# Romney: If I Offended Anyone by Torturing Him, I Apologize" **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 10, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553 "2012-05-10T21:48:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/101 "2012-05-11T18:18:04Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > A lot of people were bullies and bigots in high school. Most of them mature into very nice people. > > Romney was a bully and bigot in high school–and he now wants to rewrite the Constitution to discriminate against gays. Which indicates that he has not matured into a very nice person. I’m fine with people growing up and learning from their mistakes. Romney is now just in favor of torturing gays more subtly. \ You mean your barrio school didn’t have a hairdresser? BTW, I heard that Sacha Baron Cohen is going to play Romney in his next movie. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/102 "2012-05-11T18:18:39Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Well, for myself personally, while I think there are a million reasons to loathe Romney without trolling around his teen years looking for dirt, as a Democrat, I would find it reassuring (in an ugly way) that my side has finally learned to take a page from the likes of Darth Rove and his vile ilk. > > If it’s good for the goose(steppers)… What a coup by the Obama campaign! On the front page of _The New York Times_, today, the President’s announcement on gay marriage and the Romney story about high school bullying. What a brilliant juxtaposition. > [@Marley23](#): > > No, particularly since it has already been reported that Obama was going to announce this later in the summer. There are just too many moving parts: Biden speaking up during the interview, the time it took for the Post to research and write the piece, and on and on and on. The Post was actually going to run the piece a day earlier and had to delay it so they could cover Obama’s announcement. And who could understand all the moving parts? The President, among others, that’s who! ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/103 "2012-05-11T18:20:17Z")
I did a simulapost on purpose. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/104 "2012-05-11T18:23:48Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > And who could understand all the moving parts? The President, among others, that’s who! I didn’t say he can’t understand them. I said he didn’t know the future. In particular I doubt he knew what stories the Washington Post was researching and when the paper planned to run the story. The story about Obama’s position on same-sex marriage is so much more important than the Romney thing that it doesn’t make sense to assume Obama timed his announcement to the Romney story. I initially thought the Post reported on the bullying story because of Obama’s announcement, but that wasn’t true either because they were planning to run the story earlier and it takes more time than that to work up this type of story. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/105 "2012-05-11T18:31:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I didn’t say he can’t understand them. I said he didn’t know the future. In particular I doubt he knew what stories the Washington Post was researching and when the paper planned to run the story. One is reminded of Sun Tzu. > [@Marley23](#): > > The story about Obama’s position on same-sex marriage is so much more important than the Romney thing that it doesn’t make sense to assume Obama timed his announcement to the Romney story. That’s my point. The juxtaposition of the story about Obama’s position on same-sex marriage with the Romney thing shows how much more important the former is than the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/106 "2012-05-11T18:40:43Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > One is reminded of Sun Tzu. Was he the guy who said “It is better to be lucky than good?” I think not. I am reminded that it is possible to give too much credit even to a person you like. This isn’t a coup by the Obama campaign. It’s fortuitous timing. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/107 "2012-05-11T18:47:50Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Was he the guy who said “It is better to be lucky than good?” I think not. I am reminded that it is possible to give too much credit even to a person you like. This isn’t a coup by the Obama campaign. It’s fortuitous timing. The timing is. But campaigns spend a lot of time digging up dirt on opponents. If Republican opponents in the primaries knew about this story they wouldn’t be about to release it, since it would tend to make Romney look good to the base. I think we are going to see lots of stuff that looks bad from the left and center coming out. I don’t know if this story came from the Obama campaign - but it might have. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/108 "2012-05-11T18:48:25Z")
Napolean, IIRC. Asked about promoting a general (Marshall Ney?) and told about how brilliant a strategist he was, is said to have asked “Yes, but is he lucky?” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/109 "2012-05-11T18:52:41Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > it would tend to make Romney look good to the base. I’m skeptical of that, too. > [@](#): > > I don’t know if this story came from the Obama campaign - but it might have. Some of the Romney’s school chums are now Obama supporters, so that’s not impossible. But it’s kind of absurd that two days ago people were asking if Biden’s interview forced Obama to go on the record supporting same-sex marriage rights - which it didn’t, it just made him announce it sooner than he planned to - and today people are asking if Obama timed his announcement to take advantage of a story about Romney he wouldn’t have been aware of in the first place and which is going to be forgotten by practically everybody but diehard Obama partisans within a couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/110 "2012-05-11T19:12:34Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > OR he did a lot of stuff like this and he really doesn’t remember. All those options are pretty awful, in my opinion. This is the thought that runs through my mind. Not like I was going to vote for him anyways, but now I have a personal stake in this. I will now actually be more likely to tell other people about his character. And I know a lot of people in the Christian Right who will have a problem with it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/111 "2012-05-11T19:18:28Z")
