tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post2866990236377914285..comments2024-03-05T01:05:37.027-08:00Comments on IN THE NEWS: Research: Romney's anti-gay assault fits typical patternKaren Franklin, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01032855743077403199noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-18590335934874519002012-05-16T09:17:35.817-07:002012-05-16T09:17:35.817-07:00Romney himself "apologized" for the gay ...Romney himself "apologized" for the gay bullying that he perpetrated. I'd say the story is very real and further evidence of his non-presidential character. He's a bully, plain and simple, just look at his business practices.mshoultzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04062275123002952441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-82600594059478290012012-05-14T08:06:16.346-07:002012-05-14T08:06:16.346-07:00Thanks, Mark!Thanks, Mark!Karen Franklin, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01032855743077403199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-72235506313187320402012-05-13T17:37:00.933-07:002012-05-13T17:37:00.933-07:00Excellent post Karen! I thought Romney's excus...Excellent post Karen! I thought Romney's excuse sounded suspicious but I didn't know there was good research documenting such a pattern. Thank you for your scholarship and courage to point this out.Dr. Mark Worthenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13955060937336691734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-31712468220357373842012-05-13T17:34:49.046-07:002012-05-13T17:34:49.046-07:00If you consider 40% to be a majority ... http://bi...If you consider 40% to be a majority ... http://bit.ly/LGBT-rightsDr. Mark Worthenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13955060937336691734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-31241066360160190322012-05-12T23:48:06.521-07:002012-05-12T23:48:06.521-07:00Single examples from High School should not be giv...Single examples from High School should not be given excessive magnitude. What concerns me is not that Romney may have bullied when young and dumb, or that he has or may continue to share the general Republican dislike of homosexuality. What concerns me is a possible pattern of character retgarding bullying. Did he bully and abuse greater (uneven) power against the weaker one/s in high school to impose his will? Were Newt Gingrich's fairly well documented accusations about corporate bullying (companies and employees) to impose his personal enrichment another example of this pattern? This will become more elucidated as the election approaches, even with clouding from political partisanship.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15509141930611054219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-58462300797621718422012-05-12T20:22:12.038-07:002012-05-12T20:22:12.038-07:00Thanks, PDiddie. Clearly this story is touching a ...Thanks, PDiddie. Clearly this story is touching a nerve in the Romney camp, but it is well researched and well reported and it appears very solid. There is no indication whatsoever that it is fabricated or exaggerated.Karen Franklin, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01032855743077403199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-66503005101150344122012-05-12T12:29:29.269-07:002012-05-12T12:29:29.269-07:00Karen,
I never said that the people don't ha...Karen, <br /><br />I never said that the people don't have a right to know, rather I questioned the motive of the story. We are in the midst of an election season and I think it's prudent to exercise heavy skepticism regarding any stories of either candidate. Additionally, as you well know, psychological science tells us that eyewitness memories of events that take place this far back in time are likely to be unreliable to some degree. But even assuming the reports are correct, I think it's likely that Romney is not the same person now that he was 40 years ago - after all, who among us are? <br /><br />Now maybe Romney still is a bully, but I find it curious that so many have assumed this story to be true and informative of Romney's present character given all of the caveats I mentioned above.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-73910047755989963572012-05-12T11:57:42.360-07:002012-05-12T11:57:42.360-07:00There is nothing in your fox news article that ind...There is nothing in your fox news article that indicates the story is conclusively false, I'm not sure how you would arrive to that conclusion. The family had no knowledge of the incident and object to the depiction of their son. There is nothing said about the incident itself.Erikahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11570626438671858618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-48682044223944074752012-05-12T10:07:28.993-07:002012-05-12T10:07:28.993-07:00It doesn't appear that these malicious lies ab...It doesn't appear that these malicious lies about Romney have had a negative impact on the polls. Thank goodness, most of the American public does not uncritically accept everything they read in the media. The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters has Romney at 50% and Obama at 42%.Monica Pignottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05096661553832690178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-30583445436164819082012-05-12T10:03:27.242-07:002012-05-12T10:03:27.242-07:00WaPo ombudsman answers