Quotable: SUPER MARIO On One SMART Horse

"It's not me, it's him. It's all about the horse. He just keeps proving people wrong. I'm so happy for him because he's such a great horse, he's smarter than me. He has a tremendous kick in the end." ~ 25-year-old Jockey Mario Gutierrez of Kentucky Derby, and now, Preakness winner I'll Have Another.

Modesty is one of the endearing qualities of young Mario Gutierrez. But in fact, he has been nothing short of spectacular as I'll Have Another's jockey. Listening to the comments of the trainer, Doug O'Neill, frantically, "I was 'GO, send him!' ... but he (Mario) was so patient," and the philosopher horse-owner Paul Reddam, "I didn't feel confident we were going to get there until 10 yards from the wire. I wasn't sure that we would get there, but I knew that our horse had a lot of heart and a lot of fight"... each confirmed in his own way what a spectacularly professional ride Gutierrez gave his mount.

Setting aside the pressures of big-time competition in the sport, and the fact Mario Gutierrez was, for all intents and purposes (other than apprentice) a rookie, Mario demonstrated the judgment and sang-froid of the greats in the ride he gave I'll Have Another. He was neither impulsive nor timid. He perfectly judged the pace of the race and kept his mount forwardly placed, just off pacesetter Bodemeister's right flank, staying out of traffic trouble and sitting a stalking trip. When they whipped around the turn and Bodemeister who had led all the way setting comfortable fractions kicked into gear, Mario still waited.

In the stands, Doug O'Neill was frantically shouting, "GO, GO, SEND HIM NOW!"... but Mario couldn't hear the trainer's entreaties, and I doubt he would have listened. Had he said anything, I think it would've been, "Chill Doug, I got this."

As Bodemeister began pulling away from the field, looking to everyone like a sure winner, Mario with his eagle's eye for the finish line asked I'll Have Another for his run. And oh, what a GREAT KICK. I'll Have Another began swallowing up huge chunks of terrain as Bodemeister's jock hugged the rail trying to save every last inch of ground, and they galloped toward the approaching wire — then I'll Have Another won by a well-timed, if exhilarating, neck.

Super Mario's quote stands for its honesty. It wasn't false modesty. It is all about the horse. But great jockeys and great champion racehorses develop a symbiotic relationship that is parts respect, and affection, and yes, love. Don't ever believe those in this game who say that great equine athletes don't know what this competition is about, don't know where the wire is. Oh, they know. Angel Cordero, perhaps the greatest of all natural jocks said so himself, speaking of one great champion he rode: When he saw that wire, he pricked back his ears, put his head down and charged, because no one was going to beat him to the finish line.

There's a lot of Cordero in young Mario Gutierrez. Once again, I'll Have Another, "he's such a great horse," has teamed with Mario and their connections to bring them, carry them, tantalizingly close to a Triple Crown win in the Belmont Stakes, for the first time in 34 years.

But the Belmont is the most grueling of the three legs of the Triple Crown. Its mile-and-a-half distance has thrown up more than just a competitive, form cycle barrier to any contender to Secretariat's and Seattle Slew's Crown. It's in the breeding and the bloodlines: Horses in this modern era of racing are bred for speed over stamina and distance. Most of the fastest routing horses will hit an imaginary wall around the mile-and-a-quarter distance when trying to go that extra, final quarter of a mile to glory. It's the longest quarter in horse racing.

So when asked whether I'll Have Another was ready to go for the Triple Crown, Mario Gutierrez smiled thoughtfully and replied in a manner wise beyond his years: "We'll see."

Quotable: Big Eddie On Reading Hyped-Up Political Garbage

See, this is why Big Eddie's my kind of guy: "I got about half-way through Game Change." My sentiments exactly. The book is SO BAD it's like pulp fiction only you already know the ending. Mindless, shallow entertainment has its place; as long as you don't know the outcome, or have to put up with the celebrated pretentiousness of the authors.

