Mitt Romney Was A Bully

[Visionoyahweh]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162- ... ol-pranks/

I hope the media locates his victims.

[Witsec7]

There was a poster over on 19K&C who asked about how to deal with bullys. I used Mitt as an example :lol:

[Austin]

And somehow I'm not shocked in the least.

[Deleted06]

Would he have been old enough to wear the Magical Mormon Underwear back in his bullying days?

[mirele]

Would he have been old enough to wear the Magical Mormon Underwear back in his bullying days?

Answer: No. He wouldn't have taken out his endowments (and gotten his garments) until just before he left to go on his mission.

[Hane]

Probably not--Mormons only begin wearing their "sacred garments" after they've "been through the temple" and get certain "ordinances" as adults: for young men before they go on their mission, or for women after they get married, as I understand it.

And OF COURSE Mitt doesn't remember bullying anybody: Bullies never do.

[jenny_islander]

I still live in the same town as one of the guys who aided and abetted a bully who went so far he actually got himself expelled. The bully's buddy thought it was all so, so funny. He introduced me to his girlfriend years later as a former classmate and I just stared. He had no clue, no inkling, that he still haunted my nightmares. It was all in good fun, right?

Romney is a clueless, privileged ass who is about as well suited to running this country as the Sun King.

[gustava]

So was George W. Bush. overgrown frat boys like George and Mitt call them "practical jokes." Crummy bastards.

[debrand]

If Romeny had sincerely apologized, I don't think that this would be an issue. People change as they grow older. He could have said that he regretted the ignorance and stupidity of his youth. That is not what he did. He apologized for something that he claims he doesn't remember. So, he isn't acknowledging that he actually did anythinf wrong.

[ADoyle90815]

Probably not--Mormons only begin wearing their "sacred garments" after they've "been through the temple" and get certain "ordinances" as adults: for young men before they go on their mission, or for women after they get married, as I understand it.

And OF COURSE Mitt doesn't remember bullying anybody: Bullies never do.

For women, they get their "endowments" just before getting married in the temple, often on the day before. That's mostly because they wear the full attire for the wedding ceremony itself, so the bride has to select a wedding dress that will cover her garments both during and after the temple wedding.

I do agree that Romney is the typical bully who doesn't remember what he did, or if he did, he considers it a "practical joke."

[Austin]

High school was thirty years ago for me, but if I had ever forcibly held someone down and hacked off their hair, I'm pretty sure I would remember it. And if his memory is that bad, then maybe he shouldn't be running for president.

[ladypuglover]

It was a classic non-apology.

You can't just blame republicans, Clinton wasn't an innocent alter boy either. I think we need to stop looking at this as what type of person does this because bullies come from all walks of life. Just like rapiest, shoplifters and so forth, criminals and abusers come from every walk of life you can think of. We need to educate ourselves and the next generation of why this has to stop.

[Deleted03]

High school was thirty years ago for me, but if I had ever forcibly held someone down and hacked off their hair, I'm pretty sure I would remember it. And if his memory is that bad, then maybe he shouldn't be running for president.

unless you were doing it on such a regular basis that it did not phase and did not register in your memories. Still makes him a bully and an asshole. And I don't see how he can lead a country.

[deelaem]

...shuddering at the thought of Mittens taking out his endowments...

[NurseNell]

I certainly don't think an act of bullying in high school should count against anyone some 30 or 40 years later. I did some stupid things in school, and I wager that everyone on this board did also. In my day girls seldom bullied but we knew how to be catty and mean to anyone we didn't like. If you are out of high school and still engaging in high school behavior then there's something wrong.

I had a nursing school classmate who used to get picked on a lot. She had very long, stringy red hair that she did nothing with. She didn't style it or wear it at all attractively. One night while she was asleep someone (or more than one person) cut her ponytail off. I was shocked and could not believe someone could be so mean. We graduated in 1966. I recently found Becki and am back in touch with her. She didn't even remember the event! I was more upset about it 47 years later than she was. I don't know who cut her hair but if Becki forgot it happening maybe the bully did too. So I can believe Romney might not remember.

[Beeks]

unless you were doing it on such a regular basis that it did not phase and did not register in your memories. Still makes him a bully and an asshole. And I don't see how he can lead a country.

Right. I don't remember doing anything like that to anyone because I never did anything like that. But I wouldn't say I don't remember, I'd say no. That never happened. Saying he "doesn't remember" is basically admitting he used to pull this type of thing all the time, IMO.

Edited for clarity

[JenniferJuniper]

I certainly don't think an act of bullying in high school should count against anyone some 30 or 40 years later. I did some stupid things in school, and I wager that everyone on this board did also. In my day girls seldom bullied but we knew how to be catty and mean to anyone we didn't like. If you are out of high school and still engaging in high school behavior then there's something wrong.

Here's what Andrew Sullivan has to say about the issue on his blog. I concur.

Should we judge a man today by what he did all those years ago?

Not entirely. He has apologized. But there is surely something here: the notion that being privileged and conformist requires actual punishment of the marginalized and under-privileged; that you pick on younger, weaker boys, not older ones; and that you psychologically traumatize the victim by permanently marking his body.

