I guess the good news for Romney in the bullying story is that it will help with solidifying Republican base voters who cheer the idea of people dying because of lack of health insurance, boo a gay soldier, and laugh and applaud in delight when people say things like "in nature, the lions eat the weak." Another plus: maybe animal lovers will think "hey, he's not especially cruel to dogs, he treats everybody that way." But the American public should not be surprised by this story, because Romney and his Republican party's entire philosophy is straight out of Lord of the Flies.
It's not just that the Republicans oppose hate crime and anti-bullying legislation because it gives certain people they don't like "special status," or that they have been trying to defund the Violence Against Women Act or withdraw its help from immigrant women. It's not only that they want the American government to be able to torture people in violation of our constitution, our treaties, and our oldest traditions as a country. In fact, the Lord of the Flies philosophy is at the very heart of their economic plans. The Ryan-Romney budget is all about giving the wealthy and powerful everything, and taking money and resources away from the elderly, people with disabilities, the poor, and the working class in this country. They want to let polluters go free to do what they will in poisoning our air and water and climate, and big oil to take unending subsidies and tax loopholes. They want the big insurance companies to be able to keep the sick from getting coverage. They want to leave the Wall Street titans free to speculate and cheat their customers and wreak ever more havoc with the economy. In short, Romney and Ryan want the strong to be set free to do what they will to the rest of us. Each of us would be on our own, the safety net and most basic consumer protections would be shredded, and the devil take the hindmost. It is the cruelty of Romney's high school "pranks and hijinks" turned into an entire economic system.
The story about Romney's merciless cruelty, which he says he doesn't even remember and writes off as a harmless, boys-will-be-boys prank, is not an aberration; it is part of his whole life story. He went from being the big bully in his high school, to being the cavalier dad who made the family dog ride on top of the car even when it was making him sick, to being the "vulture capitalist" at Bain Capital, loading up companies with debt for short term profit and doing mass layoffs before selling off the companies. Now he is the presidential candidate advocating for the Ryan budget, the single cruelest policy document I have ever seen in 30+ years of politics.
The biggest irony to all this is that Romney and his new buddy Paul Ryan extol their faith as devout Christians. The founder of that religion was a person named Jesus of Nazareth. He is quoted in that religious tradition's scripture as saying things like, "Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them," and, "in so far as you neglected to help one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me." Not exactly the values one thinks of when hearing about bullies -- or budgets -- that pick on the weak.
Mitt Romney has a streak of cruelty in him that allowed him to torment someone different than him in high school, and has a streak of cruelty in him now that allows him to write off such cruelty as a harmless childhood "prank." What is worse for all of us, if he were to become president, is that this cruelty is reflected in his policy ideas. We shouldn't have Lord of the Flies become our national values system.
Follow Mike Lux on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ProgressiveLux
Kerry Kennedy: Bullying, Leadership and the Presidency of the United States
Nathaniel Frank: Mitt Romney and the New Immorality
Jody Huckaby: Cultivating Respect: Safe Schools for All
John Becker: Mitt Romney, Anti-Gay Bully?
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 |
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
OH that was FUNNY - you made it sound like he had CHANCE in HELL to become POTUS!!
Oh you COMEDIANS - where do you get this MATERIAL :)
You obviously think it's AOK to be a Bully...to torment a young boy in what today would have Mitt Romney brought up on charges of Assault and Hate Crime.
You obviously think the suffering of the smaller or weaker at the hands of a Bully like Romney is "hilarious".
You Sir are obviously an example of what the GOP has become....a heartless monster.
I would like to slightly revise what Mr. Lux refers to as Romney's, and the GOP's, overruling influence.
How about "Lord of the Flies Shrugged?"
When someone is running for President, everything they ever did or were exposed to is relevant if a cogent argument can be made that it somehow has predictive value for their future behavior.
If we're going to be handing over that much power to someone, we're entitled to all of the information we can legitimately uncover.
It is because the only way the amateur Obama can get re-elected is to divert attention away from the fact he was done a dismal job of running the ECONOMY and putting citizens back to work.
When was it that you Libs were given the keys to the car again? Not January 2009.
Remember the Date!
January 3rd, 2007 was the date Democrats took over the Senate and the House with majorities.
How bad was Bush and the Republicans(You know the one that know about business) doing?
Let's go back to January 3, 1007. On that day-
The DOW Jones closed at 12,621.77
GDP for the previous quarter was 3.5%
The Unemployment Rate was 4.6%
George Bush's Economic policies SET A RECORD of 52 STRAIGHT MONTHS of JOB GROWTH
You really don't have to create a lot of new jobs if almost everybody has a job already.
Remember the day...
January 3rd, 2007 was the day that Barney"There's Nothing Wrong with Fannie Mae"Frank took over as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and Chris"Gimme a Sweetheart Loan" Dodd took over as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and we all know what happened next.
Who fought against reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
Of course the same people you voted in that can't get the economy moving-Obama and the Democrats.
Gee, it appears the Democrats can't drive the car known as the ECONOMY!
fanned.