Mitt Romney’s prep school classmates recall pranks, but also troubling incidents

He's since apologized for all of that, and I'm willing to believe him. *shrug*

 

I doubt that apology was sincere.

 

We were all teenagers once and we all did some stupid things (some stupider than others). We also mocked things we didnt understand or were different from us. I don't think it's that big a deal. It's he current views I am more concerned about.

 

..And he was a teenager at the time.. How old is he now? Believe it or not people aren't always a teenager, at least he apologized for a childish thing he did.. as a child. There really isn't much news on this other than "Romney, like most American people, did regrettable, yet forgettable things as a teen."

 

Forgettable to who? I certainly would not ever forget the day a mob of boys I didn't know pinned me to the ground and took a pair of scissors to my scalp, and I don't know anyone that has ever done something like that. This is like that amish community that broke into other amish men's homes at night to cut their beards. (Who are now being prosecuted for hate crimes, by the way.)

This really does just disgust me. Romney picked on Lauber then because he was "easy pickins" and presumably gay, and he does the same thing now on an even larger scale--need I remind anyone of his $10,000 dollar donation to NOM?

 

This could be the the most ABSURD thing I have seen thus far during this Presidential race.

Really???

I mean...REALLY???

Obama liked to put cocaine up his nose during his youth...does that mean we have a cokehead as President who has line parties in the Oval Office every Saturday night?

No...it doesn't.

Everyone realizes that people do dumb shit during their youth...well, most people do.

I don't fault any politician for crap they did in high school or college...and I think it's pretty friggin silly for anyone else to.

 

It's true that he was just a teenager, but the fact is he STILL acts like this. He might not run around terrorizing individuals anymore, but now he's attacking groups through his political agenda. When you get right down to it, he's only gotten worse.

 

A lot can happen in thirty years. give the guy a break.. he was just a kid. I don't think we should hold this against him.

 

In thirty years, all he has learned is that now he can use state power to enforce the same kind of negative views he held then. And it was on the basis of those same views he holds today that he participated in that violence.

I don't think this is a "look it was thirty years ago" moment. This is a true colors moment.

 

1. I don't think this should have any bearing on his political career because he was a teenager. However, it shouldn't be completely forgotten either because it could be an example of what he is capable of doing if he doesn't like something. He was 18 years old at the time, at that age he is legally an adult, so I don't think this can be classified as typical elementary school bullying. He didn't like how a person cut his hair, so he got a mob together to restrain the person while he fixed it to how he wanted it. It's a prime example of how intolerant he can be. And even at that age, it shows to what extent he was willing to go to get what he wanted.

2. There's a difference between taking drugs and what he did. Taking drugs is harming primarily yourself. Romney got a mob together and basically assaulted another student because he didn't like his hair.

 

No...the only difference is this is a far left leaning website where some enjoy the double standard..which I get...I understand...I don't like it, but I deal.

Most people look at this and laughingly say "Are you serious?" Because they remember the dumb shit they did in high school.

If you want to judge the man for what he was done as an adult, and while in office, that's fine...that is fair game.

But..I will say it again...to judge someone on what they did in high school is just stupid.

Yes..stupid.

 

Even if it's pretty consistent with what they currently believe?

 

I'm sorry, but there is a difference between taking drugs and basically assaulting another person. For you to say that there is not and to try to justify it by saying some people on this board are "left leaning" is ridiculous. What makes these acts different is the target of the harm. Physically assaulting another person has to do with anger and intolerance towards that other person. Taking drugs does show a lack of judgement and can be rooted in such issues as depression and such, but at least in that scenario you are harming yourself primarily, not another individual. And I'm not judging him for this, I am just saying that it should not be completely forgotten. No one is infallible, but we shouldn't just forget the errors they made. To judge them would be stupid, to remember what they did is not.

 

I'm not justifying anything...I'm simply pointing out the obvious. Nothing that Romney does, regardless of what it is..he will never gain favor with he majority on this board. That's not an opinion, that is a fact based on the constant bashing of anyone associated with the Republican party here. Which is fine, I knew that when I joined this outfit...everyone is entitled to their view.

All I'm saying is that if you are going to hold someone accountable to their past, then apply that standard to everyone. Hell, the 2 of the national Democratic heros had some questionable past experiences: Robert Byrd was a Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan and Ted Kennedy got drunk and killed a woman...so if we want to dig up the past, let's do it.

Turn about is fair play, n'est-ce pas?

 

That's not true at all. He could start holding humanistic opinions. Then he'd gain favor on this board.

 

Tons of people do dumb things in high school but Mitt isn't like most other people. He's running for president, and most people didn't go to exclusive private schools that touts its students, that expects it's students to be, the "crème de la crème." This plays right into the narrative of Romney that everyone, people on the left and the far right, have been painting since the republican primaries began. The way some of these stories are being told it looks like Mitt lorded his position as the governor's son over the rest of the student body and did truly mean-spirited things to other students and even his teachers based solely on his whims with complete impunity. It plays right into the anger that a lot of people have been feeling towards the wealthy and the sense of entitlement that comes with that wealth.

I can't really blame them for being mad, either. I don't think anyone should get a free pass just because something terrible they did occurred in high school. When I was in high school, the star quarterback planted a fake hunting deer in the middle of a country road at night and nearly killed two of our classmates because of it, one of whom now has permanent brain damage. Our actions have consequences, and someone with the kind of resources that Mitt had should have known that. If I had assaulted a boy with a pair of scissors in high school like Mitt I probably wouldn't be working my internship right now. So why should Romney get a pass for president?

And I'm going to second Jonathon's posts. There's a difference here. Besides, republicans established that drugs don't matter when they elected Bush. He had a drug and alcohol problem himself, if I remember correctly.

 

When Romney does something magnificent, a thread is made for it on this forum and I post something in it that doesn't give him any recognition for the aforementioned magnificent action, then you can call me out on that. However, that is completely off the topic here. The topic of this thread was something negative that Romney did, so why you're complaining here about people not giving him any good recognition is off the point.

And if he did something like come out in favor of gay marriage, I'm he would gain points with many people on this forum. However, like I said, such topics are not the point of this thread.

See, I did not know that, thanks for sharing that information. Am I going to judge them for those actions? No, I'm not. Am I going to remember now that they did those things? Definitely.

All I'm saying is that people shouldn't blatantly ignore a person's past.

 

Yes...actions do have consequences. Just ask that woman that was in Ted Kennedy's car when he drove off a bridge drunk..oh wait...

Once again, my point..if you are going to apply the standard, apply it to everyone...you can't pick and choose because you disagree with them politically.

---------- Post added 10th May 2012 at 09:13 PM ----------

And I'm not complaining that people aren't giving Romney credit for something...such action would be foolish on my part. Once again, I'm simply pointing out the obvious. Like I said, which is fine..everyone is entitled to a view.

Trust me, I'm fully aware of what I'm getting into when I post on here.

The remarkable thing is this: just imagine if Washington applied the same energy and attention to solving the direct problems we are facing with debt, Medicaid/Medicare and Social Security...we could get a hell of a lot done.

 

I'm going to completely agree with you on this one.

We have all done some ridiculous things when we were young. I'm positive that we have all done something in our past that we truly regret. Maybe it was bullying someone, maybe it was not stepping up to defends someone who was being bullied or maybe it was something else that only you know about. The thing is that we have all moved away from who we were in the past and the things we used to do.

I'm not saying we should forget the things that people did in the past, but come on. There are sooooo many things that he has done in the present that we can use to prove he is a freaking moron. There is no need to bring silly arguments into the mix.