WHOOPS ... "ERROR 404": PERFECT METAPHOR FOR REPUBLICAN CONGRESS FAIL

IF YOU GO TO HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER'S PAGE and click on the LINK to the 'GOP Solutions' TAB, this is what you'll get:

“ERROR 404
Page Not Found

We apologize, but the page you are looking for could not be found. Please examine the spelling of the URL you are trying to access or use the search bar in the upper-right corner of the site.”

Here's the proof, before they disappear it down that Orwellian Ministry of Truth incinerator:

Thanks to TP for this little nugget.

Quotable: Dr. Robert L. Spitzer to LGBT Community

“I believe I owe the gay community an apology.” ~ So-called "father of (the Voodoo Arts, aka) modern psychiatry" pens apologia for 2003 study he authored supporting use of "reparative therapy" to "cure" homosexuality. 

MESSAGE TO THE DNC FROM PROGRESSIVES: READ US LOUD AND CLEAR

DEAR DEBBIE: PROGRESSIVES ARE FURIOUS AT THE DNC FOR YOUR NEGLECT OF THE WALKER RECALL ELECTION. I don't think you realize the level of upset and exasperation directed at national Democrats for having, effectively, cast the Gov. Walker Recall campaign in Wisconsin adrift. Your recent tweet and promise to visit the state to sign up "VOLS" is LUDICROUS. Democrats in Wisconsin have all the volunteers they need; what they DESPERATELY need is SEED MONEY from the DNC and Democratic donors to properly fund get-out-the-vote efforts. The request on the table is for $500,000 and Big Eddie's sources tell him the DNC could cut a check immediately.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! The funding is a PITTANCE compared to the outside BIG BILLIONAIRE DONOR contributions that has given Walker a 25-1 money advantage. Wisconsin is being carpet-bombed by Walker billionaire money spreading OUTRIGHT LIES which go unanswered because Democrats just haven't the money to compete with campaign ads. As a result, the polls show Walker has pulled ahead, but is, STILL, well within reach. IF ONLY THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY MOBILIZES TO COUNTER HIS MONEY ADVANTAGE.

There are many things you can do: Solicit and provide funds for the ground campaign; solicit at least some donor ad buys from wealthy Democrats (THEY EXIST!) to remind Wisconsin voters of Walker's TRUE RECORD of job losses, union busting, health, pension, and education cuts, and corporate tax breaks; send in some of our best people assets to campaign for Barrett, namely the President, Vice President, and Bill Clinton.

INERTIA IS NOT AN OPTION, Debbie. If you're afraid of having to spin a Walker win, his money advantage is already so HUGE that, if anything, it will be his side the more likely to misinterpret the results. The cost for the DNC with the BASE of sitting on the sidelines while Walker does his victory lap could well lose Wisconsin for President Obama. More may follow. If you go all out to help Wisconsin Democrats defeat Scott Walker, win or lose — as long as the DNC is in the game we'll give you a pass. Otherwise, progressives will REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER. The so-called "enthusiasm gap" will widen.

DO.NOT.TAKE.US.FOR.GRANTED. It's time to TAKE A STAND with the people of Wisconsin.

Swift-Boating The Swiftboaters: RAHMBO Weighs In

NOW CHICAGO'S MAYOR IS PISSED ... LIVID, WHAT WITH THAT TAXPAYER-FUNDED $300 million renovation to Wrigley Field — that's on hold; RAHMBO won't even talk to the Ricketts Klan ... That can't be a good sign for 'Bison' Joe ... You know how Mitt Romney kind of walks around in those ill-fitting jeans, sort of mincingly, like he's got a rash in them nether regions? ... I'm thinking magic underwear. Yup. Definitely.

P.S. ... Oops. Joe Ricketts Rejects "Ricketts Plan"

"Joe Ricketts is a registered independent, a fiscal conservative, and an outspoken critic of the Obama Administration, but he is neither the author nor the funder of the so-called “Ricketts Plan” to defeat Mr. Obama that The New York Times wrote about this morning. Not only was this plan merely a proposal – one of several submitted to the Ending Spending Action Fund by third-party vendors – but it reflects an approach to politics that Mr. Ricketts rejects and it was never a plan to be accepted but only a suggestion for a direction to take. Mr. Ricketts intends to work hard to help elect a President this fall who shares his commitment to economic responsibility, but his efforts are and will continue to be focused entirely on questions of fiscal policy, not attacks that seek to divide us socially or culturally."

