thursday morning Romney apologized for his action while speaking to the Fox show “Kilmeade and Friends”.

He told the host Brian Kilmeade “Back in high school, I did some dumb things and if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize for that…I participated in a lot of high jinks and pranks during high school and some might have gone too far and for that, I apologize.”

Romney denied that particular incident had occurred due to the sexual orientation.

“I don’t remember that incident. I certainly don’t believe that I thought the fellow was homosexual.
That was the furthest thing from our minds back in the 1960s, so that was not the case.”

Romney’s spokesperson told the Post “anyone who knows Mitt Romney knows that he doesn’t have a mean-spirited bone in his body. The stories of 50 years ago seem exaggerated and off base and Governor Romney has no memory of participating in these incidents.”

The Washington Post’s report also describes how Romney mistreated a near-blind teacher at the high school. According to report Romney allegedly guided the teacher, affectionately known as, “The Bat” into a closed door.

Up next how Romney tortured a house fly he captured in a bottle while Barack Obama fought for the fly’s release.

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Scrivner | May 13, 2012, 12:41 AM EDT

If public opinion was not trending towards gay marriage, the Washingtion Post would have spun the story thusly,"Romney involved in homosexual wrestling match with blond teenager!"

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BrianO | May 12, 2012, 11:25 PM EDT

The question is if, meaning not substantiated, Tundish45 do you still beat your wife?

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LordStrisus | May 12, 2012, 07:53 PM EDT

I find it interesting that a site like Irish Central that spent months talking about an Irish teenage who committed suicide due to bullying, and advocated up to castration for the kids who did it to her, is now saying that, yes, bullying is good, if it took place a long time ago. Amazing use of space for all those months talking about Phoebe Prince being a victom opf a horrid crime, but it is okay for a man who is expected to set the standards of decency for the nation to get a pass on it. Is there a statute of limitations on bad behavior? For my sake, I hope so. That said, he was the ringleader of this action. Those kids in my school who were jerky bullies remained that way, until some sort of epiphany hit them.Apparently, Romney's hs not occured. First he didn't remember the incident, and then said he didn't think the boy was really gay. My God, man, do you or do you not recall the incident? As for those castigating Obama for his high school actions, he wrote a book about how he learned from his actions. Accept it, don't accept it, but he came clean. Romney will always have the scrubbed clean memories to sustain him.

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tundish45 | May 12, 2012, 07:32 PM EDT

BrianO@6:43 You don't have to assume anyhing about the WashPost article. The character aspect applies to Mitt regardless. Mit doesn't remember jumping a kid and cutting his hair? You'd remember that, right? So Mitt is either (1) lying now or (2) did so many of these kind of things that he can't be sure about this one or (3) didn't do anything remotely like this. He should man up and either flat out deny it or make an unconditional admission.

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BrianO | May 12, 2012, 06:53 PM EDT

Hey EK ,something you wrote intrigued me, You said When Obama wrote his book Dreams of my father. Do you believe he is the author, or is it ghost written by Bill Ayers?

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BrianO | May 12, 2012, 06:43 PM EDT

tundish45 why not ask Lauber? You assume that the washoington post is true and not a hit piece. Very convenient the timing of gay bully right after our cammander and chief says he personally supports gay marriage. Interesting the washington post piece was revised as to mr. white's statements, but don't bother to question, The ends justify the means.

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tundish45 | May 12, 2012, 06:25 PM EDT

The only thing in favor of the long presidential campaign season is the public learning more about each candidate's character as they react to things flying at them. For Romney not to remember jumping a kid and cutting his hair means either he's done so many similar things he can't remember this specific one, or he does remember it and is a liar. Or he does remember it and for some reason now is afraid to 'fess up. Maybe somebody needs to tell him the statute of limitations has run out on this battery and hate crime.