I’m willing to let a candidate put their stupid high school years behind them. I would even be willing to let Romney do so. But the problem is, despite me letting him, he hasn’t. The first step to putting stupid behavior behind you is admitting it, and the second is apologizing. Romney hasn’t done either. That tells me that he, right now, is the same immature bully he was in high school, and who he is right now is absolutely, entirely relevant to the election. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/112 "2012-05-11T19:42:49Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s fortuitous timing. In the 24-hour news cycle, timing is everything. [“I know everybody here is on a 24-hour news cycle. I’m not. Ok?”](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/white-house-watch/obama-vs-the-news-cycle.html) Barack Obama _is_ the 24-hour news cycle. > [@Marley23](#): > > Some of the Romney’s school chums are now Obama supporters, so that’s not impossible. But it’s kind of absurd that two days ago people were asking if Biden’s interview forced Obama to go on the record supporting same-sex marriage rights - which it didn’t, it just made him announce it sooner than he planned to - and today people are asking if Obama timed his announcement to take advantage of a story about Romney he wouldn’t have been aware of in the first place and which is going to be forgotten by practically everybody but diehard Obama partisans within a couple of weeks. I could see President Obama going on [time.gov](http://time.gov) every day shortly before midnight, watch as the time changes to 00:00:00, and meditate for a moment on the beginning of the day. I can think of only one other person who would do that. Remember in the film _Pearl Harbor_ the scene where Admiral Yamamoto reports to Japanese officers that “The task force is 320 miles south of Pearl Harbor.” The officers nod and Yamamoto looks at one of the officers who then tears off a page on the calendar. What is happening in this scene is that Yamamoto is telling his officers the state of Operation Z at 00:00:00 on December 7, 1941. They did not have [time.gov](http://time.gov) in 1941; of course, they had calendars. This scene could have been made up for the film or it could have actually happened. We don’t know. My point is: This scene really could have happened. Remember, also, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy.” That date began at midnight at 00:00:00. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/113 "2012-05-11T19:46:41Z")
I have no idea what is going on in the post above me, but in general, Obama does not control the calendar. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/114 "2012-05-11T19:49:28Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I have no idea what is going on in the post above me, but in general, Obama does not control the calendar. Neither do I. I’m going to back away slowly. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/115 "2012-05-11T20:11:15Z")
I didn’t know what was going on there either, until I glanced up to the username. What’s going on is **Kozmik**. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/116 "2012-05-11T20:16:02Z")
Obama bombed Pearl Harbor, duh! ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/117 "2012-05-11T20:17:12Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > I could see President Obama going on [time.gov](http://time.gov) every day shortly before midnight, watch as the time changes to 00:00:00, and meditate for a moment on the beginning of the day. I can think of only one other person who would do that. I thought everybody did that. ---
**Author:** ![Deegeea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Deegeea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deegeea)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/118 "2012-05-11T20:20:20Z")
For everyone who’s saying you remember the bad incidents in your past: Well, you remember the ones you remember. Confirmation bias, isn’t it? How do you know for sure that you didn’t also do something equally bad that you’ve forgotten? Until you run for office and someone reminds you, that is… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/119 "2012-05-11T21:01:43Z")
Pretty sure they were _north_ of Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553/120 "2012-05-11T21:09:27Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I thought everybody did that. Apparently not: > [@TonySinclair](#): > > Admittedly not an exact quote, but that’s the gist. First lesson in politics for you - always be exact: > [@Kozmik](#): > > [QUOTE=The New York Times, May 11, 2012] > “As to pranks that were played back then, I don’t remember them at all, but again, high school days, if I did stupid things, why, I’m afraid I’ve got to say sorry for it,” Mr. Romney, 65, the presumptive Republican nominee, said in a Fox News Radio interview on Thursday. [/QUOTE] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-if-i-offended-anyone-by-torturing-him-i-apologize/621553.md?page=7)