That was swifter than a swift boat! A Suggestion?! Maybe Joe realized that trying to be an anti-Obama gunslinger in Chicago is a bit of a heavy load. Haven't his Republican pals schooled him on the frightening aspects of so-called "Chicago politics"? That it makes the priggish Karl Rove look like a rank amateur running for the tall grass after going mano-a-mano with Mayor RAHMBO EMANUEL?! Good move, Joe. You don't want to go there, do you. Hey Joe, where you gonna run to ... may I suggest: Mexico?

Karen Finney, Warrior Princess: "BRING IT ON!"

REACTING TO THIS FRONT PAGE NYT STORY. HOW STUPID DO THESE WINGNUT SCUMBAGS THINK WE ARE?!

WASHINGTON — A group of high-profile Republican strategists is working with a conservative billionaire on a proposal to mount one of the most provocative campaigns of the “super PAC” era and attack President Obama in ways that Republicans have so far shied away from. Timed to upend the Democratic National Convention in September, the plan would “do exactly what John McCain would not let us do,” the strategists wrote. The plan, which is awaiting approval, calls for running commercials linking Mr. Obama to incendiary comments by his former spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., whose race-related sermons made him a highly charged figure in the 2008 campaign. [...] The proposal was presented last week in Chicago to associates and family members of Mr. (Joe) Ricketts, who is also the patriarch of the family that owns the Chicago Cubs.

You know, the Chicago Cubbies aren't my team but I feel really bad that the team hasn't won a World Series since 1908. The fans deserve better. Much better. Given the team's history of right wing ownership, it's tempting to consider the curse of a satanic (?) goat as the cause, but really. Before wingnut billionaire Joe Ricketts bought the Cubs the team was in the stranglehold of the Ol' Colonel Chicago Trib Republican family, notable for the most famous newspaper headline of all time, "calling" the 1948 election before the candidates crossed the finish line: "Dewey Defeats Truman."

ANOTHER GREAT MOMENT IN RIGHT WING HISTORY:

Now the Cubs are saddled with Joe Ricketts who is obviously more interested in throwing his millions at anti-Obama wingnut causes to defeat the President than being a George Steinbrenner-type of owner obsessively dedicated on behalf of the Cubs' long-suffering fans to bringing a World Series back to Wrigleyville. Indeed, this wingnut psycho is a loose cannon even among Republican circles, and I would add, the oligarch is making his Chicago welcome short-lived by the minute with this latest stunt to relitigate the Reverend Wright controversy in this campaign.

I'm with Karen: BRING IT ON, RICKETTS, YOU F&G ASSHOLE. Here's the response. And by the way, this stuff about Mormon undergarments is, frankly, shocking. Even for a Catholic, in which ritual and associated garments are a big part of the religion. I hate to say this, but as "cults" go, the Christian Right may have a point regarding their Mormon brothers and sisters. There's also some really weird stuff about Jesus Christ in their teachings. So c'mon Joe. Bring it on. Who knows, you might raise the good will quotient so high around these parts after another losing season that you'll be run out of Chi-Town. Wouldn't that be a blessing. For the Cubs and the fans, too:

SMOKIN' JOE BIDEN!

A SOULLESS WINGNUT CRETIN floated the notion Joe Biden was having a Howard Dean moment. Piss-poor try imbecile, but you don't know shit. Joe was channeling FDR, and man DID HE CONNECT:

MITT ROMNEY LIESLIESLIES, CAUGHT, BLAMES "THE PRESS" ... HMM, FAMILIAR MEME HERE

HERE'S THE THINKER'S FAVORITE MEME: YOU READ IT HERE FIRST, FOLKS. Okay, let's review, but first, here's Chris and "THE PRESS" playing catchup:

FASCINATING.