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Robbie69 | May 12, 2012, 01:17 PM EDT

In arguing that Romney should be forgiven for this dirty deed, apologist Patrick Roberts forgets most of the details. Romney with a few other bully friends first conspired to break into John Lauber's room. So the three broke into his room, and then wrestled Lauber to the ground and then held him there, despite Lauber's screams. Then it was Mitt Romney who took out the sizzors and cut off Lauber's bleached blonde hair. Lauber continued to scream and to cry for mercy. Sometimes you can tell a lot about a person's character by what they do when they are not as guarded as an adult or running for political office. This brazen act was so traumatic for co-conspirator Thomas Buford that he finally apologized in public for these evil deeds. For Romney to now say that he doesn't remember, and that it was just "boys will be boys" shows a lot about his character, or frankly, lack thereof. This anti-gay bullying was not an isolated incident. There were other times when he teased and tormented other boys for not being "manly enough." Add all this to Romney's contribution of some $30,000 to the Mormon church for their political campaign to stop gay marriage in California, and it is obvious we are dealing with an insensitive jerk who is lacking in honesty, integrity and character. Author Roberts got it all wrong. Someone can't be forgiven for their misdeeds unless they ask for forgiveness, and there is no indication that Romney has ever taken responsibility for anything he has done. It won't be much different if he were ever, God forbid, elected President of the USA. And the latest news is that all the George W. Bush staff are flocking to join up with Romney, now that he is the Republican candidate. This is all par for the course, as Bush never apoligized for all his lies on WMDs, the ill-conceived and expensive war in Iraq, the economic meltdown, the monstrous deficit and the worst administration in American history.

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eiriamach | May 12, 2012, 09:49 AM EDT

I have plenty of evidence in my files that not every teenaged bully grows out of bullying and that some continue it right into middle age and senior citizen years. Romney has no substantive policy issues to run on (he's just anti- everything the Dems are trying to accomplish), so he's running on character and image. HE himself can shift the debate to issues of political substance. Why hasn't he done so? I criticized Obama in 2008 when he seemed to plagiarize (until Deval Patrick explained that the two had cooperated on the allegedly plagiarized points in Obama's speech). Plagiarism set a really bad example for our youth in schools and colleges. The same goes-- even more so-- for bullying. So let's not pooh-pooh it when a public figure does it, but also let's move beyond it to matters of policy.

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BrianO | May 12, 2012, 08:05 AM EDT

ephraim, even better because he hides a disclaimer with the knowledge that most will be deceived, was the entry footnoted? But go with another one, how about, " the health care bill will not raise the deficit by one dime" Oh wait it raised it by more than one dime so I guess technically that wasn't a lie also

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AlunPalmer | May 12, 2012, 12:40 AM EDT

If you equate bullying to passing gas I'm grateful you aren't a schoolteacher.

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borefield | May 11, 2012, 11:00 PM EDT

Jamthecat, me thinks you swallowed the cat and you are still in a state of severe constipation. Hope you find a life one day.

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EphraimKibbey | May 11, 2012, 10:28 PM EDT

@BrianO - One correction - before calling someone (Obama) a LIAR (fabrications = lies,) please get your facts straight. I read "Dreams from My Father" after a challenge from someone on this very site. Obama clearly states in his introduction that some of the people in the book are composites for the purpose of brevity. It may have hurt some feelings to be composited but he was truthful about his actions and therefore not a liar. By the way, I'm glad you are finally catching on!

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BrianO | May 11, 2012, 10:03 PM EDT

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it", santayana, the quote you used is the slightly different version of churchill-“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”-- get the facts right before you rant on pilib-- As for character, Obama has been on both sides of the gay marriage debate, He has been caught in many fabrications, example his composite New York girlfriend in college, he stated his mother was uninsured while succoming to cancer which was untrue but convenient to push his take over of health care, I can go on if you would like, when the ends justify the means there is a lot to fear.

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pilib04 | May 11, 2012, 09:44 PM EDT

Sort of like the American bishops bullying our Sisters and our Girl Scouts.

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