I am even feeling charitable toward Mitt Romney, although the incident described in the Washington Post creeps me out in a major way. I once was 17; I was bullied at times and, worse, allowed others to be bullied at times, too. It’s certainly not a period that I’m nostalgic for. And now, I’ve had three sons who managed to get past that hyper-hormonal age, too–and each of them is profoundly different from whom he was back in the testosterone-addled day. I would not judge them, or me, on the cringe-worthy behavior of that dreadful, smelly, awkward moment in a young man’s life. So I won’t judge Romney, either. What he did was awful. I’m sure he’s terribly embarrassed by it. And if the revival of those memories helps to make him a better, more tolerant candidate–as I suspect it will–we’re all the better for it.