EVEN SO, THE BELTWAY MEDIA AND THE MSM continue falling down on the job. The AP returned from vacation and decided, in some editorial meeting or other, maybe they should catalogue Mitt Romney's LIES UPON LIES UPON LIES AND MORE LIES. Hey, there's an election on, you know. As a followup WaPo's hardhitting Greg Sargent, an outlier who posts one substantive column after another had more, that went largely unnoticed. Here's a puzzler: Besides the occasional mention, Sargent hardly gets any facetime at all on MSNBC compared with that flippant unamusing libertarian Dana Milbank who writes nothing but fluff.

Remember when I outed that GOP MOLE Mark Halperin, aka not Rachel's cuddly animal but a creepy political WEASEL —W.E.A.S.E.L. —for (a) writing his narrative on marriage equality from his base of operations at MORON JOE for his Game Change sequel; (b) trekking over to Hardball where he generally has little problem rolling the obsequious Chris Matthews to whine that "THE PRESS" is all in on marriage equality ... and they're SO SO "UNFAIR" to Mitt Romney; then, BRAZENLY, INCREDIBLY, CONTEMPTUOUSLY (of his host, Chris) RETURNING TO HARDBALL TO:

HALPERIN (RE: BAIN AD): "This is one instance THAT THE PRESS will be more sympathetic to the Bain ad ..." Aww ... poor poor Mitt will have to find a sympathetic narrative "WITH THE PRESS."

YOU TELL ME, CHRIS-MARK — WHAT PRESS?! DEFINE IT.

UN-EFFIN-BELIEVABLE. And Matthews even makes some stupid joke to bolster Halperin by speculating "THE PRESS" alleged "hostility" to Bain Capital is envy over their (low?) salary?! Halperin's contemptuous comebacker is TV personalities' salaries, too, an obvious malicious dig at Chris that went right over Chris's head.

I'D BE FASCINATED TO KNOW WHO-WHAT-WHERE-WHEN-WHY-HOW IS THIS HOSTILE TO BAIN/ROMNEY "THE PRESS" COMPRISED OF IN MARK HALPERIN'S REPUBLICAN MIND?!

CHRIS, YOU 'RE TOTALLY SHAMEFUL BEEN HAD! REALLY, FRIEND. I MEAN IT.

Helloo, Idiot Punditocracy; EARTH TO BELTWAY MEDIA — anyone spot  a pattern here? There are no smoke-filled rooms any longer. There's no need. E-mail works just fine to coordinate the GOP message and pushback. Their coordinated narrative is born: Team Obama is hitting Romney where it hurts, telling the truth about Romney's vulture Bain capitalism, and scoring. What is Team Romney's response? That timeworn age-old tactic: BLAME THE MESSENGER — "THE PRESS."

Need I spell out Halperin's role? Ah well, okay, for Chris's sake, he's always the last to figure things out. In exchange for unfettered access to Romney, to chronicle his "inside garbage" account of the campaign for his book sequel, he agrees to plant a few seeds of pro-Romney disinformation. Whether he's doing this willingly or coercively (in exchange for access) is immaterial — I think the former. The mole's been telegraphing his words quite clearly: The idea is to get Chris (whose show is a gateway to the Beltway Media) to stop hammering Romney on his LIES and go, "hmm ... maybe we're being UNFAIR to Mitt, or TOO SYMPATHETIC to the President ... We'd better pull back"— as Alex's "Cheshire Cat Pundit" stretches out on his limb with that odious smug grin, and looks down upon his handiwork.

Meanwhile, embattled but ever fetching Alex Wags hosted a pair of LYIN' Republicano geezers in ex-NY Gov. George Pataki and The Steelenator. These LYIN' old pols contributed NOTHING to the conversation, except filibustering Alex and slobbering their germs all over her between Pataki's cough and Ed Rendell's noisy nose blows ... the most sense he's made to me. The only interesting thing going on, with GOP talking points flying fast and furious, as Alex, AGAIN, couldn't get a word in edgewise, was their line of attack REVEALED: BOTH PATAKI AND STEELE BITTERLY BLAME THE MEDIA FOR MITT ROMNEY'S LIES. In a frontal assault from Pataki.

