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Did anyone notice the timing?

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Steve

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A high school friend of Mitt Romney recently recalled to The Washington Post that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee once bullied a fellow student who was thought to be gay.

Matthew Friedemann, who described himself as a "close" friend when Romney attended the prestigious Cranbrook School in 1965, said that the future Massachusetts governor picked on John Lauber. The Post described Lauber as a "a soft-spoken new student" who was "perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality."

But it was Lauber's long bleached-blonde hair that really set Romney off.

"Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school's collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber's hair," the Post's Jason Horowitz wrote. "Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors."

In addition to Friedemann, Horowitz spoke to at least four other of Romney's classmates who confirmed the incident.

"It happened very quickly, and to this day it troubles me," retired prosecutor Thomas Buford admitted, noting that he later apologized to a "terrified" Lauber. "What a senseless, stupid, idiotic thing to do."

Lauber died in 2004, but one of the students involved, retired principal David Seed, said he ran into his former victim at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in the mid-1990s.

"I'm sorry that I didn't do more to help in the situation," Seed confessed.

"It was horrible," Lauber replied. "It's something I have thought about a lot since then."

The revelation that the former governor may have bullied a gay student comes just one day after President Barack Obama announced his support for same sex marriage, something that the Republican candidate disagrees with.

a story already written... waiting to be released.. after all the others dropped out, to attack Romney's electability?,..

the liberals do have impeccable timing.. no ethics,.. but impeccable timing..
 
Romney apologizes for high school 'teasing'


Posted by
CNN Producer Gabriella Schwarz
(CNN) - Mitt Romney apologized for any "teasing or taunts" he carried out in high school that others deemed offensive and possibly homophobic, following a Thursday news article that included first hand accounts from his time at an all-boys prep school.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said he did not specifically remember two incidents described in the Washington Post story, but said other student's sexual orientation was "the furthest thing from our minds in the 1960s."

"As to the teasing or taunts that go on in high school, that's a long time ago," Romney said on Brian Kilmeade's radio show Thursday. "If there's anything I said that was offensive to someone I certainly am sorry about that, very deeply sorry about that but there was no harm intended."

Asked about the incident by CNN at a campaign event in Omaha, Nebraska, Romney did not respond, but he did in an interview later in the afternoon. The candidate repeated that he did not remember the event, but had done "some stupid things in high school," and offered his apology to anyone who had been hurt if the alleged incident did take place.

"I don't recall the incident but I am seeing the reports and I will not argue with that," he said on Fox News. "And, obviously if I hurt anyone by virtue of that I would be very sorry and apologize for it."

Kilmeade specifically referenced an incident recounted in the story in which a fellow student at the prestigious Cranbrook School in Michigan was pinned down and his hair cut by a group of boys, including Romney. The student had bleached-blond hair draped over one eye, a different look than sported by other students.

Its OK Steve- Romney apologized for it- altho he claims (smartly so) that he doesn't remember it...
 
Gee let's see Obama's puts out stories about Romney's dog on the top of the car to make him look bad and Romney's side counter with Obama ate a dog.

Then Obama's side puts out a story about Romney bullied some guy in High School to make him look bad and Romney's side counters with a story about Obama bullying a young girl in middle school.


What's Next Obama's side putting out a story about Romney getting caught smoking cigarettes in the boys school bathroom. Which Romney's side will counter with stories of Obama skipping school to do Cocaine with his homies

Might I suggest Obama provide everyone on his side a copy of his book so they know what topics to steer clear of when trying to make Romney look bad. :roll:
 
Oldtimer said:
Its OK Steve- Romney apologized for it- altho he claims (smartly so) that he doesn't remember it...


Might be a good reason for him not remembering it. the guy that wwas supposed to have been bullied, says it never happened.

White, in an interview with ABC News, said that he is "still debating" whether he will help the campaign, remarking, "It's been a long time since we've been pals." While the Post reports White as having "long been bothered" by the haircutting incident," he told ABC News he was not present for the prank, in which Romney is said to have forcefully cut a student's long hair and was not aware of it until this year when he was contacted by the Washington Post.

According to White, he knows of several other classmates that have also been approached by the campaign to counter the article. White declined to name the fellow classmates.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/romney-friend-stu-white-says-campaign-wants-him-to-counter-prank-accusations/[/quote]
 
hypocritexposer said:
Oldtimer said:
Its OK Steve- Romney apologized for it- altho he claims (smartly so) that he doesn't remember it...


Might be a good reason for him not remembering it. the guy that wwas supposed to have been bullied, says it never happened.

