# Why doesn't Romney say "no, that never happened" instead of "I don't recall that"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 14, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821 "2012-05-14T00:38:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/21 "2012-05-14T02:11:03Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > The rumor is he ate pot brownies, hence the “didn’t inhale” was technically accurate. That’s not a rumor I ever heard. His buddy, Robert Reich, says they “didn’t inhale together” when they were at Oxford. I think the joke makes it pretty clear what happened. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/22 "2012-05-14T02:42:20Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Why didn’t Bill Clinton just say he smoked pot instead of saying he tried it, but didn’t inhale? Does anyone think he didn’t inhale? I voted for him, and was annoyed by that. He claims that it was a bad joke. I met him when I worked at the library in Little Rock, but cannot judge his sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/23 "2012-05-14T03:06:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > From Wikipedia: But O’Neill and Corsi were not present at any of the events in question. Corsi didn’t even serve in Vietnam. You are confusing the _book_ with the Swift Boat _group_. O’Neill and Corsi were involved in both, but they aren’t the same thing. In fact, many of the veterans interviewed for the book weren’t members of the Swift Boat Veterans group (and many of the people interviewed for the book disavowed it, saying it was dishonest and took their comments out of context.) It’s certainly true O’Neill, especially, wanted people to conflate SVPT with his book, but they involved different people and made different claims. That’s the distinction between this and the Romney event. Kerry didn’t have one specific thing he could point to and say “that’s a lie.” Romney is being accused of being a bully on a single occasion\*\* by actual eyewitnesses who really were there.\*\* ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/24 "2012-05-14T05:42:53Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > But O’Neill and Corsi were not present at any of the events in question. Corsi didn’t even serve in Vietnam. You are confusing the _book_ with the Swift Boat _group_. O’Neill and Corsi were involved in both, but they aren’t the same thing. In fact, many of the veterans interviewed for the book weren’t members of the Swift Boat Veterans group (and many of the people interviewed for the book disavowed it, saying it was dishonest and took their comments out of context.) > > It’s certainly true O’Neill, especially, wanted people to conflate SVPT with his book, but they involved different people and made different claims. > > That’s the distinction between this and the Romney event. Kerry didn’t have one specific thing he could point to and say “that’s a lie.” Romney is being accused of being a bully on a single occasion\*\* by actual eyewitnesses who really were there.\*\* I’m not confusing anything. You said the SB complaint was only about Kerry’s anti-war protest. I just showed you it wasn’t. Who cares if they were there or not? They referenced people in the book who were. ---
**Author:** ![ExcitedIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ea5d25/32.png) [@ExcitedIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExcitedIdiot)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/25 "2012-05-14T11:58:58Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Why not deny it happened? Because he says to himself, “I don’t recall dong that, but that’s just the kind of stuff I did all the time.” So he doesn’t deny it happened; it rings too true to do that. If he was being truthful, he would have said that, but he didn’t. He just claimed to not remember it. ---
**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 14, 2012, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/26 "2012-05-14T12:11:57Z")
> [@ExcitedIdiot](#): > > If he was being truthful, he would have said that, but he didn’t. He just claimed to not remember it. No, that would be far dumber to say than what he did. That’s just one possible interpretation of his comments. It’s still possible he remembers it but is so ashamed that he can’t admit it. Or that he was told by his political staff not to admit to anything about it. Or lots of other things. This response is only politically stupid because because it’s something people have a really hard time believing, and thus people will often choose to believe the worst. You’re advice would have everyone assuming the worst. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/27 "2012-05-14T12:18:48Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > That’s not a rumor I ever heard. It was brought forth by Hitchens in Hitch-22. He was at Oxford at the same time as Clinton and rather disliked him. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/28 "2012-05-14T12:41:47Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Why not deny it happened? Because he says to himself, “I don’t recall dong that, but that’s just the kind of stuff I did all the time.” So he doesn’t deny it happened; it rings too true to do that. Which is, frankly, rather disturbing, in and of itself. ---
**Author:** ![BottledBlondJeanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@BottledBlondJeanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BottledBlondJeanie)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/29 "2012-05-14T12:46:23Z")
Running for political office is somewhat akin to constantly being on trial. Absolutes are usually unnecessary and only open a person up to impeachment. Every one in a while an absolute statement like “never” or “always” is necessary, but leaving some wiggle room is nearly always advisable. This is true no matter your political leanings. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/30 "2012-05-14T13:22:51Z")