COINCIDENCE? Riiight.

P.S. (Score one for Jonathan Capehart; leveling the field of sophists a little bit, at least.) I LOVE IT WHEN RATIGAN THE MASTER OF SOPHISTRY GETS SLAMMED! Well done, Jonathan.

James Lipton To Mitt Romney: How To Act Human

SLAM-DUNK Alex: Slams Jimmy From Dylan As RS's Matt Taibbi Flips Heilemann

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT WASN'T PLANNED, but the dynamics were right. Watch as Alex Wags acidly reminds anti-Obama whiner par excellence Jimmy (the FAKE "Democrat") Williams that instead of bitching so much about how much more the President hasn't done for his rich, ungrateful ass — proposing a constitutional amendment legalizing gay marriage, which "if he does it now, it's very problematic, he might not have a second term," reminded professor Michael Eric Dyson — he's supposed to reward the President with his vote in November. (I'm almost certain he won't, and never intended to.)

Next up, Rolling Stone's "contributing editor" (the dude's not big on titles) Matt Taibbi completely demolishes New York Magazine's fiction writer John Heilemann's contention that the President was motivated to support gay marriage for fundraising reasons since, Taibbi added, he was "outed" by Joe Biden "flapping his jaws" — "Unless they're incredibly clever and Machiavellian to do it this way, to sort of have it accidentally come out of Joe Biden's mouth, and then this big statement, I don't see this as a rush for campaign cash at all."

If anyone is heir to Hunter Thompson's legacy as a political reporter first, and Rolling Stone writer second, it's Matt Taibbi. His fierce, incisive, fearless reporting on behalf of we, the people, exposing the malfeasance and criminality in our financial system is worthy of the mantle he would never presume to assume: Rolling Stone's all-time leading light, Hunter S. Thompson.

Funny thing about John Heilemann, whose writings and execrable book, Game Change, are speckled with Hunterisms — "Fear And Trembling," "Fear And Loathing", etc. — which they euphemistically call in their business "appropriations" but which I prefer calling plagiarisms ... soon after its publication he assumed the title of New York Magazine's "National Affairs Editor." I searched the Google machine but could find no promotional blurb, much less any evidence New York Magazine had a "National Affairs Editor" before Heilemann.

But I did find this, from Rolling Stone's legendary publisher, Jann Wenner, remembering Hunter:

“We were deep into politics and shared the same ambition to have a voice in where the country was going (thus the “National Affairs Desk”). We became partners in this as well, as mad as it may have seemed at the time — a rock-and-roll magazine and a man known for writing about motorcycle gangs, joining forces to change the country. We used to read aloud what he had just written, get to certain phrases or sentences, and just exclaim to each other, “Hot fucking damn.” It was scorching, original, and it was fun. He was my brother in arms.” (Hunter S. Thompson's name remained on Rolling Stone's masthead as "National Affairs Editor" until the day of his death.)

  Watch Alex and Matt make short shrift of two monumental phonies:

The Huff Post, Mocking Alex ...

Alex's "Raven*-Haired Vixen" Effect, Rebekah Brooks Charged In Phone Hacking Scandal

FIRST! WHY NOT RUPERT OR JAMES? Alex, your point must be, "life isn't fair" for vixens ... "Perverting" justice, no less. But do we really wish to see this woman in shackles and the British equivalent of the orange jumpsuit?! Hmm ...

*It might have been "flame-haired vixen" ... Alex has a real way around words!

