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GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has long contended that he'sa good-humored practical jokester who is only misunderstood asstiff and over-programmed. As a high school student, Romney's mischievous disposition wasfrequently on display. Classmates told the Washington Post in a piece published last month that this sometimes led him into unpleasant territory, such as thetime he and a group of friends pinned down a screaming boy -- whowas presumed to be gay -- and gave him a "hack job" haircut with apair of scissors. In another questionable display of his inner prankster, it nowappears that Romney was also reportedly fascinated with policeuniforms, which he sometimes put on to carry out elaboratepractical jokes. According to a report from National Memo , Romney was open about this practice, telling fellow students atStanford University, where he studied for two years, that he"sometimes disguised himself as a police officer." According to classmate Robin Madden, Romney once brought a group ofclassmates up to his dorm room where he showed them his MichiganState Trooper s uniform. From the National Memo report : Said Madden in a recent interview, He told us that he had gottenthe uniform from his father, George Romney, then the Governor ofMichigan, whose security detail was staffed by uniformed troopers. He told us that he was using it to pull over drivers on the road.He also had a red flashing light that he would attach to the top ofhis white Rambler. In Madden s recollection, confirmed by his wife Susan, who alsoattended Stanford during those years, we thought it was allpretty weird. We all thought, Wow, that s pretty creepy. Andafter that, we didn t have much interaction with him, althoughboth Madden and Romney were prep school boys living in the samedorm, called Rinconada. Madden's account of a young Romney who excitedly spoke of his habitof impersonating a police officer, which is illegal in many states,has been corroborated in the past by other acquaintances from theGOP presidential candidate's youth. A magistrate at Cranbrook, Romney's boarding school, recounted a famous prank in which Romney dressed up in full uniform and a badge, and placeda police light on top of his vehicle in order to pull over a carfull of friends on a double date. The story has also been told in the book The Real Romney as well as by fellow students of the future Massachusettsgovernor. Graham McDonald, a friend of Romney's at the time who'd helped himplan the joke, explained the high jinks in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer : As planned, Romney pulled their car over, demanded the vehicleregistration, and asked for the keys to the trunk - where he"found" the bottle of bourbon McDonald had taken from his dad andplanted as part of the ruse. "He told me and my friend to get out with him, and that he wastaking us in," McDonald remembered. The idea was to spook thegirls. One of the young women involved told the Washington Post that she was "terrified" at the time, but that they'd all sharedin the laugh after they realized what was really happening. While the treatment of such behavior has no doubt become moresevere in the period between Romney's antics and the present,National Memo points out that impersonating a police officer is acrime -- and a fairly serious one at that -- in the states ofCalifornia, where Stanford is located, and Michigan, whereCranbrook is located. While some may be concerned about the legalimplications of the decades-old acts, the episodes appear moreindicative of a Romney who, from a young age, displayed a comfortwith power and privilege that his peers have suggested he used toact out in his quest for social acceptance. Also on HuffPost:. I am an expert from obdspace.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Eprom Programer , China Professional Automotive Diagnostic Tools, Odometer Correction Kit,and more.
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