> [@ExcitedIdiot](#): > > If he was being truthful, he would have said that, but he didn’t. He just claimed to not remember it. No, I disagree. If he were being truthful and helpful, he would have said that. Merely being truthful doesn’t require him to volunteer the extra information that he remembers doing similar things frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/31 "2012-05-14T13:56:14Z")
Maybe Romney said he doesn’t recall because he doesn’t recall. I know, radical idea and all. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/32 "2012-05-14T14:17:57Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Maybe Romney said he doesn’t recall because he doesn’t recall. > > I know, radical idea and all. > > Regards, > Shodan Sure, that’s possible, but most of us think that if we did something like that, we’d remember. It’s not like it was a 2-second name calling incident-- it involved physical restraint. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/33 "2012-05-14T14:24:21Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Maybe Romney said he doesn’t recall because he doesn’t recall. > > I know, radical idea and all. > > Regards, > Shodan If I did something so mean to somebody, I’m quite certain that I would remember it. Even though I think Romney is a disgusting piece of shit, I doubt that he committed so many assaults that they all ran together. He does remember the incident, it’s just that feigning a memory lapse is the least damaging of the available responses. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/34 "2012-05-14T14:28:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Sure, that’s possible, but most of us think that if we did something like that, we’d remember. It’s not like it was a 2-second name calling incident-- it involved physical restraint. Yes, and I think I’d remember holding down someone and cutting his hair, but I know I don’t remember every time I got into a faux-wrestling clench with someone in the hallway in high school. If someone were to come along now and recall how I grabbed him in the hallway in a headlock, I’d very possibly have to say I don’t recall. As a rule, I did that to people with their implicit consent, mind you, but the point is I don’t recall each specific incident. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/35 "2012-05-14T14:30:08Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Sure, that’s possible, but most of us think that if we did something like that, we’d remember. It’s not like it was a 2-second name calling incident-- it involved physical restraint. OTOH, if you did something like that in high school, and forgot it, how would you know that you had forgotten it? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/36 "2012-05-14T14:31:08Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > OTOH, if you did something like that in high school, and forgot it, how would you know that you had forgotten it? > > Regards, > Shodan You’re right. I mean, how do I know I wasn’t a mass murderer in high school and just forgot! Perhaps that explains those recurring nightmares… ---
**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 14, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/37 "2012-05-14T14:36:17Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > OTOH, if you did something like that in high school, and forgot it, how would you know that you had forgotten it? > > Regards, > Shodan A group of my friends at the time would go public about it? 😃 It’s certainly possible Romney forgot it. But that doesn’t speak well for his memory or general humanity. All those other guys remembered and felt bad about it. Romney was the one who actually snipped the dude’s hair. Just imagine that you targeted a “sissy” in highschool and held him down and cut his hair to humiliate him. Imagine him crying and tensing his body underneath you, trying to escape you and your laughing friends. If that’s such a non-issue for you as you grow up and mature that you never look back and feel sick about it, you’re probably not a very good person. ---
**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 14, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/38 "2012-05-14T14:38:39Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You’re right. I mean, how do I know I wasn’t a mass murderer in high school and just forgot! Perhaps that explains those recurring nightmares… And the dusty shelf of mayonnaise jars, each with a date written on it with your handwriting and a human uterus in it. ---
**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 14, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/39 "2012-05-14T14:57:38Z")
I suspect that he truly doesn’t understand why anyone would see this event as indicative of bad character, and said “I don’t remember” as the (apparently) easiest way of blowing off the whole matter (failing to see how badly _that_ would come off). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821/40 "2012-05-14T15:00:38Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > And the dusty shelf of mayonnaise jars, each with a date written on it with your handwriting and a human uterus in it. No, those I know all about. I reorganize them every weekend. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-romney-say-no-that-never-happened-instead-of-i-dont-recall-that/621821.md?page=3)