Friday, May 11, 2012

WaPo stands by Romney bullying story in face of furious Flying Monkey Squad attack - Fox fux, wingnut echo chamber fart furious FUD in defense of bigot bully Romdroid


Wahsington Post: “We’ve reviewed all of our reporting and we stand by our story.”

Well, gosh, who could have predicted that the Wingnut Flying Monkey Squad would come out in full force to defend Willard "Bigot Bully" Romdroid from... the truth? All over Lower Wingnuttia it's POUTRAGE, I tell you! Why, the very IDEA that character matters is ABSURD! Obama innocent dating decades ago is totally relevant, but Romney's bullying bigotry decades ago is old news and totally not!



Today the Washington Post defended their story to TPM...
Conservatives are piling on what they call a “hit piece” by the Washington Post on Mitt Romney’s prep school days, accusing the paper of inaccurate reporting.

The Breitbart site Big Journalism Friday morning called attention to an updated online version of the story .

The Post hasn’t issued a correction, saying there is no need. (WaPo communications director) Kris Coratti sends this statement to TPM: “We’ve reviewed all of our reporting and we stand by our story.”
...
Fox News quickly followed Big Journalism’s criticism, calling it the “biggest media controversy” of the 2012 election. Host Megyn Kelly brought in Fox News digital politics editor Chris Stirewalt to discuss the story. “The Washington Post seems to not understand the Internet,” he said on-air. Kelly asked if anyone would want their high-school behavior judged decades later. “Lord no,” Stirewalt responded.
...
The Post hasn’t issued a correction, saying there is no need.
...
the story originated as a look into Mitt Romney’s prep school days — the bullying stories simply came out of that reporting. (Post reporter Jason Horowitz) also firmly denied that the story originated as opposition research from a rival campaign. “This is an entirely independently reported story, with no help from any politically affiliated partisan side. This was all just talking to people who went to school with him.”
I went to a prestigious all boys prep boarding school. Pranks and bullying were common. But there was never a "Lord of the Flies" incident like this - or anything even remotely close - even though we had gay students and it was a Catholic school.


Campion Hall, Campion Jesuit High School, Prairie du Chien, WI
As it happens, I also know Cranbrook well. I lived very close by and had many friends at Cranbrook, as did my sister, who attended a nearby Catholic girls prep school. My boss' kids went to Cranbrook. I participated in many events and fund raisers at Cranbrook, most notably the annual Gala de Cuisine events.

I can tell you from direct first hand experience that, thankfully, Willard's style of bullying bigotry is not the norm today and would not be tolerated at Cranbrook. Any similar incident today would result in immediate expulsion.

Cranbrook Tower and Quad
The real problem here isn't that Willard was a total asshole in high school. Big deal. He's still an asshole. There's two things that stand out to me. First, this is indicative of exactly the same detached from the "common folk" sense of superiority Romdroid displays today.

The second things that strikes me is the brazen dishonesty of his reaction and the non apology apology. He doesn't remember any of it? But he does remember he didn't think the guy was gay? Really?

High school kids in 1965 didn't even know there was such a thing as gay? Really?

He doesn't remember an incident etched into the minds of his classmates and that still haunts many of them  on a daily basis to this very day? Really?

What are we to make of these bizarre non denial denials? How is it possible that Romdroid can't remember an incident etched into the minds of many of his classmates that still haunts them to this day? How many times did Willard organize a mob to assault a gay kid that he can't remember this incident? How many times did he organize a gang to hold a kid down while he roughly whacked off all of his hair?

For those stupid few who would dismiss this incident as a harmless teenage prank, I direct your attention to liberated France after WWII, where the mark of disdain and disgrace forced on those who had collaborated with the Nazis was to be publicly shamed by being held down and having their hair cut off...



Or, how about Nazi concentration camps, where the first dehumanizing indignity forced on millions of Holocaust victims, men, women and children, was to have their hair cut off...



Hahaha. Just good fun, eh, wingnut bigot bully apologists?