Let's Forget Romney's Past

If I only I'd known then what I know now...

When I've applied for jobs, I mentioned my previous experience, to the degree that it was relevant.  I discussed my accomplishments and the skills I acquired on those jobs, and what I learned from my mistakes as well as what I did right.

Turns out, that was the wrong way to apply for a job.  That's not what Mitt Romney is doing.  And, because he's made so much money, he must be doing something right.  Right?

You see, when he was running for the Governorship of Massachusetts, he opposed an amendment to that state's constitution which would have banned, not only same-sex marriages, but same-sex civil unions.  Although he said he opposed same-sex marriages and civil unions, he wanted domestic partners to have the same benefits, in the state of Massachusetts, married couples enjoy.  And he also supported hate-crime legislation.

After he became governor, the State Supreme Court ruled that the state's constitution requires same-sex marriage to be allowed under law.  In response, Romney supported a state constitutional amendment to forbid such marriages.  

By the time he ran for President in 2008, Romney said he had done everything he could to block gay marriage in his state and in this country.  Now he states his belief that "marriage is between a man and a woman" but soft-pedals his previously-stated belief that same-sex couples should enjoy the same benefits that married couples have.

As long as we forget all of that, I guess we shouldn't feel too betrayed if Romney is elected to the White Hose!

Mitt Bully, I Mean, Romney

Over the past few days, there have been media stories of how Presidential candidate Mitt Romney bullied classmates--including one who turned out to be gay-- at his prep school nearly half a century ago.  In those days, though, his behavior wasn't considered bullying:  It was "just boys being boys," especially in the milieu of schools like the one he attended. 


So, in one sense, those (mostly right-wing) critics of those who broke the stories are right:  No one should be judged for the behavior of his teen years.  I'll admit that I am speaking out of self-interest:  I did a bit of bullying myself.  However, I was also bullied and although I don't think I want to see my old tormentors again (for reasons other than the bullying), I expect, or at least hope, that they have grown out of such behavior and the attitudes behind them. 


However, it seems that Romney hasn't progressed much, in his attitudes or actions, since his teen years.  If anything, he's worse now because he has a greater platform and more resources to perpetuate his repressive and predatory actions.  For starters, he looks like a champion of gay rights only in comparison to Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and others who ran against him for the Republican Party's nomination to the Presidency.  It's one thing to oppose gay marriage. (I favor legalizing it only because it's the best we can do in the current legal system; I actually believe the government should play no role at all--save, perhaps, to set a minimum age--in determining who should be allowed to be married.)  He also opposes civil unions. Still, that's not the worst of his positions:  He supported, until its repeal, Bill Clinton's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.  Worse still, in 2006 he rescinded the support he gave to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act twelve years earlier, saying that it would "unfairly penalize employers at the hands of activist judges." 


But Romney's grown-up bullying doesn't end with his blatantly homo- and trans-phobic policies.  He also will throw workers and even managers under the  bus.  Bain Capital, which he headed, was known for buying companies and running them into the ground to make money.  Along the way, they'd fire workers, including managers, and install their own managers, most of whom knew nothing about the industries or products of the companies they were running. And Bain would charge exorbitant management fees.    Really, what they did was the corporate equivalent of a home invasion.

So, in a way, he hasn't changed since he was a teenager:  He is perfectly willing to exert force on people less able to defend themselves than he or his cohorts are.  The only difference is that now he doesn't use physical force.


If you want to read about more examples of what I've just described, look here, here, here and here.