In Further Remarks, Romney Classmate Calls Anti-Gay Scissors Attack an Unforgettable 'Haunting Memory': VIDEO
One of Mitt Romney's classmates who was mentioned in the Washington Post story yesterday about the bullying scissors attack on a classmate thought to be gay, has come forward to ABC News with a more personal account of what happened.
Said Phillip Maxwell to David Muir:
“It’s a haunting memory. I think it was for everybody that spoke up about it … because when you see somebody who is simply different taken down that way and is terrified and you see that look in their eye you never forget it. And that was what we all walked away with. I saw it with my own eyes...It was a hack job … clumps of hair taken off."
ABC News adds:
Maxwell said he held the boy’s arm and leg, describing he and his friends as a “pack of dogs.”
Asked if Lauber was targeted because he was gay, as reported by the Post, Maxwell said, “We didn’t know that word in those days … but there were other words that were used. We weren’t ignorant, we just didn’t use the current names for things.”
Watch David Muir's report, AFTER THE JUMP...
Obama will not be reelected. He's lost North Carolina and is a measly 4 points ahead in Oregon. Oregon!
Posted by: MarkUs | May 11, 2012 11:29:06 AM
ratbastard rasmussen is a self defined republican
he polls for fox and moonie washington times
history shows rasmussen being the least accurate pollster and generally whatever ras says = opposite of reality
Posted by: say what | May 11, 2012 11:38:58 AM
I'd like to quote a friend of mine from DC:
"...while he (Romney) shouldn't be held to account for high school
'hi -iinks' he once again misses a leadership opportunity to use his antics and the harm they caused, as an example of why bullying is wrong and needs to be addressed."
And what we are looking to elect IS a leader.
I might add Romney also stood on that stage along with his fellow
Republican candidates while the audience booed and jeered a gay active soldier in combat. Some people never evolve into leaders.
Posted by: mcNnyc | May 11, 2012 12:15:04 PM
@say what,
I know. But what I posted about the economy being the main issue is 100% true. The election will be won/lost on the economy, and it's poor. To be fair, anyone who took over in 2008-2009 would be up sh*t creek in the 2012 re-election campaign. The Republicans basically had a complete loss of power for 2-3 years before taking back the house. In Nov, they'll probably take back the presidency and gain in the house, and will maintain their power for IMO the following 8 years minimum [until 2020]. By this point the economy should be significantly improved, and they will take the credit, which will benefit them for years after that.
I'm not a Republican, just stating the situation as I see it.
Posted by: ratbastard | May 11, 2012 12:28:06 PM
MOST PEOPLE DON'T CARE ABOUT GAY ISSUES and the presidential election will not be determined by the issue of H.S. bullying. Anybody who thinks otherwise is delusional. I know this is a gay oriented site, but reality is reality.
Posted by: ratbastard | May 11, 2012 12:30:36 PM
This link to the Seattle Times has a little more information about John Lauber. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2018185202_romneyprep11.html?prmid=head_main
This is a rather odd article about his family saying he's being portrayed wrongly.
http://www.freep.com/article/20120511/NEWS07/120511023/Mitt-Romney-bullying-Cranbrook-John-Lauber-family
Posted by: Whollyfool | May 11, 2012 12:50:20 PM
I recall a story about George H.W. Bush aka "Poppy". He, too was from a rich family and in prep school. One of his classmates was being bullied and mistreated. Poppy defended him.
Is this a difference in character, the result of better upbringing? Or does the fact that Bush wasn't on a track to being a Mormon Prince have something to do with him not being a smug, narrow minded and arrogant jerk who needed a half dozen thugs to subdue and symbolically castrate a "fruit"?
Posted by: gregory brown | May 11, 2012 1:03:59 PM
every poll I've seen has Obama up 5-10%. figures rat bastard goes to the hack republican polling outfit.
let's not assume this will be easy... but let's be real. sheesh.
we need to work hard to make sure romney the sociopath doesn't win... it's time for us to stop the cynicism and get on board the obama train. our civil rights are on the line, people.
Posted by: R | May 11, 2012 1:09:43 PM
@ R :
Thanks for talking some sense.
This is it ! It is all to play for.....and that includes a generation from now.....this election will define the path of social progress or lack of it in the USA for a generation.......I mean with the SCOTUS appointments coming up.
So if Scalia gets a heart attack (we should be so lucky) we must have a Democratic President ready to appoint a liberal pushing social progress and community responsibility.
Posted by: JackFknTwist | May 11, 2012 3:37:25 PM
Romney obviously has a little man complex he’s been trying to make up for all of his life from bullying classmates to his enjoyment of firing people after gutting their companies. His Magic Mormon Underwear can’t protect him from the press but can they make enough cash rain down to win the election? See for yourself the power of these mysterious garments at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2012/05/mitt-romneys-magic-mormon-underwear.html
Posted by: Brandt Hardin | May 11, 2012 4:50:30 PM
Republicans are keen to swiftly dismiss this assault by Romney and his gang by putting it in the supposedly jovial, boys will be boys 'normal prank' category, but as well as its obvious homophobic, sexist and transphobic motivation there could also well be an element of sexual sadism. Cutting off the hair of victims for reasons of sexual arousal and to humiliate them is not an uncommon aspect of the behaviour of sex attackers and rapists. Just google 'Daniel Restivo', for instance, who was recently imprisoned for life for his horrendous crimes. Whilst many people with a haircutting paraphilia are harmless - some are not and if Romney has such sexual leanings - then he is in the category of those who are not harmless as he has acted on them by planning an attack where he has held someone prisoner with a sharp implement and sadistically abused them. According to eyewitnesses, Romney seems to have been more obsessesed than all of his other classmates, too - they may well have been just as 1960s routinely homophobic but even they noticed something unusual about the intensity of hate, anger and frustration coming from him.
Posted by: Katie | May 12, 2012 2:25:25 PM
What's the statute of limitations concerning assault in Michigan?
Posted by: Guille | May 13, 2012 7:56:39 AM