Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Reason 4 (why the Mitt bullying story matters)

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To extend David’s list of 3 reasons why the Mitt bullying story matters, it matters because Romney is evolving in the wrong direction on GLBT. Whether or not many people were as physically aggressive (I suspect David is wrong on how precious few attacks like Mitt’s there were), homophobia and its expression was widely tolerated. I’m nearly 20 years younger than Romney and I’m appalled when I think back to things that my friends and I said in high school (and into college).

The appropriate response to the allegations would be for Romney to say a) he’s terribly sorry for his behavior, b) he’s proud of his country for the growing recognition that anti-gay (and other bullying) is wrong, and c) he pledges as president to continue the work to recognize the fundamental humanity of the LGBT community.

One can imagine then Governor Romney making such a statement. But, candidate Romney is “evolving” in the other direction. And, such a response would put him at odds with the anti-gay dead-enders in his party, because the logical extension of recognizing the fundamental humanity of the LGBT community would be to recognize same-sex marriage.

That’s why Romney he’s been so weak in his comments about the incident. He’s caught between what’s right and what’s right(-wing).

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Comments

  1. I think the issue is bullying. The gender preference of the target was just an excuse — the bully seizes on any externality (“Four eyes”, “hippie”, “quiche-eater”, …).

    I think you’re spot on in your summary: the right-wing crowd Mr. Romney is pandering too likes his history as a bully.

  2. Yes, he was a bully, lacking empathy, and devolving on GLBT issues. But he could have had self-referential Sister Souljah type moment, and really made a comment about how horrible bullying of any kind is, film an “It Gets Better” video, done something that would speak directly to how much he has evolved. Instead he comes across as an ongoing bully with very little in the way of regrets — or even a memory — of a “severely” traumatic incident. Sad.

    If this presidential election does end up being a popularity contest, putting past stories of “Romney the bully” up against “Obama the overly-introspective uber-intellectual” is not going to help Romney’s cause.

  3. I like Charles Blow’s column this weekend:

    There is so much wrong with Romney’s response that I hardly know where to start.

    But let’s start here: If the haircutting incident happened as described, it’s not a prank or hijinks or even simple bullying. It’s an assault.

    Second, honorable men don’t chuckle at cruelty.

    Third, if it happened, Romney’s explanation that he doesn’t remember it doesn’t ring true. It is a searing account in the telling and would have been even more so in the doing. How could such a thing simply melt into the milieu of other misbehavior? How could the screams of his classmate not echo even now?

    Fourth, “if someone was hurt or offended, I apologize” isn’t a real apology. Even if no one felt hurt or offended, if you feel that you have done something wrong, you can apologize on that basis alone. Remorse is a sufficient motivator. Absolution is a sufficient objective. Whether the person who was wronged requests it is separate.

    Lastly, this would have been an amazing teaching moment about the impact of bullying if Romney had seized it. That is what a real leader would have done. That is what we would expect any adult to do.

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