And this matters because today these attacks on gay kids drive many to suicide, others to despair; they wreck lives and self-esteem. It matters that we know that one candidate for president was an anti-gay bully in high school, targeting a weak and defenseless kid and humiliating and traumatizing him. Today, he does the same thing in a larger, more abstract way: targeting a small minority as a way to advance his own power. It gives me the chills.

[silvia]

Yeah, it's common for not-really-reformed bullies to claim they don't remember what they did to others, as Romney has. Most of the time, though, I think that's a lie. Of course they remember, but because acknowledging the true extent of the harm they've wrought would threaten their continued bedrock belief that nonconformists deserve to be put in their place, they can't admit what an awful thing they really did to anyone else--or even, sometimes, to themselves. So if they address it at all, they laugh it off as "youthful hijinks," when it was really something much more damaging than that.

[ilovetchotchkes]

Yeah, it's common for not-really-reformed bullies to claim they don't remember what they did to others, as Romney has. Most of the time, though, I think that's a lie. Of course they remember, but because acknowledging the true extent of the harm they've wrought would threaten their continued bedrock belief that nonconformists deserve to be put in their place, they can't admit what an awful thing they really did to anyone else--or even, sometimes, to themselves. So if they address it at all, they laugh it off as "youthful hijinks," when it was really something much more damaging than that.

I remember a show, could have been Oprah, or Maurey- one of those daytime talk shows, where they got together bullies and their victims YEARS later. Most of them (the bullies) said that they completely did not remember making fun of the victims.

I wonder if the bullies were ashamed of what they had done and were therefore in denial, or honestly didn't remember!!!!

[Deleted03]

I certainly don't think an act of bullying in high school should count against anyone some 30 or 40 years later. I did some stupid things in school, and I wager that everyone on this board did also. In my day girls seldom bullied but we knew how to be catty and mean to anyone we didn't like. If you are out of high school and still engaging in high school behavior then there's something wrong.

I had a nursing school classmate who used to get picked on a lot. She had very long, stringy red hair that she did nothing with. She didn't style it or wear it at all attractively. One night while she was asleep someone (or more than one person) cut her ponytail off. I was shocked and could not believe someone could be so mean. We graduated in 1966. I recently found Becki and am back in touch with her. She didn't even remember the event! I was more upset about it 47 years later than she was. I don't know who cut her hair but if Becki forgot it happening maybe the bully did too. So I can believe Romney might not remember.

I still remember the spitting on me, the gum in my long hair, the fear I had walking to class everyday for years because I was going where the bullies hang out and spit on me, I remember the fight I was forced into, I remember the laughs, the sneers, I remember feeling horribly alone at recess, I remember all that. I'm sure some people forget those events because everyone deals with trauma differently, but you should be careful with those you hurt to make sure they really don't care anymore, before you say I'm sorry, you were so meaningless to me I don't remember anything.

[marmalade]

I remember a show, could have been Oprah, or Maurey- one of those daytime talk shows, where they got together bullies and their victims YEARS later. Most of them (the bullies) said that they completely did not remember making fun of the victims.

I wonder if the bullies were ashamed of what they had done and were therefore in denial, or honestly didn't remember!!!!

Quite surprizingly, I got an apology from a girl who, with two friends, bullied me in the 9th grade. Facebook is good for something I guess.

[gustava]

I still remember the spitting on me, the gum in my long hair, the fear I had walking to class everyday for years because I was going where the bullies hang out and spit on me, I remember the fight I was forced into, I remember the laughs, the sneers, I remember feeling horribly alone at recess, I remember all that. I'm sure some people forget those events because everyone deals with trauma differently, but you should be careful with those you hurt to make sure they really don't care anymore, before you say I'm sorry, you were so meaningless to me I don't remember anything.

but you should be careful with those you hurt to make sure they really don't care anymore, before you say I'm sorry, you were so meaningless to me I don't remember anything.

This, Mittens.

[silvia]

but you should be careful with those you hurt to make sure they really don't care anymore, before you say I'm sorry, you were so meaningless to me I don't remember anything.

This, Mittens.

Exactly. Disingenuously claiming not to remember restraining a gay classmate and hacking his hair off with scissors is a huge devaluation of that classmate's humanity. Mitt's response basically screams, "That guy didn't matter at all."

[ilovetchotchkes]

Quite surprizingly, I got an apology from a girl who, with two friends, bullied me in the 9th grade. Facebook is good for something I guess.

I had a friend of a friend who found me on FB too who apparently bullied me, i didn't remember. (I remember the girls, and one particular boy and he wasn't him) apologize tearfully and profusely at a friend's party for "being mean to me" and i was like "dude, you were the least of the worst, don't sweat it".

[Elle]

If Romeny had sincerely apologized, I don't think that this would be an issue. People change as they grow older. He could have said that he regretted the ignorance and stupidity of his youth. That is not what he did. He apologized for something that he claims he doesn't remember. So, he isn't acknowledging that he actually did anythinf wrong.

"But as to pranks that were played back then, I don't remember them all but again, high school days"

Them ALL? Sounds like he remembers some of these "pranks," but isn't really acknowledging them.

What an ass he is for not owning up to what he did. I agree people can change, but those who do admit they were flat out wrong in their apologies.