P.S. Let Me Make It Easy For You, Mark And Chris:

IS "THE PRESS":

- MSNBC
- TIME
- WASHINGTON POST
- NY TIMES
- NY POST
- CHICAGO TRIB
- WALL STREET JOURNAL
- CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
- CNN, CBS, ABC, CNBC, FOX, NBC, BBC, AL JAZEERA ...
- BOSTON GLOBE
- WASHINGTON TIMES
- BIG GOVERNMENT
- RED STATES
- NEWSWEEK
- NEW YORKER
- NEW YORK MAGAZINE
- ROLLING STONE
- MOTHER JONES
- RUSH LIMBAUGH
- POLITICO
- THE ATLANTIC
- NATIONAL REVIEW
- TAMPA BAY TIMES
- MATT DRUDGE ...?!

Obviously, this is a very top-of-my-head partial list. So tell us, Chris Matthews and Mark Halperin: WHO is "THE PRESS" here and WHO is not? And why, pray tell, Chris and Mark, you aren't members of "THE PRESS" — understand, I can make a good case for it, but for our purposes the standard is whether you two can obtain a PRESS PASS to the presidential debates.

(Oooh, I get it! One of you co-authored one of the trashiest political campaign books in the history of the genre, certainly in strong competition with the worst of all time. Chris, well, you've got J. Edgar Hoover denial issues. All I can think of is, you're two smug elitists trading inside jokes about how much money you rake in — vastly overpaid for the crap you produce, but the market is what it is — compared to the shoe-leather grunts in "THE PRESS" who actually break the news you report on.)

So, maybe you're NOT "THE PRESS." I can live with that.

Halperin The GOP MOLE Does It AGAIN! On MSNBC

SHAME ON YOU CHRIS, GIVING THIS FRAUD A PLATFORM.

HALPERIN (RE: AD, BELOW): "This is one instance THAT THE PRESS will be more sympathetic to the Bain ad ..." Aww ... poor poor Mitt will have to find a sympathetic narrative "WITH THE PRESS."

YOU TELL ME, CHRIS-MARK — WHAT FUCKING PRESS?! DEFINE IT, ASSHOLES.

UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE. And Matthews even makes some stupid joke to bolster Halperin by speculating "THE PRESS" alleged "hostility" to Bain Capital is envy over their (low?) salary. Halperin's contemptuous comebacker is TV personalities' salaries, too, an obvious malicious dig at millionaire Chris that went right over Chris's head. (He's done that before; Halperin's absolutely contemptuous of his MSNBC "colleagues" especially since they're not on to him ... uh, but they don't listen to me; not even Rachel.)

I'D BE FASCINATED TO KNOW WHO-WHAT-WHERE-WHEN-WHY-HOW IS THIS HOSTILE TO BAIN/ROMNEY "THE PRESS" COMPRISED OF IN MARK HALPERIN'S REPUBLICAN MIND?!

CHRIS, YOU'RE TOTALLY SHAMEFUL! REALLY. I MEAN IT.

BEST OBAMA AD YET

LET'S GET OUT THERE AND CRUSH THIS RATBASTARD — And everything he represents!

ELIZABETH WARREN IS F*ING AWESOME!

HERE SHE IS JUMPING IN with both feet on JPMorgam Chase CEO Jamie Dimon for gambling away $2 billion of the taxpayers' money. She has already called on Dimon to resign from his seat on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's board, citing the need for "responsibility and accountability" in the financial industry. Meanwhile her opponent Scott Brown twiddles his thumbs somewhere.

WHEW: Best Indication Yet That Obama Beats Romney ...

THE END OF THE WORLD IS DELAYED! From USA Today:

"Newly discovered wall writings found in Guatemala show the famed Maya culture's obsession with cycles of time. But they also show calendars that go well beyond 2012, the year when the vanished civilization, according to popular culture, expected the end of the world."

Happy Mother's Day, From The Marx Brothers!

Mama-mama-mamãe eu quero (Mamãe!)

Mamãe eu quero MAMAR!

Dá a chupeta, Dá a chupeta

Dá a chupeta pro bebê não chorar!

The Romney SNARK: A Question Of Personal AND National Character

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST. But I won't take credit for what is self-evident and obvious to the core. We've always been able to identify and anticipate the dark soul emanations of wingnuts before they take flight and engulf us all. Quite honestly, it's always puzzled me that other people, less political or not at all, can't see it. It's the What's The Matter With Kansas syndrome, writ large.

