Andrew Sullivan: "Pranks"

[babylonsister]

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/05/pranks.html

"Pranks"
Andrew Sullivan


Some of what Mitt Romney did as a schoolboy definitely falls into that category. My high school classmates tormented various teachers routinely. Leading a blind teacher into a door is cruel, but it's still within the category of prank, in part because it targets authority. Bart Simpson pranks. But Nelson Muntz bullies. And the story of the attack on the young nonconformist gay boy is a particularly ugly piece of bullying. It was a vicious and violent assault by a mob organized by Romney, who held him down on the floor, and cut his hair with a pair of scissors.

I do not believe Romney has no memory of this. I believe he is lying. His absurd statement that he has no memory of the event but that he didn't target the boy for being gay is hilarious for its self-contradiction. A boy who routinely snickered "Atta girl!" when one young gay kid in his class spoke up is not just bashing hippies. I went to an all boys high school in the 1970s. What Romney did was a gay-bashing.

Should we judge a man today by what he did all those years ago?

Not entirely. He has apologized. But there is surely something here: the notion that being privileged and conformist requires actual punishment of the marginalized and under-privileged; that you pick on younger, weaker boys, not older ones; and that you psychologically traumatize the victim by permanently marking his body.

And this matters because today these attacks on gay kids drive many to suicide, others to despair; they wreck lives and self-esteem. It matters that we know that one candidate for president was an anti-gay bully in high school, targeting a weak and defenseless kid and humiliating and traumatizing him. Today, he does the same thing in a larger, more abstract way: targeting a small minority as a way to advance his own power. It gives me the chills.

[DeSwiss]

1. K&R

''I do not believe Romney has no memory of this. I believe he is lying. His absurd statement that he has no memory of the event but that he didn't target the boy for being gay is hilarious for its self-contradiction.''

- Rmoney is the epitome of what's wrong with this country: "Empty suits aspiring to be our leaders......"

[hedgehog]

2. He should be judged as much or more so for lying now

about not remembering as for the original attack!

[coalition_unwilling]

11. I don't know. Seen through a certain lens, the attack itself

could be classified as 'assault with a deadly weapon.' That's a pretty serious offense and I'm not sure lying about remembering it now rises to the same level of deadliness.

But I take your point.

[babylonsister]

18. Harvey Milk quote=excellent! Thanks! nt

[kitt6]

3. Chilling!

I've said or at least tried to say (over at Huff Post) that there is something really strange about Willard.

[Jumping John]

4. The following is not a prank or a crime. It is just another example of a

bully:

"ROE V WORLD
BY ERIN GLORIA RYAN OCT 20, 2011 10:30 AM 54,256 234 Share

The Curious Case of Mitt Romney, An Abortion, And Eliza Dushku’s Mom

The disappointing tale is briefly recounted in a New York Times piece about the role of Romney's faith in his politics that raises questions of exactly how much further than the church Romney would be willing to go.

Mitt Romney's strong identity with the Mormon church is well known, but his campaign has downplayed his faith, claiming that his political positions are public but his faith is personal. It wasn't always that way, and there are some who believe that it will never be that way.

Judith Dushku is a professor of history at Suffolk University, an outspoken Mormon feminist, and the mother of Dollhouse and Buffy star Eliza Dushku. She's also the founder of Exponent II, a Mormon feminist publication. In 1990, Ms. Dushku's magazine published the story of an anonymous 41 year old woman who experienced a life-threatening blood clot while she was pregnant for the sixth time. The woman was told by doctors that treatment of the clot would threaten the pregnancy, and so an abortion was necessary. The Mormon faith officially opposes abortion except in extreme cases, and women who are members of the church and seek an abortion are required to petition church elders for permission. She and her husband petitioned the Church to authorize them to receive the procedure, and a church elder told her and her husband that the procedure looked like unfortunate but unavoidable.

On the day of the abortion, the couple showed up at the hospital only to be greeted by their bishop, who had shown up, unannounced, to try to prevent her from going through with it, regardless of the fact that a church official with a higher rank than his had already given the okay. The bishop was determined to make his case against the life-saving surgery, and he was a total dick about it. According to a 2007 interview with Dushku, the following exchange occurred,

He said – What do you think you're doing?

