At this time, I am unlikely to vote for President Obama in 2012 (you’ll have to guess who I voted for in 2008) but I have decided with certainty that I will not vote for Mitt Romney. He doesn’t give me the warm fuzzy feeling that McCain gave me back in 2000 and definitely not the excitement that candidate Obama generated in 2008. But Romney does stand as a contrast to the President.
For Romney, I reckon most who will vote for him in November not so much as they are excited to vote for him but as a protest vote against the President and his agendas. Well, I think that’s kinda a lame way to go about it but it’s a free country.
However, I can tell you that I will definitely not be voting for Romney. I’ve been iffy about him from the start but the latest news about his bullying in high school was the last straw. I detest and denounce the use of the word “prank” by the media to describe how he led a mob of his friends to cut the hair off another boy just because Romney didn’t like how he wore it. And that boy’s name is John Lauber.
It was bully straight and straight. No other words to describe one. As described, the Lauber incident cannot be called a prank. It’s nothing short of bullying. One of Romney’s old chums even described the bullying incident as an “assault”.
I think that’s what it is. If that had happen in today’s environment, Romney would have been charged and expelled from school.
But okay, attitude towards bullying like that in the mid-60s is very different from what it is today. You have to take that into account. Fine. And as some Romney defenders have said, it was in high school. Man has changed since that time.
Okay, I’ll buy that. I can buy that as most Americans. We are a forgiving lot if remorse is shown and genuine attempts have been made to rectify the wrong. People made mistakes like that all the time but they are able to redeem themselves later in life. Kids you know? Many of our presidents have done things in their lives they regret but have became great men. I think Romney deserves the same consideration.
However, Mitt Romney’s response to this? Fraking lame to say the least. He doesn’t remember that ever happening or other pranks. Sorry, dude, if you can’t remember that kind of incident, you are not qualified to be the President of the United States. Moreover, if you can’t remember this particular bullying incident, you must have done some other crazier and crappier bullying if this ranks so far at the bottom it’s not worth you remember about it.
Here’s why. One, your memory sucks if you can’t remember, dude. And if your memory is that bad, you can’t possibly serve as POTUS and you definitely could not have become of the the richest men in America.
Second, you’re lying. You cannot possibly not remember tackling someone and cutting off their hair. And if it’s true that you don’t remember this bullying, I hate to think that there are worse bullying you’ve done are worth you remember about.
Third, Romney apologized for these “pranks”. Well, if pranks are pranks, then there really isn’t anything to apologize for. This ain’t no prank. Again, it’s bullying.
The main issue is that Romney won’t own up to this.. He’s so boxed himself in now that he is incapable of accepting responsibility for anything, good or bad.
As someone who is right of center who wants to see a smaller efficient government that will take our deficits seriously, I can’t bring myself to vote for someone who claims to want the same things but either has bad memories or is outright lying about his bullying of John Lauber.
Own up, man. That’s what we expect in our presidents.
Note: I'm hoping we'll have a strong third party candidate from Americans Elect.
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