# There's no Pit thread on the Romney bullying story yet, so . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 11, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582 "2012-05-11T02:30:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/1 "2012-05-11T02:30:11Z")
[This might be even worse than it looked at first.](http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/romney-friend-stu-white-says-campaign-wants-him-to-counter-prank-accusations/) > [@](#): > > One former classmate and old friend of Romney’s – who refused to be identified by name – said there are “a lot of guys” who went to Cranbrook who have “really negative memories” of Romney’s behavior in the dorms, behavior this classmate describes as “like Lord of the Flies.” > > The classmate believes Romney is lying when he claims to not remember it. > > “It makes these fellows [who have owned up to it] very remorseful. For [Romney] not to remember it? It doesn’t ring true. How could the fellow with the scissors forget it?” the former classmate said. Now, I admit I’m approaching this from the perspective of one who feels in his gut that schoolyard bullies should not be allowed to get any older. Still, I think this goes beyond youthful indiscretion, this is more in the nature of a lifetime-personality-indicator. And nothing in Romney’s post-HS life or career suggests otherwise. May he not only lose this election, but be brutally and painfully and permanently humiliated to the point where we never hear from him again until he dies. ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/2 "2012-05-11T02:43:28Z")
I’m no Romney supporter, but I have a hard time getting riled up by something he did as a 17 year old. ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/3 "2012-05-11T02:46:50Z")
He assaulted a gay kid. He committed a violent crime to punish a fellow student for being gay. At this point, the real question is did it actually happen, or did his people make it up in order to appeal to the base? [QUOTE=wmulax93] I’m no Romney supporter, but I have a hard time getting riled up by something he did as a 17 year old. [/QUOTE] What I read said he was 18 – that is, legally an adult. And I wish it were more surprising to me that so many people think it was a-okay for him to engage in a minor youthful gaybashing. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/4 "2012-05-11T03:06:51Z")
Shorter CS Monitor article: [Does it matter if Mitt Romney was a bully in high school? - CSMonitor.com](http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Wire/2012/0510/Does-it-matter-if-Mitt-Romney-was-a-bully-in-high-school-video) Longer WAPO article: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romneys-prep-school-classmates-recall-pranks-but-also-troubling-incidents/2012/05/10/gIQA3WOKFU\_print.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romneys-prep-school-classmates-recall-pranks-but-also-troubling-incidents/2012/05/10/gIQA3WOKFU_print.html) Election thread on the subject: [Romney: If I Offended Anyone by Torturing Him, I Apologize" - Politics & Elections - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=651384) My summary in the election thread: 1) Romney corralled a posse to knock an underclassman to the ground and hold him down, while Romney cut his hair with scissors. 2) Romney opened the door for a near-blind teacher, then feigned opening another door for him so that he would bump into it. 3) Romney dressed as a police officer, flashed a siren and approached some friends on a date on a blind country road. Har har. Except there was a strict 11PM curfew and the vics were panicked and thought they faced expulsion. ## I also stated that this isn’t especially pathological or unusual behavior. We’ve all known guys like this. There’s one in every crowd. I’m withholding final judgment at least for a couple of days, but so far I’m just seeing garden variety high school sadism. Familiar to us all. What I’m not seeing is a prankster or a class clown. That’s a different personality type. Nyx gives a misleading characterization. There was an underclassman who died his hair blond and wore it long over one eye. Romney took it upon himself to gather some boys around him, hold him down, and cut his hair badly, forcibly and traumatically. Gayness was the subtext, but there’s no evidence so far that it was explicit. Some of Romney’s cohorts later apologized to the victim, many years later. Today, Romney said that he doesn’t remember the incident. Romney was a Senior at the time. He was born in March. Whether he was 17 or 18 on the day of the assault is unclear. Regardless, I strongly support a statute of limitations for certain things, at least for those who are contrite. