Charles Blow, "Mean Boys;" Gail Collins, "The Anatomy of a Jokester": Beating Up on Romney

This has not been a happy week for the Obama administration.

Although America's president was feted at a Hollywood fund raiser at the home of George Clooney and was surrounded by a bevy of adoring millionaire movie stars, elsewhere, in the real world, things were not going according to plan.

In Afghanistan, local commanders are refusing to chase after insurgents (see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/afghan-commanders-show-new-defiance-in-dealings-with-americans/2012/05/11/gIQAMdNTHU_story.html?hpid=z1), calling into question whether Afghan troops will actively engage the Taliban following an intended evacuation of US troops in 2014.

At home, JPMorgan Chase has just announced a $2 billion loss from trading activity, which highlights the fact that the Obama administration has done virtually nothing to curb abuses which threaten the financial welfare of the nation.

Still closer to home, Bill Clinton, according to a soon to be published book entitled "The Amateur," by Edward Klein, a former editor of Newsweek and The New York Times Magazine, is said to have
stated that Obama "doesn’t know how to be president" and is "incompetent" (see: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/bill_blockbuster_an_amateur_XJHYdaV5LT1vpr5I39IKrN). I doubt that Bill will be campaigning with Barack in the fall.

Worse yet, in a move uncoordinated with the West Wing, Vice President Biden came out in favor of gay marriage, forcing Obama to release a similar declaration, but not in accordance with the timetable set for the president's announcement (see: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/05/11/end-no-drama-obama-biden-gay-marriage/#more-793548). The ombudsman of The Washington Post (see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/omblog/post/mitt-romney-bullying-story-holds-up-to-scrutiny/2012/05/11/gIQALLVnIU_blog.html?hpid=z2), believes that WAPO then took advantage of Obama's declaration to publish an article alleging bullying by Romney in high school of an unpopular classmate, who later turned out to be gay. According to WAPO's ombudsman:

"Do I think The Post took advantage of the timing? Yes.

. . . .

If I were an editor I might have sped [the article] up a little, too, to take advantage of the national discussion on gay marriage. Does that mean Post editors are timing stories with the White House? I hope not, and I doubt that is the case."

The ombudsman "hopes not"? That's very reassuring.

Meanwhile, over at "The New York Times," both Charles Blow ("Mean Boys," http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/12/opinion/blow-mean-boys.html) and Gail Collins ("The Anatomy of a Jokester," http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/12/opinion/collins-the-anatomy-of-a-jokester.html) have today written op-eds denouncing Romney's response to the incident, which occurred more than 40 years ago.

I'm younger than Romney, but not by much. I remember my public high school as a place where there was violence and racial intolerance, but issues involving homosexuality, prior to the evolution of gay rights, did not preoccupy teen consciousness in my town. My guess is that if Mitt Romney, a rich kid not good at sports, had attended my high school, he would have been on the receiving end of the bullying.

I'm not keen on Mitt Romney, but I would observe that back 40 years ago, high school could be a brutal place for anyone who dared not to conform. I think it's wonderful that the issue of bullying is finally receiving the attention it deserves, but frankly the alleged incident involving the vicious forced haircut is timid compared with incidents that I recall from my school days, which sent children to the hospital.

Obama? Let's indeed ignore his past use of drugs and his eating of dogs. Rather, let's focus on his much more recent associations with Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers and Rashid Khalidi. I would also draw special attention to Obama's ties to former White House Communications Director Anita ("Mao is one of my favorite political philosophers") Dunn; former Green Czar Van Jones; and current Special Assistant to the President Samantha Power, who advocated sending US troops to protect Palestinians from Israel.

The alleged bullying incident involving Romney more than 40 years ago as reported by The Washington Post was painful to read. Quite frankly, however, I am far more disturbed by the ongoing war in Afghanistan, America's economic malaise that shows no sign of abating, and the president's association with radical leftists, who could well shape a possible second term in office for Obama once he is freed from the constraints of facing reelection.