Mitt, It's Bullying, Not Pranks

Lately, Mitt Romney has come under fire for his actions as a high school student when he, along with some classmates, would taunt and ridicule fellow students that looked or acted "different".  The implication that many have drawn from this is that the victims, one of whom Romney held down on the floor and sheared his hair off, were gay (or at least so suspected) and that this was a "hate" issue.  Although that probably figures into it to a degree, I beg to differ with the focus here.

According to Romney's recollection, he didn't know who was gay or not back then.  No, he was just having fun and playing pranks.  I say instead, with a memory of how some of my classmates were harassed back in high school, that he was engaged in bullying and that the core driving force in his behavior was not anything about his victims but rather something deeply wrong with his personality and character.  I remember the individuals who practiced bullying in high school: I wonder whether they, like Romney or FoxNews fixture Bill O'Reilly, an admitted high school bully, now whimsically look back on their behavior as just having a good time, being a "prankster".  Bullies-grown-up, let me enlighten you: playing pranks has its place, but only in the setting of being among friends.  Bullying happens when one goes outside their own circle and picks on another out of the general population.  And this is what Mitt Romney was fervently engaged in doing.  Using aggression, not fun, as the primary motivator.  And just like my old school "buddies", many of whom, like ol' Mitt (and "Billo"), most likely have revised their personal recollections to make themselves look like anything other than the contemptible vermin that they were (and possibly still are)...