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/5 "2012-05-11T03:11:20Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Nyx gives a misleading characterization. There was an underclassman who died his hair blond and wore it long over one eye. Romney took it upon himself to gather some boys around him, hold him down, and cut his hair badly, forcibly and traumatically. Gayness was the subtext, but there’s no evidence so far that it was explicit. Some of Romney’s cohorts later apologized to the victim, many years later. Given the violent initiative and gang-leader mentality displayed, if Nyx is at all misleading it is in the direction of excessive forebearance. > [@](#): > > Today, Romney said that he doesn’t remember the incident. This is either: 1. A lie, 2. An indication of some serious mental problem, or 3. An indication that this behavior was so routine that individual instances blur together like normal people’s lunch menus. > [@](#): > > Romney was a Senior at the time. He was born in March. Whether he was 17 or 18 on the day of the assault is unclear. Regardless, I strongly support a statute of limitations for certain things, at least for those who are contrite. Organizing a violent gang for the purpose of mayhem is not the sort of thing to which such indulgence should be extended. ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/6 "2012-05-11T03:12:13Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Nyx gives a misleading characterization. There was an underclassman who died his hair blond and wore it long over one eye. Romney took it upon himself to gather some boys around him, hold him down, and cut his hair badly, forcibly and traumatically. Gayness was the subtext, but there’s no evidence so far that it was explicit. Some of Romney’s cohorts later apologized to the victim, many years later. Today, Romney said that he doesn’t remember the incident. There was a kid who seemed, as it were, swishy, or, to put in in other words, gay, and Romney decided to physically assault him in order to correct him. I don’t see how my characterization is misleading. ETA: And let’s be clear, he’s shown no discernible contrition for his crime. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/7 "2012-05-11T03:17:00Z")
Anyone who cares about this is mind-numbingly stupid. He’s 65+ years old, this happened in the 1960s which is so far removed from today where society actually cares about bullying as to be ridiculous. In his era bullying was widely encouraged, not at all discouraged. This was longer ago than a good portion of this message board’s posters have been alive, and it was while he was in High School. I’m just not ready to give a shit about what Presidential candidates did in High School (I’ve never much cared about college stories, either)–and I think people who do genuinely care are absolutely stupid. I understand, and hope, that most of the SDMB liberal lunatics on this forum who care about this are just doing it to bitch about Romney, not because they are stupid enough to actually think this sort of High School behavior should have anything to do with Presidential elections. This is politics and everything is of course fair game, so I expect the Democrats to make hay out of it, but I at least hope no one really cares about this but is instead just using it for its PR value. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/8 "2012-05-11T03:18:39Z")
> [@mister\_nyx](#): > > There was a kid who seemed, as it were, swishy, or, to put in in other words, gay, and Romney decided to physically assault him in order to correct him. > > I don’t see how my characterization is misleading. > > ETA: And let’s be clear, he’s shown no discernible contrition for his crime. In the 1960s he would not have been punished for it, no jurisdiction in the country would have arrested him for it, and in most schools he would probably have received no in-school punishment. This didn’t happen in the year 2012, the societal (and legal / school) response to bullying was immeasurably different back then. ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/9 "2012-05-11T03:18:56Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Anyone who cares about this is mind-numbingly stupid. LOL. Yes, anyone who cares that he, as an adult, committed a violent crime, is mind-numbingly stupid. Your argument is extremely convincing. > [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > In the 1960s he would not have been punished for it, no jurisdiction in the country would have arrested him for it, and in most schools he would probably have received no in-school punishment. This didn’t happen in the year 2012, the societal (and legal / school) response to bullying was immeasurably different back then. No, of course not. I don’t think anyone here is dumb enough to imagine that a violent crime as minor as gaybashing some kid would have earned the governor’s son criminal sanctions back in 1965. The thing is that he shouldn’t have taken advantage of his position and the other kid being gay in order to get an opportunity to commit a violent assault. The fact that he did says something about him. And you’re mind-numbingly stupid if you write it off. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/10 "2012-05-11T03:21:15Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Anyone who cares about this is mind-numbingly stupid. He’s 65+ years old . . . And **running for president.** ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/11 "2012-05-11T03:21:35Z")
