Lawrence O’Donnell broke a huge story about Mitt Romney on MSNBC Thursday.

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It goes without saying that if the revelation had been that of a young Barack Obama who liked to dress up in a state trooper’s uniform and slap a flashing light on his vehicle so he could pull over unsuspecting motorists we would not be hearing the end of it. There would undoubtedly be references to the numerous rapes committed by men impersonating police officers. Women are often given tips on how to avoid being assaulted by men pretending to be police officers. Oh yes, if it were Barack Obama that connection would be made abundantly clear by all the talking heads who would be talking about it incessantly to the exclusion of anything else. The right wing noise machine would be going nuts speculating about possible crimes committed by the scary black state trooper impersonator. You know they would.

But it was Mitt Romney who liked to dress as a state trooper and pull people over when he was in high school and college. Apparently his father, the Governor of Michigan George Romney, got him the uniform. Is this typical behavior in rich families? I don’t know, but it sure is skeevy and also a felony to impersonate an officer of the law. Did Mitt’s dad get him the flashing light too? Did he have handcuffs, a baton, and maybe a firearm as part of his “costume”? And why did Mitt Romney think his college mates would be impressed by his antics? We’ll never know because this will be treated like the accounts of Mitt bullying a classmate perceived to be gay in high school and strapping a helpless dog to the roof when he was in his 30s. Youthful hijinks! Plus Obama did something (not remotely comparable) when he was young! BOTH SIDES!

Presidential candidate engaged in bullying, animal cruelty, and other creepy behavior commonly associated with rapists and serial killers? IOKIYAR!