Romney apologizes for bullying and pranks in high school. Do you find it refreshing that he was honest? socal45surfer: WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney made a surprise appearance on Fox host Brian Kilmeade's radio show Thursday morning to respond to a lengthy Washington Post story on his time as a prep-school prankster and occasional bully of closeted gay students. socal45surfer: "They talk about the fact that I played a lot of pranks in high school," Romney said. "And they describe some that you just say to yourself, back in high school I just did some dumb things and if anybody was hurt by that or offended by it, obviously I apologize." “I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks during high school and some might have gone too far and for that, I apologize," he added. It's never quite clear whether a politician's high school years are fair game for political attacks. Romney suggested during the interview that the acts he was apologizing for were merely youthful indiscretions; the Post described him pinning a closeted gay classmate to the ground and cutting his long hair, for example. But with the story suggesting latent homophobia in an adolescent Romney and with President Barack Obama having endorsed same-sex marriage on Wednesday, the piece reverberated. Still, Romney said he was "not going to be too concerned" about the item. He insisted that he grew up in a tolerant environment and that there was nothing about his pranks that were discriminatory towards gays. "The people involved didn't come out of the closet until years later," he noted. "The idea that this is something that was known by me ... is obviously absurd. I had no idea that this person might have been gay." “I don’t remember that incident and I’ll tell you I certainly don’t believe that I, I can’t speak for other people of course, thought the fellow was homosexual," he said earlier in the interview. "That was the furthest thing from my mind back in the 1960s, so that was not the case. But as to pranks that were played back then, I don’t remember them all, but again, high school days, if I did stupid things, why I’m afraid I got to say sorry fo  Sarcastic Dots: Well, it was all going so well until this point "The people involved didn't come out of the closet until years later," he noted. "The idea that this is something that was known by me ... is obviously absurd. I had no idea that this person might have been gay It doesn't really matter if he knew about another persons sexual orientation, he was still victimising a person on the basis of his hairstyle, which could arguably be attributed to gender stereotypes. It's such a piss-poor, backhanded apology that one wonders why he even bothered.  StuckInTheSixties: The question I have: Is it plausible ... ... that someone would, in high school, take part in an assault where a group of guys held down a gay guy and hacked off his hair with scissors ... ... and later in life, not "remember that incident"? Especially considering that he was the one allegedly wielding the scissors? If you did that, would you remember it? I'm sure I would. I also note this puzzling contradiction in his statement: On one hand, he claims not to "remember that incident." On the other hand, he apparently (given the mangled syntax) claims that he didn't think "the fellow was homosexual." How could he make an assessment about the guy's sexuality during the incident if he didn't remember the incident itself? (Edited by StuckInTheSixties) (Post deleted by staff ) StuckInTheSixties: So ... Romney apologized for doing something he didn't actually do? (Edited by StuckInTheSixties) StuckInTheSixties: Matthew Friedemann - dentist Phillip Maxwell - attorney Thomas Buford - retired prosecutor David Seed - retired principal These four people were there, witnessed the incident first-hand, and went on record about it. They all described the incident as it's being reported. Sarcastic Dots: "When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn't like it. I didn't inhale and never tried it again." –Bill Clinton This is the same kind of half-truth Romney is expressing-- "I remember, but I don't remember enough, so I can't substantiate things one way or another." In other words politician tells lie and gets laughed at. I mean, there is nothing wrong with calling out politicians on idiotic statements that make no sense, and this is one of them. If Obama bullied a gay child and then lied about it, he'd be equally chastised-- by democrats and republicans. (Edited by Sarcastic Dots)  southern77: no obama wouldnt get chastised by the democrats... he was NEVER vetted at all on anything... just like how he bragged that he didnt do well in high school and how he was always doing cocaine, drinking like a fish and smoking pot... soon enough he will be no more than a bad memory southern77: odd how you dont hear the mainstream media talking about that isnt it.... crickets still? (Post deleted by staff ) StuckInTheSixties: Here are half a dozen examples of "mainstream media" articles about Obama's past drug usage: New York Daily News http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/barack-obama-tells-n-h-kids-alcohol-drug-teen-years-article-1.259274 Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/02/AR2007010201359.html CNN http://articles.cnn.com/2007-11-27/politics/costello.drug.use_1_drug-free-america-illegal-drugs-watch-obama?_s=PMOLITICS CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-502323_162-3823725.html Chicago Sun Times http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2007/01/obamas_cocaine_pot_use_does_it.html New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/world/americas/24iht-dems.3272493.html Every news source in the country, if not most of the world, reported on Obama's past drug use. (Edited by StuckInTheSixties) StuckInTheSixties: I suspect that the debates will be fairly civil. Both of them are reasonably civil men. It's the advertisements that will wind up being ugly. southern77: obama is done... and dont think for a second that obama isnt doing all he can to turn this ugly... he cant defend his record now... the first time around he didnt have a record btw sts... its all about the economy Sarcastic Dots: A president taking drugs, though illegal, isn't directly comparable to damaging another human beings happiness. If you seriously think smoking a bit of weed is the same as harming another, then I don't know what to say. Oh yeah, and you keep bringing up the economy,a nd I keep bring up the fact that America's economy is growing, whereas European nations that have adopted austerity measures are shrinking. The facts speak for themselves-- whatever Obama is doing is working. southern77: you still dont have any idea whats going on here in america ... so keep on loving on obama... he will be looking for a job real soon pal and no he hasnt gotten the economy growing... its stagnaet at best... you keep hearing the bull crap that hes done this and hes done that when in fact he hasnt done anything but ruining the economy so thats why he wants to deflect everything away from the facts Sarcastic Dots: US: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-growth UK: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/gdp-growth One has growth, one doesn't. One has a Conservative/Liberal democrat coalition, one has the democrats. Nathaniel Nirvana: It might have been refreshing if hed not claimed to have forgotten it in the 1st place, and then when it looks like he had no choice he starts talking about it; high-school pranks are one thing but I cant help but wonder about somebody integrity & bullying nature in this case, it was quite an extreme "prank"; there are those that argue ppl dont really change they just become who they really are. seems like you in the usa have as good a choice of candidates as anywhere else, none are ideal.....what with this & then Obama jumping on the band-wagon claiming to support gay marriage just to get those votes/pick up any votes Romney may have lost through this revealtion (Post deleted by staff ) (Post deleted by staff )  (Post deleted by Stassi SUR ) |
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