> [@mister\_nyx](#): > > LOL. Yes, anyone who cares that he, as an adult, committed a violent crime, is mind-numbingly stupid. Your argument is extremely convincing. It was meaningless in its time, and additionally it isn’t even definitive that it was when he was 18. Further, at that time 18 year olds were still considered minors in many places and for many purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/12 "2012-05-11T03:22:38Z")
> [@mister\_nyx](#): > > And let’s be clear, he’s shown no discernible contrition for his crime. How can you say that? Romney has been quite clear that if it happened (which he doesn’t remember) and if it hurt or offended anyone (which it may not have) then he would have to apologize. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/13 "2012-05-11T03:22:38Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And **running for president.** Right, which makes it news. But if you **genuinely care about this** you’re an idiot. If you’re just looking to make hay with it, that’s totally legit. But if people actually think this has anything to do with whether or not someone should be President they are quite simply stupid, period. ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/14 "2012-05-11T03:24:32Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > How can you say that? > > Romney has been quite clear that if it happened (which he doesn’t remember) and if it hurt or offended anyone (which it may not have) then he would have to apologize. Hahaha. But let’s be serious: Romney totally does not remember this incident, but he totally remembers that he had never even thought of whether the guy was gay. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/15 "2012-05-11T03:28:05Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Anyone who cares about this is mind-numbingly stupid. So you must care… a lot? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/16 "2012-05-11T03:30:15Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > He’s 65+ years old, this happened in the 1960s which is so far removed from today Didn’t we consider, and reject, this argument on the “Should Charles Manson ever get parole?” thread? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/17 "2012-05-11T03:31:32Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Right, which makes it news. But if you **genuinely care about this** you’re an idiot. I’m no idiot to say this, about which everybody with any sense **should** genuinely care: > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Still, I think this goes beyond youthful indiscretion, this is more in the nature of a lifetime-personality-indicator. And nothing in Romney’s post-HS life or career suggests otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/18 "2012-05-11T03:33:32Z")
So to paraphrase: 20 or more years ago I was socially inept and children said and did mean things to me. Now as an adult, I want retroactive vicarious punishment for these types of people because they still “sit at the cool table” in life and I’m still “stuffed head first in a trash can” in life. Just like every other thread with “bully” in the title. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/19 "2012-05-11T03:34:33Z")
Or, better still, [this.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15053460&postcount=54) (Thanx, **Happy Lendervedder!)** > [@](#): > > Obviously this sort of thing isn’t relevant on its own. But what this sort of thing does, combined with the dog-on-roof story, corporations-are-people line, I-like-to-fire-people thing, trees-are-the-perfect-height-in-MI clip, $10,000-bet…it starts to paint a picture of Romney, that he’s a bit “off;” not nice or normal. The right has been trying to do that with Obama for the past four years-- Nazi, Socialist, Communist, Kenyan, un-American, non-American, not “like us,” radical Black politics, etc. > > What matters is how the candidate addresses these things, or if they’re self-created to begin with. No one made up the silly stuff about the dog, corporations, firing people, trees, $10,000 bet, or (presumably) the bullying incident. And today’s response to the bullying incident contributes much more to the picture than does the 50-year-old incident itself. > > Put together, these things all start to paint an unpleasant portrait of the candidate. Like it or not, public perception of a candidate is pretty critical in presidential elections. And that ugly picture that’s being painted of Romney? He’s supplying the paint and brush. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582/20 "2012-05-11T03:35:04Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > So to paraphrase: > > 20 or more years ago I was socially inept and children said and did mean things to me. Now as an adult, I want retroactive vicarious punishment for these types of people because they still “sit at the cool table” in life and I’m still “stuffed head first in a trash can” in life. > > Just like every other thread with “bully” in the title. :rolleyes: Wow. You’re internet-badass. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-no-pit-thread-on-the-romney-bullying-story-yet-so/621582.md?page=2)