Mitt the Bully

 

 For the past day or so, the Washington Post has been reporting that in 1965 Mitt Romney and five others he went to school with chose to commit an act of bullying toward a young man that was gay, that dressed differently and wore his hair in a way that apparently enraged Romney.

“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenage son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled. A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair. Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors." 

Last night I watched this segment on Rachel Maddow.



For the first time since Sandra Fluke was denied her turn to speak,  I could not sleep. I lay awake, infuriated at Mitt's voice as he laughed about the terrible things he did to the kids he bullied in high school, the dog he claimed to love suffering inhumane abuse, and his father putting unknown numbers of people out of work.  This is vile behavior. 
The assault as a teenager specifically bothers me.  To hear that he hurt someone this way makes a deep thunder roll in my heart.  I don't know how he can laugh, or claim that this was a "funny prank." His insane sense of humor is dangerous, it should be a loud and blaring alarm. It should be seen as a symptom of his terrible character and the fact that he is completely unfit to lead our country. 
Look at the video above again, and watch him laugh that cruel heartless laugh.  Doesn't the idea of him being in charge of anything you hold dear frighten you?  Let's face the facts.  He laughs because he thinks it's funny.   He laughs because he doesn't feel shame. Mitt Romney remembers this.  He doesn't feel guilt.  He lies and claims amnesia because he knows that what he did will be viewed negatively by those of us who are human beings.  He justifies lying to us because he seems to see our empathy and outrage as our failing instead of his.
This is not ok.  This is not even a little bit ok.  This is a whole lot wrong.
We live in a country where every 78 seconds a teen in the US tries to commit suicide because of bullies like Mitt Romney.  Every 90 seconds, a teen is successful in leaving a parent to bury their child.  I think that Mitt ought to stand up, strap on a spine, and address this country with humility as he explains that yes, he does remember what he did to that young man in high school.  He should tell us that he knows it was flat out wrong, unacceptable behavior.  He should say that he doesn't care that he was young, or what the mood of society was then because he sees now that it was wrong and he has no tolerance for such behavior. 
Instead... Mitt Romney thinks back on the day he terrorized another human being for being different, and he laughs while he lies to us about it.
America, wake up.
The GOP seems to have a mental illness in their choice of putting up Mitt Romney against Barack Obama for the presidency of our fine country.  The fact that this is the guy that is being considered to lead our nation should be recognized as nothing more than a symptom of the sickness that has taken over.   Their obsession with hatred, is leaking out of every pore of Mitt's body.
How can we consider Romney and Obama for the same office? It's like being offered a maggot on a leaf or a finely prepared steak for supper. There is no question.  These two men are so far apart in character and quality that I wonder how it is possible that they are considered for the same job.  Compare the events of the last 48 hours, on one issue and I rest my case.  Barack Obama chose to take the politically difficult, but righteous path of supporting gay marriage.  Mitt Romney was exposed as a hateful lying bully who chooses gay kids as his victims.  It is clear Romney vs Obama shouldn't even be a competition, should it? 
Please, don't let this heartless bully be the leader of our nation. 
Watch this video, released in 2010, and remind yourself why we must all vote for Barack Obama in November 2012!  He isn't the bully.  He's the guy who stands up to the bully.