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Forum Post: Have you read about Romney assaulting a student? What crime was Romney charged with?

Posted 11 years ago on May 10, 2012, 5:23 p.m. EST by bensdad (8977)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Mitt Romney once held down a high school classmate and cut off his hair, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The act took place in 1965. According to the Post, five fellow students recounted independent versions of the 47-year-old story.

Romney, a senior at the time, had reportedly just returned from spring break to the elite Cranbook School where junior John Lauber was considered an outcast — and widely presumed to be gay.

Lauber had bleached-blond hair that hung over one eye, and Romney, the son of then-Michigan Gov. George Romney, apparently wasn’t having it.

“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” Romney said, according to a friend’s recollection. Joined by at least one friend, Romney found Lauber, pinned him down and cut his hair off with a pair of scissors.

The five sources who recounted the story, one of whom asked not be named, identify mostly with the Democratic Party, wrote Post reporter Jason Horowitz.

Those sources called the move “vicious” and “stupid.”

Lauber, the Post reported, eventually came out to his family as gay in later years and characterized the incident as “horrible” to one of the witnesses. He died in 2004.

Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Romney “doesn’t have a mean-spirited bone in his body” and that he “has no memory of participating in these incidents.”

29 Comments

29 Comments


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[-] 3 points by JackPulliam3rd (205) 11 years ago

"from President Obama’s first memoir, “Dreams From My Father” and recounts an incident which occurred while he was in middle school. When our president became the subject of taunts from his fellow classmates, he decided to shove a little girl named Coretta. Although he chronicles his feelings of regret, he never does not offer her an apology."

so f'ing what?

[-] 2 points by brightonsage (4494) 11 years ago

And who told the story? The perpetrator of bullying or the victim??

And who doesn't remember such a significant event (unless it was a blur of similar events so THAT ONE can't be remembered.) Who was it who organized the mob and led it?

Bullying is often a team sport. Can a little girl be part of a taunting mob? Resisting the mob is the same as leading one?

If someone else does it, it is assault. If I do it, it is a prank that went a little too far? Do bullies always forget the "incident" and victims always remember? Priests forget, alter boys remember. Hmmmm!

So, your points was what exactly?

[-] -3 points by torusngamble (9) 11 years ago

F--K BUSHBAMA...

Forget the Rigged Elections.

Forget Obama and Romney.

Forget the rest of the Democratic and Republican corporate puppets.

Forget the feel-good mental masturbation of Third Parties.

Our system is broken and cannot be repaired from within.

FOCUS ON REGIME CHANGE.

[-] 0 points by rover (1) 11 years ago

Here's a better idea:

Forget Anarchists who have no clue.

[-] 1 points by Umong (0) 11 years ago

have you heard Sherriff Joe Arpaio says Barrack Hussein Obama's birth certficate is a FORGERY ??? WTF ???!!!!!!!! talk about irrelevant !

[-] 1 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

1965? As much as I love dirt on Romney... bain capital is a bigger deal than this.

“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. There will be no more comments from the family,” she said.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/sister-of-alleged-romney-target-has-no-knowledge-of-any-bullying-incident/

[-] 1 points by bensdad (8977) 11 years ago

Boston-based Bain Capital LLC more than doubled its money on GS Industries Inc. – the former parent company of Georgetown Steel – under Mitt Romney’s leadership in the 1990s, even as the steel manufacturer went on to cut more than 1,750 jobs, shuttered a division that had been around for 100 years and eventually sank into bankruptcy. Bain Capital spent $24.5 million to acquire GS Industries in 1993, according to an investment prospectus for the company that was obtained by the Los Angeles Times and reviewed by The Sun News. By the end of that decade, Bain Capital estimated its partners had made $58.4 million off its investment in GS Industries, according to the prospectus. Bain Capital’s partners also earned multi-million dollar dividends from GS Industries and annual management fees of about $900,000. But by the time GS Industries filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001, it owed $553.9 million in debts against assets valued at $395.2 million.


Now let's combine this with santorum's idea of selling off
half of Idaho to pay our debts:


president bain romney sells the two most useless states -
texas & south carolina -
pays off all debts and America becomes majority sane again

[-] 1 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

Lulz I almost forgot about Santorum's existence. I'm glad he's finally out of the media spotlight.

Had Santorum or Gingrich won the presidency... I seriously would have left this country.

[-] -2 points by rover (1) 11 years ago

Now that's an idea most Americans could really support. Progressives and Leftist's self deporting,love it. Hope more of you guys have the same courage of your convictions when Romney wins in Nov.

[-] 1 points by DanielBarton (1345) 11 years ago

....your reaching now

[-] 1 points by bensdad (8977) 11 years ago

reaching??? -
he was asked about this story - he claimed he did not remember it.
http://www.mormonwiki.org/Lying_for_the_Lord


With this kind of training and morality is it surprising that he "changes" his position moment to moment?

[-] 1 points by DanielBarton (1345) 11 years ago

yes because something like that doesn't define him. Obama admitted to selling cocaine and doing multiple types drugs in his book, great read by the way i recommend picking it up. In it he also admitted to also bullying kids. I don't judge him on these i judge him on his political history

The fact is you hate the man i understand you have the right to but trying to make something like this a very stupid act of childhood disobedience something that is irrelevant in his police making. Bringing in the fact he is Mormon is even lower who gives a fuck he does some weird religious things. People thought Kennedy was going to sell us out to the Pope for being Catholic.

[-] 1 points by bensdad (8977) 11 years ago

"The fact is you hate the man...."
The key tell of an Rs
You extrapolate my statements by twisting my statements to suit your position
Did you learn this from fox or Orwell
I do not hate romney - i think he would be a disaster as a president
If you want to quote me about hate: "I hate Lee Atwater + Carl Rove + Dick Cheney + Grover + Charles + David + ALEC" - there - now you can quote the truth


I do believe that Romney committed a felony, and just like Laura Bush - got away with it - at least she never claimed she forgot about it


Headed in a different direction- Can you think of anything that Obama has done as president that Romney would have done better? [ not different - but better ]

[-] 1 points by DanielBarton (1345) 11 years ago

Im not a republican i just think your spouting this bullshit so everyone else focus is away from the major issues. Yes it could of happened we will never know the "victim's" sister said she didn't not recall this ever happening or him talking about it.

I remember talking to you earlier. You ignore points brought up that even though Obama did things bad in the past we elected him and the fact that he did drugs did not cloud his judgement to stop smoking and to become a better influence on the children.

Romney may of beat up a kid and shaved his head. You have never been in a situation where hazing was done. I was forced to shave my head for football and i forced others too. I also got in fights in hockey mean ones where i knocked the kid out. This doesn't define me i still am a human i change i realize that this behavior isn't acceptable and moved on.

To compare what has been done and if they could be done better is a waste of time to compare what they could do and who can be better is what should be done.

This is issue/post is irrelevant to anything on this forum and anything to do with this movement and im calling for it to be deleted

[-] 1 points by epa1nter (4650) from Rutherford, NJ 11 years ago

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/12/opinion/collins-the-anatomy-of-a-jokester.html?ref=global

And oh, by the way, hazing is illegal. And while you may have knocked a kid out in a hockey game, what Romney did was not part of a sports contest. And your apparent pride in knocking the kid out (or at least your lack of contrition about it) speaks volumes about your character. Guess what? If you were running for President, I wouldn't vote for you either.

[-] 1 points by DanielBarton (1345) 11 years ago

yeah it is illegal but so is j-walking

So you have never done anything offensive or illegal that you can judge people to such a detailed level such as this for being a kid who yes was an idiot but hair grows back

my punching a kid was just but taken out of context makes it sound evil it would be know that this kid was much bigger than me and broke a few of my ribs before. So see with out the context it makes me sound like a big brute where in fact i was just a kid who wanted to get back at someone who hurt me. Was it still wrong yes did i pay the price, a few suspended games and reviewed by disciplinary board, yes. They said i could still play the rest of the season.

Guess what you'll never know if i run for president.

[-] 1 points by epa1nter (4650) from Rutherford, NJ 11 years ago

I won't need to know who you are. I will simply hear your positions and know that you are unsuitable.

Your punching a kid in self defense has no relationship to what Romney did, which was to beat up a defenseless kid. It was not hazing, It was not self defense. It was purely taking pleasure in someone else's pain; someone who was not like him.

Now, I don't hold the adult Romney accountable for the actions of the teenage Romney. If he has changed since then, he should not be judged by those actions. But all indications are that he has NOT, in fact, changed. His wealth was built largely on inflicting pain on others, on destroying businesses, and jobs, and he remains proud of his "accomplishment" at Bain Capital. His wealth was generated largely by holding down companies, beating them, stealing their lunch money and cutting off their hair. His youthful cruelty appears parts of a broader, lifelong pattern.

One more little thing: jaywalking puts you in danger. Engaging in hazing hurts other people. Conflating the two bolsters my argument far more than yours.

[-] 1 points by bensdad (8977) 11 years ago

My God ! two out of two ! there you go again !
"You have never been in a situation where hazing was done."
I have been the victim. never the bully.


The clearest sign of an Rs -
Twisting what I say - into what you want me to say
Some people would call that LYING
I won’t be that honest - to call you a LIAR.

[-] 1 points by DanielBarton (1345) 11 years ago

still ignoring the issues and do personal attacks cool thing man. Ive been both you dont know me and guess what you don't know Romney either,

like i said above have you never done anything offensive or illegal that you can judge people to such a detailed level such as this for being a dumb ass kid.

Peace off bro

[-] 1 points by friendlyopposition (574) 11 years ago

Irrelevant.

[-] 1 points by fiftyfourforty (1077) from New York, NY 11 years ago

"Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Romney “doesn’t have a mean-spirited bone in his body” and that he “has no memory of participating in these incidents.”

Mormonism teaches its adherents to play fast and loose with the truth. That's why Romney's aide was so cavalier in declaring that Romney could "etch a sketch" his positions as the wind blows.

[-] 1 points by bensdad (8977) 11 years ago

interesting - "Mormonism teaches its adherents to play fast and loose with the truth."
can you give me a link on this teaching ?
Taqqiya - googgle this word
it is the same thing in Islam !

[-] 2 points by ShubeLMorgan2 (1088) from New York, NY 11 years ago

http://www.mormonwiki.org/Lying_for_the_Lord

Lying for the Lord

One Mormon blogger writes, "When I was a missionary, the church’s official Missionary Guide instructed missionaries to avoid providing direct answers or solutions to investigators' questions or concerns.” On his mission, he "fell back on rhetorical tricks or even outright denials."

"What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one. I am the same man, and as innocent as I was fourteen years ago; and I can prove them all perjurers. I labored with these apostates myself until I was out of all manner of patience." - Joseph Smith [1]

"A half-truth presented as the whole truth is a complete untruth." - J.I. Packer[2]

"Even sharing the truth can have the effect of lying when we tell only half-truths that do not give the full picture. We can also be guilty of bearing false witness and lying if we say nothing, particularly if we allow another to reach a wrong conclusion while we hold back information that would have led to a more accurate perception. In this case it is as though an actual lie were uttered." - Robert J. Matthews[3]

"In matters of honesty, there are no shortcuts; no little white lies, or big black lies, only the simple, honest truth spoken in total candor... Being true is different than being honest.” - Gordon B. Hinckley[4]

Lying for the Lord refers to the practice of lying to protect the image of and belief in the Mormon religion, a practice which Mormonism itself fosters in various ways. From Joseph Smith's denial of having more than one wife, to polygamous Mormon missionaries telling European investigators that reports about polygamy in Utah were lies put out by "anti-Mormons" and disgruntled ex-members, to Gordon B. Hinckley's dishonest equivocation on national television over Mormon doctrine, Mormonism's history seems replete with examples of lying. Common members see such examples as situations where lying is justified. For the Mormon, loyalty and the welfare of the church are more important than the principle of honesty, and plausible denials and deception by omission are warranted by an opportunity to have the Mormon organization seen in the best possible light. This is part of the larger package of things that lead many to describe Mormonism as a cult. "Lying for the lord" is part of Mormonism's larger deceptive mainstreaming tactics, and conversion numbers would drastically lower if important Mormon beliefs were fully disclosed to investigators.

Multimedia Non-Mormon Secrecy and the Mormon Faith (YouTube) Beautiful Nauvoo: Where Joseph Smith is the Superstar and Accurate Information is Suppressed (Google Video), by Aaron Shafovaloff Lying for the Lord in Mormonism (MP3), narrated by Aaron Shafovaloff Shawn McCraney and Sandra Tanner on Lying for the Lord (YouTube video) Mormon Robert Millet on "how to handle anti-mormon criticism" (Flash Video) - Millet speaks about how to handle the tough anti-Mormon questions missionaries may face while on their missions or afterward. "We never provide meat when milk will do." "We seek to answer any serious question by finding the most direct route to the Sacred Grove." "Don't answer the question they ask, answer the question they should have asked." Never Tell A Lie - (1980's Mormon Commercial; YouTube video)

http://www.mormonwiki.org/Lying_for_the_Lord#The_problem_of_language

Oh, and check this out too...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/nyregion/ultra-orthodox-jews-shun-their-own-for-reporting-child-sexual-abuse.html

The first shock came when Mordechai Jungreis learned that his mentally disabled teenage son was being molested in a Jewish ritual bathhouse in Brooklyn. The second came after Mr. Jungreis complained, and the man accused of the abuse was arrested. Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg Telephone Line Recorded messages calling for an end to child sex abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community. 0:20Introduction playmax volume 00:00 0:50The Toll on Victims playmax volume 00:00 0:39On Being Ostracized playmax volume 00:00 Multimedia

Photographs Breaking the Silence on Child Sex Abuse

Document Reporting Molestation in the Orthodox Community Connect with NYTMetro

Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for news and conversation. Readers’ Comments Readers shared their thoughts on this article. Read All Comments (590) » Old friends started walking stonily past him and his family on the streets of Williamsburg. Their landlord kicked them out of their apartment. Anonymous messages filled their answering machine, cursing Mr. Jungreis for turning in a fellow Jew. And, he said, the mother of a child in a wheelchair confronted Mr. Jungreis’s mother-in-law, saying the same man had molested her son, and she “did not report this crime, so why did your son-in-law have to?”

By cooperating with the police, and speaking out about his son’s abuse, Mr. Jungreis, 38, found himself at the painful forefront of an issue roiling his insular Hasidic community. There have been glimmers of change as a small number of ultra-Orthodox Jews, taking on longstanding religious and cultural norms, have begun to report child sexual abuse accusations against members of their own communities. But those who come forward often encounter intense intimidation from their neighbors and from rabbinical authorities, aimed at pressuring them to drop their cases.

Abuse victims and their families have been expelled from religious schools and synagogues, shunned by fellow ultra-Orthodox Jews and targeted for harassment intended to destroy their businesses. Some victims’ families have been offered money, ostensibly to help pay for therapy for the victims, but also to stop pursuing charges, victims and victims’ advocates said.

“Try living for one day with all the pain I am living with,” Mr. Jungreis, spent and distraught, said recently outside his new apartment on Williamsburg’s outskirts. “Did anybody in the Hasidic community in these two years, in Borough Park, in Flatbush, ever come up and look my son in the eye and tell him a good word? Did anybody take the courage to show him mercy in the street?”

A few blocks away, Pearl Engelman, a 64-year-old great-grandmother, said her community had failed her too. In 2008, her son, Joel, told rabbinical authorities that he had been repeatedly groped as a child by a school official at the United Talmudical Academy in Williamsburg. The school briefly removed the official but denied the accusation. And when Joel turned 23, too old to file charges under the state’s statute of limitations, they returned the man to teaching.

“There is no nice way of saying it,” Mrs. Engelman said. “Our community protects molesters. Other than that, we are wonderful.”

Keeping to Themselves

The New York City area is home to an estimated 250,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews — the largest such community outside of Israel, and one that is growing rapidly because of its high birthrate. The community is concentrated in Brooklyn, where many of the ultra-Orthodox are Hasidim, followers of a fervent spiritual movement that began in 18th-century Europe and applies Jewish law to every aspect of life.

Their communities, headed by dynastic leaders called rebbes, strive to preserve their centuries-old customs by resisting the contaminating influences of the outside world. While some ultra-Orthodox rabbis now argue that a child molester should be reported to the police, others strictly adhere to an ancient prohibition against mesirah, the turning in of a Jew to non-Jewish authorities, and consider publicly airing allegations against fellow Jews to be chillul Hashem, a desecration of God’s name.

[-] 0 points by XenuLives (1645) from Charlotte, NC 11 years ago

Every cult has something similar to this as well.

Scientology's version is called TR-L (training routine - lying) and everything that they do is "justified" by KSW (Keep Scientology Working.)

Belief systems are a problem when they are used to justify abuse of others instead of merely working to help the self.

[-] 1 points by ShubeLMorgan2 (1088) from New York, NY 11 years ago

So, Scientologists, Mormons and "ultraorthodox" Jews lie "religiously" so to speak. Good to know when dealing with either.

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[-] -2 points by torusngamble (9) 11 years ago

F**K ROMNEY...

Forget the Rigged Elections.

Forget Obama and Romney.

Forget the rest of the Democratic and Republican corporate puppets.

Forget the feel-good mental masturbation of Third Parties.

Our system is broken and cannot be repaired from within.

FOCUS ON REGIME CHANGE.

[-] -3 points by freewriterguy (882) 11 years ago

well if the student was gay then romney is a dam hero. hahahaha!

[-] 2 points by fiftyfourforty (1077) from New York, NY 11 years ago

Yeah, it took chicken hawk to be Romney and a friend to pin down and shear the hair off this unfortunate possibly effeminate boy.