The Washington Post story of an 18-year-old bully, Mitt Romney, leading an assault on a gay teen and cutting his hair while others pinned him down isn't just akin to everyperson's ordinary teen experience. It's a experience that is particular to bullies and bullying. Those of us who know, have been on the receiving end. Bullies are a negative and destructive force in our lives far, far greater than their numbers. They are the quintessential coward. For without their little "posse" of sycophants and acolytes, they wilt like the wicked witch to anyone who will stand up to them. Mitt Romney is one such coward, as Time's Joe Klein wrote:

"It comes during the same week that he [Romney] claims credit for saving the auto industry, even though he opposed the bailout that made possible the structured bankruptcy he favored. It comes the same week that he expresses his opposition to gay marriage, even though he promised to be a more aggressive proponent of gay rights than Ted Kennedy when he ran for the Senate in 1994 — of course, it’s possible that Romney has evolved in the opposite direction as President Obama, and most Americans, on this issue, but I doubt it. It seems a day can’t go by without some Romney embarrassment or bald-faced reversal of a former position.

I’m still waiting for the moment when Romney actually tells the truth about something difficult. He could have said, “You know, I’ve been troubled by the Cranbrook episode for most of my life, and I feel relieved, in a way, that it’s come out now. I did a really stupid and terrible thing. Teenage boys sometimes do such things and deserve to be punished for them. What I most regret is that I never apologized to John and won’t be able to now that he’s gone, but let me apologize to his family and friends. Bullying is unacceptable under any circumstances. It is especially unacceptable when prejudice — against one’s race, ethnicity or sexual orientation — is involved. If elected President, I will try to atone for my teenage behavior by campaigning against bullying all across this country. What I did back then should be an example of how not to behave. I hope we can all learn from this. I know I have.”

Instead, Romney has a near perfect record of cowardice, obfuscation and downright lies. It shows enormous disrespect for the intelligence of the public."

Those coming to Romney's defense, Dana Milbank (another mole plying his libertarian garbage at MSNBC) and hand-wringers like David Brooks, try to pooh-pooh this incident as some sort of generic youthful indiscretion. The wingnut consensus is it's a WaPo "hit piece" which is a hoot from a crowd of idiots with no sense of irony whatsoever. Bottom line is, only a comparative handful of us throughout this great land can honestly say we did something as disturbing and heinous as this in our youth. And when you're running for president, it enters the realm of biographical coverup:

"Romney, the eighteen-year-old son of a governor, spotting the student, John Lauber, with, as a classmate remembered, “bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye,” and saying, “He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” Or Romney, a few days later, “marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair.” Or the Post’s description of the attack itself:

They came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors. [....]

A fourth boy who was there that day, David Seed, still had it on his mind when he stopped for a drink at a bar in O’Hare Airport thirty years later, and “noticed a familiar face”:

“Hey, you’re John Lauber,” Seed recalled saying at the start of a brief conversation. Seed, also among those who witnessed the Romney-led incident, had gone on to a career as a teacher and principal. Now he had something to get off his chest.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t do more to help in the situation,” he said.

Lauber paused, then responded, “It was horrible.” He went on to explain how frightened he was during the incident, and acknowledged to Seed, “It’s something I have thought about a lot since then.”

The one person who says he has not thought about it a lot is Mitt Romney."

To recapitulate what I wrote here before this incident came to light:

Mitt Romney's Snark. — Mitt Romney is an odious individual. After telling so many lies, a politician literally crosses a threshold into visible snark. Visible in their facial features. For Nixon it was the shifty eyes and upper lip sweat. For George W. Bush it was the Beavis 'n Butthead smirk. Mitt Romney's snark is that upper lip curl, denoting the arrogant and cruel entitlement of someone accustomed to using, and abusing, people below his station in life. He really doesn't care about the 99% of us, as we are merely an encumbrance to his personal ambition. The despicable Romney snark is clearly visible here:

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY.