Open Thread: The Romneys’ Nightmarish Family Vacation
Posted: July 1, 2012 Filed under: 2012 presidential campaign, Surreality, U.S. Politics | Tags: Ann Romney, Mitt Romney, rich people are different, Tagg Romney, vacations from hell 58 Comments
The Romney family–all 30 of them including the 5 sons, their wives and 18 grandchildren–are on vacation this week at the Romneys’ $8 million estate on Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, and the Washington Post published a fascinating article about the family’s vacation traditions.
Romney’s 13-acre estate features a six-bedroom house, a horse stable with guest apartments above it, a $630,000 boat house, tennis and volleyball courts and a shoreline stretching 768 feet, more than double the length of a football field, according to public property records.
Attendance at the annual event is “mandatory.” Everyone has to show up, no excuses allowed.
One summer when Romney’s eldest son, Tagg, now 42, was working for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he told his father he wouldn’t make it to Wolfeboro. Baseball, after all, is a summer sport, and he didn’t think he could take a week off in the middle of the season.
“My dad said, ‘No, you will make it,’ ” Tagg recalled in an interview. So he showed up, noting, “I had to beg forgiveness from my bosses at the Dodgers.”
Also required is participation in the annual “Romney Family Olympics.”
The Romney Olympics have long included a mini-triathlon of biking, swimming and running that pits Mitt and his five sons and their wives against one another. But after Mitt once nearly finished last, behind a daughter-in-law who had given birth to her second child a couple of months earlier, the ultra-competitive and self-described unathletic patriarch expanded the games to give himself a better shot.
Now they also compete to see who can hang onto a pole the longest, who can throw a football the farthest and who can hammer the most nails into a board in two minutes…
The days are filled with highly-structured games and competitions. There is a water skiing, a “home-run derby,” and games of tennis and basketball. During the week, the grandchildren have to stage a “talent show” on an outdoor stage that Mitt built. Mitt also created a “chore wheel” to divide up the household chores. At the end of the week everyone poses for a group photo to be used for the family Christmas card. The grandchildren dress in matching outfits according to gender, as in the photo above from last year.
And the nights? The adults have a rollicking good time holding meetings, each of which is “focused on a frank and full discussion of a different son’s career moves and parenting worries.”
Can you believe that? Do you suppose attendance at this “vacation” is a condition of the trust funds Romney set up for his sons? Can you imagine the anxiety any normal person would have as the weeks and days ticked down until vacation week? I’d be a nervous wreck!
Once when I was a kid, my entire extended family spent a week in the governor’s mansion on the Indiana Dunes (my great-uncle was Lt. Governor of the state at the time). One day some of the adults tried to get my cousin and me to compete to see who could do the most chores in the shortest amount of time. When I realized what was happening, I opted out. It was pretty traumatic being manipulated and controlled like that–I was so angry and humiliated!
Imagine a whole week of that kind of bullsh$t, and you’ve got the Romney’s summer vacation. Is it just me, or is there is something seriously wrong with this family?
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
ecocatwoman
mablue2
peggysue22
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skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
No “pranks” were mentioned in the article, but I’ll bet that’s another hellish part of vacationing with “Papa Mitt.”
This is one f’d up family!
“most of us” says something
Being truly unsocial, a gathering of that many people on a vacation would give me a nervous breakdown. In addition, I really can’t stand competitiveness. I don’t see anything fun about it. Bet those career & parenting counseling sessions are a laugh riot, ’cause Mitt “lives for laughs.”
I don’t know if there is enough money in the world to get me to go along with something like that.
What you’d get is about what you’d need to spend for a therapist to work on your daddy issues.
I certainly wouldn’t consider this a vacation. Sounds more like what went on in Lion in the Winter. Which one of the Romney boys is Richard the Lionhearted … problem is though, Ann is a shadow of Eleanor of Aquitane and no Kate Hepburn. But it sounds more like torture than a vacation to me … no amount of money would drag me there.
The kids have to put on a talent show like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.
The Lion in Winter is my favorite Christmas movie.I think it really captures the holiday spirit. 😉
Being on vacation with the Romneys sounds like Hell to me. Here’s a nice example of potential corruption on a large scale in Nevada.
NHP Troopers Sue Department Over K-9 Program
omigosh, I am old …
Matt Taibbi looks back at Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail” 40 years later: http://slate.me/LlghXK
okay … THIS is bizarre …
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2012/06/sarah_palin_ride_a_cockhorse_predicted_her_rise_to_power_in_1991_.html
Snowflake snookie character in a novel written in 1991.
Oooo, domineering patriarch of a wealthy, politically powerful family that practices a minority religion gathers his clan for mandatory “vacations” at an isolated compound where children are strong-armed into playing fiercely competitive “games” with one another. Somehow, it all seems vaguely reminiscent of these guys:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2011/07/06/Style/Images/82759239.jpg?uuid=r_BZrqgJEeC8PsYuKDjalg
He’s practicing for when he is in the Mormon heaven on his very own planet — for that week he is ruler of his world.
Yes it does seem reminiscent of the Kennedys. That was my first reaction to the article. I doubt if Joe Kennedy structured everyone’s time the way Mitt supposedly does though. I think he was pretty busy drinking and womanizing.
I don’t recall the Kennedys having “olympics” competitions–just touch football. If they had “family meetings” every night in which each adult child submitted to some sort of “group therapy” session, I haven’t heard about it. But I admit, I’ve never been that interested in reading about the Kennedy family gatherings. Perhaps you have and could share your knowledge.
Actually, now that I think of it Romney reminds me more of my late uncle than Joe Kennedy. My uncle didn’t drink or screw around, either. He *did* give all his kids weird nicknames, though: “Yogurt”, “Snippy”, “Boo-boo”, and “Mic-mouse”. It seems to me that one over-organized family reunion per year probably pales beside being referred to as “Snippy” for a couple of decades. 😉
I guess you haven’t heard about “Tagg.” Mitt wasn’t exactly a wonderful choice either.
Apparently, RFK was extremely shy as a child and had to be coerced into participating – lest he not live up to the Kennedy standards of “manliness”.
I think “Tagg” or “Mitt” beat all hell out of “Mic-mouse”, but I’m not sure how my cousin Mike feels about that 😉
Best tweet I saw today:
Is that a mandatory tranvaginal probe in your pocket or are you just trying to convince me you believe in smaller government?
from @DailyEdge
Love it!
Criticizing a family tradition like this is simply sick. I have a friend whose family bought an island so they wouldn’t disrupt anyone else’s holiday. Their family is spread out all over the country – the world, actually. They get together every summer and have a blast. I’ve been jealous for that kind of family vacation ever since I knew there were families (ala the Kennedy’s) that could celebrate being a family. That’s why so mant people have annual family reunions. Why are you so down on this kind of celebration?
Where did you get the idea that I am down on family reunions? In my post, I described the family reunions I enjoyed as a child. I think I was lucky to experience that. I’ve explained what my post was actually about in a response to another critic.
It never ceases to amaze me how people can read something very straightforward and twist the meaning completely. Or perhaps you didn’t even read the post, who knows?
Where are all these republican trolls coming from? Storm Front?
Some of them look familiar, but I’m not sure. But if they are former Hillary supporters, I’d love it if they would explain how supporting Hillary could translate into supporting Mitt Romney. That’s a real head scratcher.
Emotionally manipulative people don’t recognize the damage they do … any one who can’t recognize this as bullying behavior and emotionally manipulative behavior likely does it to others and mistakenly thinks its love instead of a pathology. Once some of the crap holes started the Palin worship I figured it was something unrelated to who Hillary Clinton is and what kinds of things she supports. I’m just glad the troll invasions tend to be short-lived. I can’t even imagine why Republican right wing tea baggers are even reading this blog let alone commenting. It makes no sense to me. I left you-know-where to avoid this kind of lunatic fringe anger.
DAK nail it – Mitt is emotional manipulative — like many bullies.
As a kid I was a “tom boy” — or just an independent. Having all the kids dress in gender “appropriate” clothes is offensive to me. But that is typical of fundamentalists religions.
This family outing tells us a lot about how Mittens would rule — he would do his best to stuff everyone back into the stereotypes HE feels comfortable with. To hell with the wishes of the independent little girls who just want to climb trees (or play with their dolls).
Mittens is not encouraging individuality but rather conforming to his alternative reality.
This is group dynamics at its worst.
(NWR MA Group Dynamics)
He/she probably got it from the conclusion of the paragraph you wrote:
Said paragraph does not contain a single word describing how you enjoyed this vacation, and concludes by expressing your feelings of trauma, anger, and humiliation. Perhaps in some other post you waxed nostalgic about the halcyon reunions of yore, but not in this one.
In my extended family, the worst part of reunions is when the Baptists and Methodists try to gather everyone into a circle to “say grace”, over the muttered objections of the atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, and Jews in attendance. I always sit that part out.
I’m guessing that’s not an issue for the Romneys. 😉
Personally, I think the whole article is yet another cheap shot in the whole “Mormons are weird” barrage from the MSM. I’m kind of tired of the religious bigotry and it’s only July. I’m rather dreading what it will be like in late October.
I think Mitt’s policy proposals are deranged – I’d probably feel that way about Obama’s if he had any and would actually tell us what they are. I think their families are none of my damned business.
I would say their families may be none of my business but how a candidate treats them is.
You’re right. I wrote about the family reunions I loved in a comment–I think it was a reply to PatJ. The example in the post was one instance in which something similar to the emotional blackmail that the Romneys use with their children happened to me. I was angry with good reason. I went to many family reunions as a child, and they were mostly a blast–even the one I talked about in the post.
Anyway, I just can’t get all frantic about people who are so protective of Romney. He’s running for president. People who like him should vote for him. People like me who know from experience what a horrible governor he was have just as much right to mock him.
As for “religious bigotry,” telling the truth about a person or religion is not bigotry. I’m not prejudiced against individual Mormons and I don’t generalize about them. Romney has a specific history as a Mormon church leader. As a bishop and president of the Boston area church, he behaved abusively toward women and otherwise acted in ways that I find reprehensible.
In my book, Mormonism is a cult, just like Scientology is a cult. Cults attract member through manipulation and lies and when a member tries to leave cults threaten them and try to prevent them from leaving. The Mormon church does that. I also consider most Christian churches to be abusive, but most don’t use as coercive techniques as the Mormon church or Scientology.
There is no question that Romney’s religion and is relevant, because he has a very powerful role in his church hierarchy and is one of their most prominent members. He gives millions to the church, and he has also donated heavily to anti-gay causes such as Prop 8 in California and to “reparative therapy” programs. State those facts is truth-telling, not bigotry.
I read everything I can about Romney, and mostly what I see in the corporate media is arguments that Romney’s religion isn’t important. I disagree.
The son on the left looks like he married a clone of his mother. Those matching outfits for the children remind me of the Duggars. It’s all so weird.
Five sons and not one of them is divorced or a drug addict or anything. That’s not normal.
Think of those poor children. They will be traumatized forever.
“Every summer we had to go to our grandparents place on a lake in New Hampshire with our family for a whole week. They made us play and have fun. It was horrible!”
Where is that quote coming from? Not from my post. I described family reunions that I enjoyed very much as a child.
I have no problems with the Romneys organizing their family vacations however they want. My observations were about the obsessive-compulsive structuring of group activities by the the parents of middle-aged children. In my opinion, that would not be “fun,” because I enjoy some spontaneity and independence in my life.
You obviously disagree, and that’s fine, but my post was in no way critical of people who don’t get divorced or become drug addicts. How on earth did you get that from my post?
Yup. This is the stuff that keeps therapists in the 1 percent. Daddy issues seem to run rampant in political families. I was forced on vacations as I got older. You must not have that experience. I missed a lot of activities with friends. It didn’t turn me into a drug addict but it certainly made me resentful and unhappy and aware that it was a manifestation of my mother’s emotional problems. It also made me get married at a young age to escape it.
Example — a roving evangelical revival charismatic preacher. As a kid I heard him at least one a year at massive gatherings. He bragged about what a great and wonderful father he was. He had family gatherings — rather like Mittens. Looking back with my experience I know now that he was using group dynamics tricks — very much like hypnotism. People would get up and “witness” or “confess”.
Long after I walked away from that religion I read the headlines — famous preacher’s son tried to kill his father. Could it be. Yes — same TV revival preacher. The tricks only work for a short time — the illusions created are as false as the words.
This last time I heard this preacher — I absolutely knew that he was manipulating the audience. Now looking back on this master manipulator and the way he was playing people — like they were puppets — this is probably why I got my MA in group dynamics and went on to study personality structure.
Mittens will have lots of trolls — more than likely LDS types — just like 0bama did four years ago.
On the surface this family does look perfect — but we have no idea what is really going on. These people put on a mask. Just like that famous evangelical preacher I watched in action decades ago. His family looked perfect — he was the perfect (controlling) father.
Sounds like a great family vacation to me. But then the people in my family actually like each other. We look forward to holidays spent together. I didn’t realize that we were so odd.
The people in my family like each other too. What’s odd about that? I don’t know if the Romneys like each other or not.
What seems odd to me is that adult children are “required” to attend no matter what other commitments they have and that evenings are spent in meetings in which each adult child has to reveal information to all about career and parenting issues.
Personally, I do not like having my time structured for me by my parents. But if you enjoy that then that’s fine. It takes all kinds to make up the world.
The point isn’t the together time. It’s the sadistic forced activities and the coercion. I’m surprised you missed the point. Bless your heart.
I think “missing the point” was the main point. But I guess I could be wrong.
What’s sadistic about a family getting out and doing some physical activities together? A little water skiing, some foot races? What does your family do when you get together at a lakefront house? Mine likes to canoe and paddleboat. We set up a badminton net or get out gram’s old croquet set. And yes, our parents used to strongly encourage us to participate. I’m the family matriarch now, and the video games are locked up in a closet the day the kids arrive. Sure they grumble for a couple of hours, but last year my nephew left for home and forgot his Gameboy. I’m not a Republican troll. I just think that you’re the one with the family issues, not the Romneys. The anti-Mormon comments coming from people who frequent this blog say that there might be a hidden agenda. I certainly didn’t miss that.
Any women who knows anything about Mormons and isn’t the least bit taken aback by a stake president and bishop holding office is missing something. This group worked hard to defeat the ERA and prop 8. How is Warren Jeffes different from the Taliban. Doesn’t forced child marriage bother you? ADULT women have to call 18 year old boys “elder” and mind them. Even their sons. No woman gets to heaven without a husband to take her there and then heaven is his planet and he gets as many new virgin wives as he wants. Is your Obama derangement so bad you will participate in the enslavement of all women including yourself? What cult captured your brain? You are a republican troll. Smell the glove.
Sadistic is forcing people to do things against their will. We had plenty of family get togethers on our mountain in Estes Park and our peninsula on the Lake of the Ozarks. There was no enforced dress code or activities. Certainly my uncle would never suggest any one should jeopardize the jobs just because he wanted to hold court. We swam and took the small boats anywhere and had sleepovers on the yacht. He was happy to have some one other than lawyers around and just happy we were there. He showed us that by letting us do things that made us happy. Nothing was coerced, controlled or manipulated. If you think emotional manipulation is a form of good clean family fun then I would kindly suggest therapy.
Elliesmom,
Of course you’re a Republican troll. It is to laugh! Trolls behave exactly as you do–deliberately obtuse, refusing to accept logical answers to your deliberately passive-aggressive questions. We can also see how you got to our blog. If you don’t like what you read here, you can leave and go back to your habitual hangout.
Note to trolls — I am half Mormon. My grandparents were from “pioneer” parents. My grand dad knew all the Mormon secrets and as soon as he could leave Utah he did. A whole lot of ex Mormons are telling their stories and the secrets of the LDS.
The Mormon church is a cult — I grew up in another Fundamentalist cult.
The fact that this discussion has been invaded by troll cult members is no surprise.
Thank you for your participation and showing us what Mittbots are.
Isn’t that what Michelle Obama’s encouraging with her multimillion dollar + extensive travel promoting the Let’s Move campaign ?
What? She is asking people to jeopardize their jobs to go on vacation with her on her terms? That certainly is news to me.
Yup…
Well they have pretty deep pockets with which to pay these sock puppets. At least they are wasting their time and Karl Rove and the Koch brothers’ money here where they will have no impact.
Dak, you’re reply function is not working 😦
you said:
What? She (MrsObama) is asking people to jeopardize their jobs to go on vacation with her on her terms? That certainly is news to me.
