Honorable men don’t chuckle at cruelty.

[kpete]

OP-ED COLUMNIST
Mean Boys
By CHARLES M. BLOW
Mitt the menace.

......................................

........... 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.

MORE:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/12/opinion/blow-mean-boys.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120512

[coalition_unwilling]

1. Romney had the unmitigated gall to characterize this

assault with a deadly weapon as mere 'hijinks' in his non-apology apology. I never thought I could hate a politician worse than I hated GW, but boy was I ever so wrong.

[Angry Dragon]

2. Willard is a fake person

and I question why you think he can act human

[no_hypocrisy]

3. It sounds as though he still thinks it's funny.

[tularetom]

4. Who in the year 2012 uses the word "hijinks"?

I realize it isn't the point of the article but it does sort of illustrate how out of touch this clown is.

He probably would describe his "hijinks" as "zany".

In addition to being a nasty douchebag, Romney could be the most plastic politician in America since Nixon. Maybe ever.

[riderinthestorm]

7. Well Ann Romney described these as just "jokes"

"He's funny," Ann Romney, the Republican presidential candidate's wife, told "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday, defending her husband against public perceptions that he is inaccessible and has a "likeability gap" with voters.

"I still look at him as this is the boy that I met, in high school, when he was pulling all the jokes, and really just being crazy. Pretty crazy. So there's a wild and crazy man inside of him ... just waiting to come out."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/01/us-usa-campaign-annromney-idUSBRE8400YN20120501

[tularetom]

11. A "wild and crazy man"?

Nah that would be like



I think of him more like

[NNN0LHI]

5. Sane men don’t chuckle at cruelty

[Honeycombe8]

6. It's like the smiles he and Ann had in "explaining" the dog on the roof incident.

Totally without empathy for other living creatures, human or dog. Unless they are of their own kind, I guess (meaning very very very rich and privileged).

[the peoples summit]

8. Do you not have something better to do with your time today?

Seriously, dude, it's getting old. And the more pile-on with Romney, the more immune he becomes. Find something else to kvetch about. (Hint: I bet it won't be about the latest drone casualties... )

[kpete]

9. I am NOT

a "dude"

[Evergreen Emerald]

10. People can "kvetch" about lots of topics at once.

I have opinions about people who use the word kvetch when insulting another poster, about drones about Romeny's odd behavior and about the orange flowers blooming next to my purple flowers in the yard.

Stupid, odd, horrific, interesting

not necessarily in that order.

[IcyPeas]

12. please look at this thread that was posted in Politics: talk about cruel

http://www.democraticunderground.com/125136916

(K8-EEE hope you don't mind my sharing your post)