Is it possible that Romney can't remember a specific instance of anti-gay bullying

[HereSince1628]

because he recalls having acted out in so many similar events he can't distinguish between them?

[teddy51]

1. Oh sure, it's called selective memory!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Maybe - or it could have been that

to him, it wasn't a big deal, just teasing the guy.

Either way, he's an asshole.

[HereSince1628]

6. Right, I think it's a certainty that sure it wasn't as big a deal for Mitt

as it was to the kid he attacked.

[RandySF]

3. It can't possibly be an isolated incident.

Bullies like this like to rack up a body count.

[HereSince1628]

5. I don't think it was. He has admitted to being involved in lots of pranks

without outlining exactly who he embarrassed, harassed, and/or bullied.

[JBoy]

4. Highly possible

You only tend to remember things that are out of the ordinary (either positive or negative).

Perhaps that was just another day of "bein' Mitt".

[HereSince1628]

8. I've read that most of us establish our personalities when our age is in single digits...

it just could be that the "fun" loving anti-gay bully is the Mitt that his wife Ann says is just itching to come out.

[TexasProgresive]

7. +1

That's what I was going to say. That it was one of many so how could he pick that particular one out.

[Cali_Democrat]

9. That's probable

Remember that he bullied another student he thought was gay. He yelled "atta girl" any time the student tried to speak in class:

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/1002670311

[HereSince1628]

10. Yep. n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. Everyone else involved remembers it vividly

Vividly. Maxwell's description is of an incident that has haunted him for damn near half a century.

Romney claims not to remember.

Another participant apologized to Lauber in the 90's, 30 years later. Lauber remembered; the participant felt it deeply enough to apologize after 30 years.

Romney claims not to remember.

Five separate accounts all say the same thing. Five separate men remember it clearly 47 years later.

Romney claims not to remember.

Romney could have defused this quickly: "Yes, I did that, I participated in it, I orchestrated it, and I am deeply, deeply ashamed of my actions."

That's all. I know on DU many claim to have been bullied, but there is always a counterparty to these claims, and many people on the other side of that have grown up and feel deeply ashamed of their actions.It would have rung true.

But Romney claims not to remember.
He claims to have forgotten all about it.

It sounds like a lie, which is horrific enough. But if it's true, it's even worse.

[Sinistrous]

14. Your litany deserves to be its own thread.

[HereSince1628]

15. Yes, I think that says something about the presumptive GOP presidential candidate.

For months everyone has said Mitt is out of touch with ordinary people and just doesn't get their plight.

What if it's not just the ordinary people that Mitt is out of touch with?

What if Mitt is incapable of empathy?

What if Mitt is one of those many psychopathic personalities that the Wall Street Journal tells us go on to be CEOs?

[WCGreen]

19. It's how he can raid companies and put thousands of people out of work just to make

another buck...

Same behavior.

[HereSince1628]

24. That would certainly seem consistent. n/t

[coalition_unwilling]

34. Romney was the fucking ringleader. I am ashamed that when I saw bullying

going on, not directed at me, I failed to speak up. (I have apologized to the victim for my failure and she claims not to remember it herself.) But I remember it, oh do I remember it and will do so until the day I die. Not good memories.

[C_U_L8R]

12. Mitt the narcissist

Just can't accept his own bad self

[HereSince1628]

20. True. It seems Mitts always lived in a world where HIS view was the RIGHT view.

He's pretty much in a class by himself when it comes to the rightness of his rightness.

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. If he can't, he's a seriously sick and twisted individual...

Adding to the evidence that he is not fit to be leader of the free world.

[HereSince1628]

21. Yes, and I would add he's not fit to lead the other-than- free world either. n/t

[fascisthunter]

16. yes... which would make him a sociopath

[HereSince1628]

23. Perhaps more in the vein of Karl Rove

than Dick Cheney?

[fascisthunter]

27. I See Dick as more of a Bully Though

Karl Rove was bullied but retaliated in a way that made bullies blush.

on edit: I see Rove as more impulsive, and a bit more wiser than meathead Romney.

[TheKentuckian]

17. Not just possible but probable

Also, he is one of the biggest liars in history so he may recall and just is trying to spread bullshit.

[WCGreen]

18. I think it was propbably more of a hippie thing than a gay thing...

I had long hair back then and was called a sissy a lot....

[HereSince1628]

22. So maybe he doesn't remember an anti-gay motivated bullying because it was anti-hippy?

I suppose that's possible...though its a distinction without a difference relative to identifying him as a bully.

[WCGreen]

30. I think, perhaps, people will transfer todays mores and behavior, to older times....

I just adding that as a clarifier.

[HereSince1628]

31. I can't speak to the mores of those in private schools, but as I remember the times

it certainly wouldn't have been acceptable behavior for public school students.

Of course, that could vary regionally or locally.

I sometimes think I came from a much more civilized part of this country, but it might have been that I kept my eyes lowered and was better at staying off everyone's radar.

[Generic Other]

32. The point is that the popular social clique

targeted you and accused you of being the worst thing they could think of. They hated gays and felt that once they had labeled you this way, they were free to abuse you, and that you would be wounded by their accusations whether you were gay or not. They also felt they could treat you any way they wanted as a result. Call you names. Torment you. And even attack you. In fact they felt as if it were their duty to do so all the while smiling their fake Sunday School smiles when the adults were around. The guilt the other boys felt about being part of this mob is telling. They obviously matured and felt remorse. Only the worst of them has no memory of the event.

I am so disturbed by this story. Lots of people who were bullied in just this fashion are having a visceral reaction as I am.

[WCGreen]

33. Of course that is the case...

I am only stating that at the time, having long hair was enough to get people to go after you. I was accosted when I was hitch hiking in ninth grade because I had log hair. Called me a sissy hippie and my Friend and I just made a get away. The guy threatening us was wielding a knife and his friends were egging him on.

I think it's pretty horrible.

[Generic Other]

35. I know. I hung out with the long haired crowd

But it was so wrong for others to target guys like you. And it still makes me upset years later. The Romney story provoked an unexpected reaction from me.

And I am reminded of how I was taunted for being a part Asian kid. Like it was a bad thing and justified certain behaviors. This is why I know it must be so hurtful in the gay community to see further evidence that for so long the worst insult some men could throw at others was to call them gay. So childish and mean. And that Romney shithead can't even remember doing it. He scars others for life and he can't remember doing it.

[Octafish]

25. He wants to give America a haircut.

Odd how Mittler is having a hard time remembering.

[HereSince1628]

28. A critical cartoon image soon coming to a blog near you. n/t

[bluestate10]

26. A person doesn't forget something like that.

I remember in middle school standing up for a boy who was being bullied. The bully got huffy and him and I ended up in a fight where I bloodied him. I remember every second of the incident and will remember it on my dying day. I have long regretted bloodying the bully, but I don't regret standing up to stop what he was doing.

[HereSince1628]

29. I agree, it's unlikely he forgot it. The question is whether his amnesia

is to protect his ambition, or whether he's actually humiliated by the memory.

One option makes him appear psychologically flawed, the other would make him seem human.

I can't help but believe his advisors have gone through this with him. Yet he chooses to claim amnesia