Me responds:
I was referring to your comment about ” forced participation and coercion” in fun family sporty activities. As far as the Rom-Son complaining about taking leave of his job during busy season, the MLB has what’s known as an All Star Break during July 4th week, give or take a week? Out of 5 boys, one whiny-ass is forgivable, don’cha think ?
This is not about loving or hating the Romney family, but really, you want to go there ?
Both of your comments are incomprehensible. Perhaps you’d like to try again–this time in English?
Hmmmm… I think we let stuff nest 4 deep. We also moderate every first comment. Wp has been buggy for a few days. No idea why.
My mother was an emotionally manipulative person who used to threaten to not leave me one red cent if I didn’t conform to her idea of perfect family (fill in the blank). I recognize that kind of manipulation when I see it. My sister used to just go along to get along. My dad did too. I knew that was their sole motivation. Mom learned I didn’t care about the shaming or the money. I don’t know how each member of the Romney family feels or their motivation for capitulation. I was relieved when my mother passed. Not one tear. He who lives as a bully and dies is not missed. What is that saying about if you love them set them free and see if they come back? I have no idea what the motivation is on all this defense of a man who has spent his life grinding women and little people under his heel because he can. I don’t want to play equivocation games either. This man has basically taken every position that’s anathema to Hillary Clinton who you supposedly supported. Most of the folks here are voting third party. I am not about to embrace evil simply because of what happened over 4 years ago. If you have to force people into family events then I would say that is not much of a family. Making things and activities available and providing choice are my family values. Plates of butter shoved in people’s faces and forced participation is the act of a bully … my guess is they all get that one red cent lecture too and that it works.
I’d like to thank the home base of all our visitors for the page views. It’s a slow week, and your contribution to our statistics is much appreciated!
Wow, the irony of all this is the use of the word “Hate” to describe the discussions on this post. What a laugh…there is so much hate being tossed around over at the source of all this recent trolling behavior.
It seems to me, that some folks practice self-induced oblivious hypocrisy. The kind that comes with pronouncing judgment on someone, while making the kind of hateful remarks that they are supposedly calling out…
I do not think anyone here has made a statement without explaining why or how they came to the conclusion that there is something strange about the way these family vacations are played out.
The thing I find strange about all this is a man who forces his kids to “jeopardize” their jobs to go on a family vacation. Granted, if your dad is Mitt Romney, I guess it does not take much for him to smooth over any work related issues…I mean, to me that comes with the territory of being consumed by wealth…and completely disassociated with the way things work in the real world. It also says something about his controlling/bullying nature, including of course, the self-centered personality trait that goes along with all this.
Tagg had to go and “beg” his employers not to fire him? WTF, as I said, when Mitt is your daddy, begging to keep your job seems to be a bit of a stretch to me. What about those of us who have to actually work for a living? We could never get away with that kind of crap…demanding vacation time at the busiest time of our employers “season.” Who the hell do we think we are to be that bold? Mitt Romney’s son?
I also will just touch on those competitive sporting events, that seem to enforce that higher patriarchal status Mitt seems to obsessively need and control. So when he no longer “wins” at the games he has organized, he makes new ones….sounds like a manipulative ass to me.
There seems to be blinders up, that keeps some people from seeing in Mitt Romney what many of us here have spotted long ago. Well, that is their prerogative. That goes for the other extreme as well, never would I have thought in a million years that I’d be called an obot. You know most of us had Obama pegged from the beginning, and Obama faults are one thing we don’t shy away from discussing here either.
Anyway, I had to speak my mind…done.
Wow, the family values trolls were out in force for this one! (I’m just catching up).
Save me from vacations like the Romneys. {{shudder}} Too much groupthink.
Wow, you collected a nice troll crew.
Hmmm, I missed this posting yesterday – don’t know how, cause I usually read every single post, so my apologies to BB. It is sad that your former co-blogger at the former place is now trolling your house and sending his minions over to attack. These were the same people who tried to take over the former place IIRC.
It’s a good article, although the content raises the hairs on the back of my neck – I don’t think “manipulative” is a strong enough description.
Having family outings and vacations are actually great. There’s time for everyone to forget about work and be with their family. With the Romney’s however, it depends how the take the outings they have. If they see it as something bad or something good. But for me, the idea of spending time with my family is priceless.