Steve, debunks Monica Pigno...WaPo ombudsman answers Steve, debunks Monica Pignotti:<br /><br />http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/omblog/post/mitt-romney-bullying-story-holds-up-to-scrutiny/2012/05/11/gIQALLVnIU_blog.htmlPDiddiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05851660342241127485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-8260611122265687962012-05-12T09:57:44.493-07:002012-05-12T09:57:44.493-07:00Karen, when someone is making such a serious accus...Karen, when someone is making such a serious accusation, the burden of proof is on the accuser and the highly irresponsible report on this did not demonstrate that there was any good evidence that this incident ever occurred and given that the sister did refute it, the political motivation is pretty obvious. There is no evidence that this incident ever occurred and I am very disappointed that you would be spreading what amounts to an urban legend at best.Monica Pignottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05096661553832690178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-76098233460044486352012-05-12T09:53:39.149-07:002012-05-12T09:53:39.149-07:00It has been conclusively shown that this story abo...It has been conclusively shown that this story about Romney is completely false and the result of what appears to be highly responsible reporting. See: <br /> http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/11/report-lauber-sibling-has-no-knowledge-prank/print#ixzz1ucIWbHfk<br /><br />This is a politically motivated urban legend that appears to have taken on a life of its own.Monica Pignottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05096661553832690178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-8076197492374527472012-05-12T08:34:29.733-07:002012-05-12T08:34:29.733-07:00Steve,
Having been a daily news journalist in a pr...Steve,<br />Having been a daily news journalist in a prior life, I know that the reporter must have been working on this for quite some time, in order to have tracked down and interviewed as many sources as he had. It's certainly possible that the Post rushed to get the story into print once the gay marriage issue began heating up, but to me that's not as devious as you seem to think. So what if the story had come out two weeks earlier? Or, potentially more damagingly to Romney, closer to the election? It's still an important news story. The voters have a right to know that one of the candidates was bullying and assaulting weaker peers when he was in high school. Perhaps a tiger can change his stripes, or perhaps some voters don't care, but the public certainly has a right to know about this before deciding on its next president.Karen Franklin, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01032855743077403199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-11588850800644920612012-05-11T17:11:06.242-07:002012-05-11T17:11:06.242-07:00Karen, the issue isn't one of relevance but mo...Karen, the issue isn't one of relevance but motive. Don't you think it's a bit suspicious that this story came out one day after the President announced that he supports same-sex marriage recognition by the states?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-37303361901826531262012-05-11T16:26:26.614-07:002012-05-11T16:26:26.614-07:00Karen, here in the south in the 1960s if someone w...Karen, here in the south in the 1960s if someone was found out being a "queer" they usually turned up dead, or at the least outcast. I'm not saying that was right, but that's the way it was. As the only Morman in the Cranbrook school I expect Romney was the butt of some bullying himself!!! Plus I think that the majority of the people understand that homosexuality is not a good lifestyle because of the un-natural nature of it and the increased risk of disease.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14427584618589647541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-82208753307016513082012-05-11T15:36:29.490-07:002012-05-11T15:36:29.490-07:00Hi Steve,
That's certainly the spin the Romne...Hi Steve,<br /><br />That's certainly the spin the Romney campaign is trying to put on it. But to me the Post story seems exceptionally well researched. It's pretty difficult to find so many first-hand witnesses. The strongest rebuttal the Romney people seem to be able to come up with is that the victim's sister didn't know about the incident. But plenty of sisters don't know about the abuse that their gay siblings endure. And that was all the more true back in the 1960s. <br /><br />As far as political motivation: Romney is running for president, not for the post of county dogcatcher. Prior incidents of assaults and bullying of gay classmates certainly seems relevant to his fitness. Don't forget, he is the one making opposition to gay couples and families a centerpiece of his campaign. <br /><br />Thanks for taking the time to comment.Karen Franklin, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01032855743077403199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2361358365193630538.post-14994070213482810442012-05-11T13:22:33.473-07:002012-05-11T13:22:33.473-07:00I dunno Karen, the Romney bully story seems suspec...I dunno Karen, the Romney bully story seems suspect now given the most recent news coverage. At the least, it certainly seems politically motivated. Thus, it's hard to know right now where the truth lies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com