Eric Henney wonders what’s more troubling: That a story about a man who has passed away is being used for political gain, or that Mitt Romney appears to have forgotten about a physical assault he allegedly committed.
The Lauber sisters are not happy.
Christine Lauber, one of three siblings of the of now-famous, alleged bullying victim John Lauber, who may or may not have been pinned down and physically assaulted by an 18-year-old Mitt Romney during his days at Cranbrook School, told ABC that she has “no knowledge” of any such incident.
Her sister Betsy also recently said, “The family of John Lauber is releasing a statement saying the portrayal of John is factually incorrect and we are aggrieved that he would be used to further a political agenda.”
Christine added, “Even if it did happen, John probably wouldn’t have said anything.”
It is obvious that there is nothing easy about having the memory of your dead brother dropped into a political boxing ring, and I sympathize with whatever ungodly horrible feelings are dogging the Lauber family right now. But I think it’s also true that what they have said so far has only made the situation messier.
If John Lauber was the type of person who would keep something like being gang-bullied to himself, as Christine Lauber has said, then it would be reasonable to also think he wouldn’t want to tell his family for fear of embarrassment. It’s all too common for victims of bullying to develop a (possibly irrational) fear of shame from their family. So I’m not really compelled by the fact that none of John Lauber’s family seems to know of the incident.
There is something to be said, though, about the fact that their family has been yanked into the limelight due to the fact that we seem to have run out of meaningful things to say about our presidential candidates.
Don’t get me wrong: if the story is true, then there’s no doubt in my mind that 18-year-old Mitt Romney is responsible for a morally repugnant action. And if 65-year-old Mitt Romney is cravenly pretending that he doesn’t remember such bullying, then he is also responsible for a morally repugnant action. Because to let a story of what is being portrayed as gay bullying be ridiculed and discredited as leftist hysteria would be to become complicit in the obscuring of a very real and persistent cultural problem. But if he isn’t pretending, where does that leave us?
For whatever reason, this kind of story doesn’t really surprise me. But even if it did, as apparently is the case with many others, I still wouldn’t feel good about holding things he did nearly 40 years ago as a teenager against him currently. While I obviously don’t approve of such adolescent bullying, I also think that judging Romney by it unfairly rules out the fact that four decades is a lot of time in which people can reasonably change their views and opinions. In fact, that’s what we think we’re supposed to do as we age. If you believed the same things you believed in high school, you’d be an insufferable man-child. We allow people to be embarrassed about who they were in high school (as I am, only five years out); we should allow Mitt Romney, too.
So be mad at whichever Mitt Romney you choose. Be mad at him for lying, if it turns out he is. Admittedly, it’s harder to judge the possibility that Romney’s forgetfulness implies an alarming casualness about physical assault. For even if it did, I don’t think it would automatically follow that 65-year-old Romney still thinks it unremarkable, which wouldn’t change the memories he developed decades ago.
Maybe this is handwringing on my part, because however Mitt Romney felt about what may have appeared as homosexuality in the mid-60s, he’s still a homophobe in 2012. Whatever the case may be, just don’t distract yourself by being mad at him for being a teenage asshole.
What do you think? Should John Lauber’s story have been made public, when he isn’t able to tell his side of the story?
Does Romney’s lack of memory of the event indicate denial of the event, or a lack of concern over bullying in general?
Did the news story about the alleged bullying change the way you felt about Mitt Romney as a candidate?
AP Photo
About Eric Henney
Memory formation is due, in large part, to the salience of an incident in your past. Interestingly, if Mittens doesn’t remember this particular emotionally charged expression power over one of his classmates it paints an even more terrible image. One of a teen for whom bullying was as common as what he ate for breakfast on any given day. Interesting at the moment. Not worth remembering.
However, on a personal level this doesn’t change how I feel about Mittens at all. Everything I know about this guy says over-privileged, warped, drunk with power. He’s the worst kind of ‘rich kid’. The wealthy sociopath. Running the United States of America is just another notch on his belt.