She said – Well, we have to abort the baby because I have these blood clots.

And he said something to the effect of – Well, why do you get off easy when other women have their babies?

And she said – What are you talking about? This is a life threatening situation.

And he said – Well what about the life of the baby?

And she said – I have four other children and I think it would be really irresponsible to continue the pregnancy.

The bishop who tried to block that selfish, selfish clotted up woman from saving her own life with a legal medical procedure was one Mitt Romney."

http://jezebel.com/5851050/the-curious-case-of-mitt-romney-an-abortion-and-eliza-dushkus-mom

[Smilo]

8. Wow - Romney is an arrogant prick.

[roscoeroscoe]

5. well said

actually, boom! take that, Rmoney you freakin' rich bully.

[GoCubsGo]

6. I actually CAN see how he might not remember this.

If this was one incident of many like it, I can see how he might forget it. They all kind of blend in together at some point.

[zbdent]

7. as with most bullies, unless the "victim" is considerably smaller/weaker,

they feel most comfortable bullying someone WHILE IN A GANG ...

[Orrex]

9. If someone were to pin Romney on the ground and cut his hair today, what would be his response?

I'm sure that he'd simply laugh it off as a harmless prank, because everyone loves having scissors snapping around their ears.

[coalition_unwilling]

12. Oh, just a little 'hijinks' (Romney's word on Fox Radio yesterday, the lying

sociopathic fuck).

Good point, though.

[YOHABLO]

10. Pranking the Visually Impaired is Okay?

From what I have read about Romney's so called "pranks" he picked on a teacher that had a very serious vision problem .. oh ha ha ha .. isn't that funny? I guess Mr. Sullivan will give him a pass on that one .. huh? We all had guys like Romney in our schools whether they were private or public. You know the good looking jock type that were always "pranking" other students and the teachers looked the other way, because .. gosh darn it, they were so handsome and sinfully charming. I think it says a heck of a lot about Romney's character. I would have remembered cutting someone's hair with a scissors, how about you? Too late for the boy that was "pranked" he has passed away .. never got the apology from Romney now did he. So is this the type of representation and leader we want as our President?

[Hissyspit]

13. Sullivan agreed he was wrong on that point in a follow-up post when his readers called him out on it

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/05/pranks-ctd.html

[wiggs]

14. We're talking about a person and a party who can also call torture 'fraternity hazing' and can

describe waterboarding as a 'prank'. We're talking about people who for decades use others as scapegoats, objects to fear, objects to hate and invade, things to dismiss, causes to fundraise for.

I'm not really interested in a 50 year old incident of bullying....EXCEPT, EXCEPT that it is PART OF AN ONGOING PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR AND POLICY offered by these groups of people on the right. This incident is relevant because it supports and is connected to a lifetime of arrogance, ego, and privilege that tells us who this candidate is. We can talk about his businesses, his comments, his proposed policies in the context of the rest of his life and this incident is part of it. It's not the only part, it's not the most important part, but it is a part. It is not an outlier.

But that's how the GOP will defeat this news story, just like dozens and dozens of others....simplify it, confuse, distract, make it JUST about a 50 year old hazy action by a boy. It is NOT about that. It should fit into an overall case of arrogance and fear mongering by this man AND THE PARTY THAT USES FEAR AND HATE on a daily basis.

[babylonsister]

17. wiggs, great post!! Thank you...and read this, DUers, 'cause it's the truth! nt

[jerseyjack]

15. He DID NOT APOLOGZE.

This is the usual kind of non-apology. I'm sorry IF I hurt anyone. As opposed to I'm sorry that I hurt someone.

[Orrex]

16. Yes indeed!

Last edited Sun May 13, 2012, 07:37 AM - Edit history (1)

That's the standard non-apology offered up by someone who either can't admit that he was an asshole or else someone who's congenitally incapable of accepting responsibility for his actions, or both.

Of course, the MSM will say something like "he apologized. Can't we simply move on?! And then we'll see questions about why Romney is being attacked, etc...

[Tarheel_Dem]

19. It gives me chills as well, Andrew.