“But when it comes down to it, this all happened too long ago and too early in Romney’s life to know with real certainty whether it’s revealing of any of those things or not — particularly when it comes to who Romney is right now. I can’t get around the simple fact that I wouldn’t want to be judged today by some of the things I did in my teens, and I suspect many others feel the same way.”

—Washington Post blogger-from-the-Left Greg Sargent, concluding his post entitled, “What Does Mitt Romney’s Bullying Tell Us?”

My god, man! I think you’ve discovered The Golden Rule!

Who the heck is THAT guy?

Sargent, being a designated left-wing mouthpiece for a newspaper that often fulfills that role itself, naturally toes the company line in most of his post before having this lucid ethical moment. He spends part of the article speculating on what the Post’s “bombshell story” about what Mitt did or maybe did in prep school might suggest about Romney—all the better to throw out indictments “from some” like cruelty, “a real mean streak,” “a disdain for the weak,” just to plant a seed in the minds of voters that might bloom Greg’s way by November. But he edges into Ethics Hero territory for making the necessary “Never mind!” point in fairness and common sense.

He missed being an Ethics Hero with this rationalization, however:

“It’s hard to see why this story isn’t fair game in journalistic terms. The conservative complaint this morning that it’s an unfair hit piece seems absurd: the man is running for president. Every aspect of his life is going to get picked over. It comes with the territory. It’s a deeply reported piece. In journalistic terms, the story is totally legit.”

“Totally legit?” The piece is based on allegations based on half-century-old memories, without access to the other participant—who is dead— besides Romney. One of the Post’s sources quoted in the article has already been shown not to have even known about the incident until the Post told him about it. Most of all, does Sargent really believe it was “totally legit” to give a tale about Mitt Romney’s formative years the kind of front page prominence that would normally be reserved for breaking news that the Romney was a double agent for Hamas? The Post didn’t headline the realization that Barack Obama had once eaten a dog in this manner, and I think that joke-inducing block-buster was only slightly less probative of present- day character than Mitt’s prep school missteps.

I also suspect that the progressive/Democrat/media coalition wants to hold onto the Teen Romney bullying incident for the same reason the Right loves the Obama dog-treat story: it reinforces their cherished prejudices. After all, aren’t all rich guys bullies at heart, preying on the weak?  Jay Leno channeled the Post’s intended narrative in his monologue last night, joking that Romney had denied that he beat up the long-haired classmate because he was gay, explaining that he had harassed him only because he was poor.

Mission accomplished, Post.

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Pointer: Best of the Web Today

Source: Washington Post

Graphic: Slate