White, in an interview with ABC News, said that he is "still debating" whether he will help the campaign, remarking, "It's been a long time since we've been pals." While the Post reports White as having "long been bothered" by the haircutting incident," he told ABC News he was not present for the prank, in which Romney is said to have forcefully cut a student's long hair and was not aware of it until this year when he was contacted by the Washington Post.

According to White, he knows of several other classmates that have also been approached by the campaign to counter the article. White declined to name the fellow classmates.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/romney-friend-stu-white-says-campaign-wants-him-to-counter-prank-accusations/
[/quote]


Romney's former classmate: 'You have to take it into account'
Posted by
CNN National Political Correspondent Jim Acosta
Washington (CNN) – Phillip Maxwell wishes he had done something to stop it.

Maxwell, a Michigan attorney, is still haunted by what he claims he witnessed on the campus of the state's elite Cranbrook School in 1965: a young Mitt Romney and a group of friends holding down a classmate named John Lauber and cutting off chunks of his long hair.

"It was not an event you take a lot of pride in. And it was that way for all of us," Maxwell told CNN.

Maxwell confirmed the story, first reported in the Washington Post. However, he insisted the incident was far worse than a high school prank.

"I'm a lawyer. I know what an assault is. This kid was scared. He was terrified. That's an assault," Maxwell said.


Romney said in an interview with Fox News Radio he does not recall the incident described in the Post article. But the former Massachusetts governor acknowledged he engaged in pranks that "might have gone too far" and apologized for any harm done during his time at Cranbrook.

"Back in high school, I did some dumb things, and if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize for that," Romney said.

Maxwell told CNN he is disappointed in Romney's response to the story.

"He says he doesn't remember it and I find it difficult to believe," Maxwell said in a telephone interview.

"It's unfortunate that Mitt simply hasn't owned up to his behavior," he added.

Maxwell, who told ABC News he is a registered independent who has voted for both Democrats and Republicans, said the episode is "relevant" in the campaign as a window into Romney's character.

"I guess you have to take it into account. Are you the kind of person who would stop the abuse of an innocent person?" Maxwell asked.

To this day, Maxwell regrets he will never have the chance to make amends with Lauber who, according to the Post, died in 2004.
"I wish I could have apologized to him," Maxwell said.

Late in the day, the Romney campaign provided statements from other former classmates of the GOP contender.

"Mitt was a thoughtful guy with a great sense of humor who cared about his classmates. He had a good perspective on how to balance all the pressures high school students face. He would never go out and do anything mean spirited. Clownish, yes. Never mean," Richard Moon, one ex-classmate said in the statement furnished by the campaign.

"Mitt never had a malicious bone in his body – trying to imply or characterize him as a bully is absurd," John French, another former classmate, said in another statement released by Romney's staff.

Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said French "wasn't involved in incident and doesn't remember it happening." She did not elaborate on the statement issued by Moon.


Kind of hard for the victim to remember-- when he died in 2004 ... :roll: :wink: :lol:
 
Oldtimer said:
hypocritexposer said:
Oldtimer said:
Its OK Steve- Romney apologized for it- altho he claims (smartly so) that he doesn't remember it...


Might be a good reason for him not remembering it. the guy that wwas supposed to have been bullied, says it never happened.

White, in an interview with ABC News, said that he is "still debating" whether he will help the campaign, remarking, "It's been a long time since we've been pals." While the Post reports White as having "long been bothered" by the haircutting incident," he told ABC News he was not present for the prank, in which Romney is said to have forcefully cut a student's long hair and was not aware of it until this year when he was contacted by the Washington Post.

According to White, he knows of several other classmates that have also been approached by the campaign to counter the article. White declined to name the fellow classmates.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/romney-friend-stu-white-says-campaign-wants-him-to-counter-prank-accusations/





Kind of hard for the victim to remember-- when he died in 2004 ... :roll: :wink: :lol:[/quote]

the victims here are those the media is lying about.

While the Post reports White as having "long been bothered" by the haircutting incident," he told ABC News he was not present for the prank, in which Romney is said to have forcefully cut a student's long hair and was not aware of it until this year when he was contacted by the Washington Post.
 
"The incident was recalled similarly by five students, who gave their accounts independently of one another. Four of them — Friedemann, now a dentist; Phillip Maxwell, a lawyer; Thomas Buford, a retired prosecutor; and David Seed, a retired principal — spoke on the record. Another former student who witnessed the incident asked not to be named. The men have differing political affiliations, although they mostly lean Democratic. Buford volunteered for Barack Obama's campaign in 2008. Seed, a registered independent, has served as a Republican county chairman in Michigan. All of them said that politics in no way colored their recollections."
 

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