Northwest Indiana Discussion

Cracks in the Washington Post
story on Romney’s ‘pranks’ emerge
Daily Caller, by Matt K. Lewis


A question emerges in reading the Washington Post piece on Mitt Romney today: How can Romney’s old pal Stu White tell the Washington Post that he has “long been bothered by the Lauber incident” — and then later admit to ABC News that he was “not present for the prank” and “was not aware of it until this year when he was contacted by the Washington Post”?

This is curious.

The Washington Post story reports: “I always enjoyed his pranks,” said Stu White, a popular friend of Romney’s who went on to a career as a public school teacher and has long been bothered by the Lauber incident.”

But ABC News, says: “White was not present for the prank, in which Romney is said to have forcefully cut a student’s long hair and was not aware of it until this year when he was contacted by the Washington Post.”

(Emphasis mine.)

What are we to make of this?

http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/10/crack ... ks-emerge/

More FAKE but ''accurate'' bullshit attacks on a Republican running for president...

and as usual, without a shred of evidence, idiot leftoids lick it right up off DUMBOs shoes...

The Post said five students independently recalled the incident pretty much the same way, including Thomas Buford, a Cranbrook wrestler who said he helped to hold Lauber down and later apologized to him.

This story matters only to two groups, the gays, and the anti-gays, and the gays are already voting for Dumbo

Why the Romney bully story matters

Published: Friday, May 11, 2012,

By Carly Rothman/The Star-Ledger

It would hardly seem fair to judge a 65-year-old man for the shameful things he did in high school, as long as he also regarded them with shame. That doesn't seem to be the case with Mitt Romney.

Confronted this week by a Washington Post article in which five classmates independently recounted how he led them in an attack on a gay classmate in the 1960s, Romney did not do several things.

He did not say he remembered the incident with horror. He did not say he doesn't remember the incident, but that bullying must not be tolerated and that vulnerable students everywhere should know he stands with them. Instead, Romney did what he seems to do best in tight spots: He hedged.

“Back in high school, I did some dumb things and if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize for that,” Mr. Romney said. “I participated in a lot of high jinks and pranks during high school and some might have gone too far and for that, I apologize.”

The "dumb thing" in question was an incident in which he and his friends pinned down a misfit kid who was presumed to be gay. As the boy cried, Romney cut off his hair. Romney's fellow bullies told the Washington Post that the "vicious" attack on a classmate considered "easy pickins" has haunted them ever since. Romney says he doesn't remember it.

Maybe that’s true (a;though it seems doubtful). But according to a classmate who apologized to the victim years later, the terrifying memory stuck with him long into adulthood.

In September 2010, after a spate of suicides by young victims of bullying, columnist Dan Savage started the "It Gets Better Project," which uses user-created videos to let young LGBT people know that no matter what challenges they encounter as teens, they can find happiness and acceptance at some point in adulthood.

Today, Mitt Romney sent those same kids a less helpful message: that the students bullying them without consequences today will still be evading responsibility when they are powerful adults.

This message seems more than accidental coming on the heels of another recent Romney saga -- the resignation of his foreign policy spokesman Richard Grenell, who is openly gay, after Romney failed to stand by him publicly in the face of an anti-gay onslaught.

One can only hope these were two isolated cases of bad public relations, not a window into what's actually in Romney's heart, or a hint of how he really treats those more vulnerable than he.

As a father, businessman, former governor and potential president, Romney owes it to all kids -- the bullies and the bullied alike -- to be a better leader.

If the story is true, the Romney bullied someone in high school. The gender, color, physical fitness, or sexual orientation of the victim doesn't matter.

According to the Post's account, the victim of the incident was John Lauber, a student one year behind Romney, who was a senior at Cranbrook in 1965. Other students told the Post Lauber had long, bleached blonde hair that draped over one eye and was frequently teased by other students who presumed he was a homosexual.

"He can't look like that. That's wrong. Just look at him!" Matthew Friedemann, a close friend of Romney's in the Stevens Hall dorm, quoted Romney as saying one day in the spring of '65. A few days afterward, Friedemann, now a dentist in northern Michigan, said he saw Romney leading a group of other students into a room where they tackled Lauber and pinned him down. As Lauber screamed for help, Friedemann said Romney clipped off the younger student's hair.

Romney wasn't even discplined because his dad was rich and powerful. As more stuff like this comes out, people will see what kind of person this guy really is. A rich,spoiled child of privilege who only cares about himself and how much money and power he can gain.