Mitt had a golden opportunity to address the issue of bullying in general here, which he missed completely. That is probably because he is in no way a leader. I don’t think that is news to anyone. They way the election process unfolds in this country pretty much precludes stepping outside the bounds of the talking points in the way a leader of people might. Had he actually apologized and owned up to anything and then made a broader point about personal responsibility and how bullying actually is a serious national problem, his handlers would have been all over him for talking too much about an issue that hasn’t been vetted and polled thoroughly enough to tell him how to handle it. They are no doubt scrambling right now to do just that so that as this issue evolves, he will have a better handle on what to say into a live mic.
None of this will have anything to do with what he remembers, what he did, how he feels about it, or anything that remotely touches upon his qualifications for the presidency or anything that characterizes a true leader. Our political parities rarely nominate leaders. Rather they usually nominate wealthy well connected people who do a pretty good job of mirroring a party back upon itself.
If Mitt wants to get elected on a homophobic platform, the public has a right to know how good he is at it.
This is the biggest bunch of BS and I condemn the left and the media for making this an issue. You make this an issue and anybody in public life (left or right) who did anything shameful when they were a teenager becomes fair game. Can you imagine some of the things Barney Frank did as a teenager. I noticed MSNBC talked about this at length, while there was nary a mention of it on the Fox News Network. Whoever sought to make this a public issue should be ashamed. I was bullied in high school. Quite frankly the bully did me a favor. He made me a stronger person. I don’t take shit from anybody now. I don’t think “the victim” should be outed except to the extent that he cooperated in the publicizing of this incident. And BTW, I wouldn’t call him a victim. He could probably sell his story now and make millions. That’s the kind of victim I want to be.
@courage the cowardly, The aleged victim died of cancer in 2004. Other then that it’s one thing to be strengthend be by a bully, but it’s wrong to rationalize bullying.
Courage: “I was bullied in high school. Quite frankly the bully did me a favor. He made me a stronger person. I don’t take shit from anybody now.”
It’s attitudes like yours that contribute to bullying going unnoticed.
For all we know the story is fabricated. The family knows nothing about it. How did this incident even make the papers. The only alleged participant denies any recollection of its occurence. What is the political viewpoint of those who allege this happened. I mean this is character distruction at its worst. Make something up and hopefully your polictical opponent loses some support which Mitt probably did because of this. I am somewhat on the fence, but because of this attempt at character assassination I am leaning toward Mitt. I think this fabricating negative stories about someone is shameful.
Ummm, did you even read the article above? I think the author’s points are important whether or not the bullying story is true. Care to comment from the right about any of his points about the present day Mitt Romney?
Ummm, did you even read the article above? I think the author’s points are important whether or not the bullying story is true. Care to comment from the right about any of his points about the present day Mitt Romney?
I am of the opinion that accusers and victims should ALWAYS be made public.
We should never live in a world where someone can accuse you of something an remain annonymous. I don’t care what “good” you think it serves, annonymous accusations destroy our justice system.
My condolences on this young man. I was not there and this fellow cannot speak from the grave so only Romney knows what happened unless others were involved. However, if the victim hid this from his family out of fear and shame then more than likely it happened. Does this affect my opinion of Romney? If he has reformed and changed then no it doesn’t. I know several reformed bullies out there and commend them for admitting to their wrong doing.. If he has not and is blowing this off or spinning the situation then yes it does and he will not get my vote. As someone stated, he had the oppotunity to address this problem and did not do it. Makes me wonder if he has something to hide……
What a bunch of c***. Sad when this is all they can dig up. I was bullied when I was a kid too, but guess what…..it made me stronger, and I could care less about what happened or did not happen 40+ years ago.
Why dont some of you left wing nut jobs concern yourself more about a man who has in his own voice bragged about his drug use, using cocaine even….and NO ONE on the left questions this behaviour!
Obama is a lying narcisit who is destroying this counrty and you left wing nuts better wake up before its too late!