I'm so tired of seeing that Romney's behavior was acceptable back then.

[MH1]

16. His behavior NOW with regards to this incident is unacceptable.

Either he is telling the truth when he says he doesn't remember the incident, or he is lying. Let's examine this:

* He really doesn't remember it. REALLY? How f*cking callous can a person be, that they don't remember an incident where they assaulted another person? At no point in his young adult life (before it became a 40+ years old incident) did it occur to him that he really behaved as a shit, and felt bad about it? An incident like this was so insignificant to him that he just casually forgot all about it as he went on with his life?? (I actually think this is possible. And it blows my mind to think that people would still consider this man fit to be president.)

* He's lying when he says he remembers it. If so, that's just pathetic. How does the political calculation work that comes out with it being better to pretend he's just so callous that he doesn't even remember his own awful behavior?

In any case, he should either be outraged if it couldn't possibly be true ... but that doesn't seem likely, since there's 5 people independently recalling the incident, and he's accepting that it happened even if he doesn't recall the incident. So, he needs to make a heartfelt speech about bullying, how he did awful things when he was in high school, he deeply regrets his ignorance and attitudes of that time, which of course (so he'll say) have completely changed as he's grown and matured. He needs to address the scourge of bullying and the harm it does to the individuals concerned and our society at large. He needs to address this issue in a big way, and somehow figure out how to make it seem authentic (when authenticity is one of his weakest points). Anything less, says that he doesn't own up to his behavior, doesn't recognize the magnitude of harm, and/or still just doesn't give a shit. I'm willing to bet that all 3 are true regardless, but as a semi-competent politician he ought to at least try to fake it.

With all the understanding we now have as a society about the harms of bullying, for Romney to try to just dodge this and sweep it under the rug as "that was so long ago" shows a contemporary callousness to the people who are dealing with this issue today. And that's just unacceptable. And it's NOW, not 40 years ago.