A few years ago, Willard M. Romney met for about twenty minutes with Julie Goodridge and other plaintiffs in a Massachusetts marriage equality case. But see, he was endorsing a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, and to make things worse, it was clear that he wasn’t even all that familiar with their landmark case.

The group he met with did everything they could to explain to him how equal rights were a good thing, and how they and their families would be protected as a result, as in, you know, “family values.”

His reaction? “Romney sat stone-faced and almost entirely silent.” Then he cut the meeting short. Pretty abruptly. In that way he has.

Via Boston.com.  Go read. Go read. Go read.

“It was like talking to a robot. No expression, no feeling,” recalls David Wilson, one of the plaintiffs in the case who met with Romney that day. “People were sharing touching stories, stories where you’d expect recognition in the other person’s face that they at least hear what you’re saying — that there’s empathy. He didn’t even shake his head. He was completely blank.”

Occasionally Romney would say something.

“I didn’t know you had families,” remarked Romney to the group, according to Wilson.

Then Willard gave an “inaccurate, insensitive answer” to a question, that stunned Julie Goodridge:

“I looked him in the eye as we were leaving,” recalls Goodridge. “And I said, ‘Governor Romney, tell me — what would you suggest I say to my 8 year-old daughter about why her mommy and her ma can’t get married because you, the governor of her state, are going to block our marriage?’”

His response, according to Goodridge: “I don’t really care what you tell your adopted daughter. Why don’t you just tell her the same thing you’ve been telling her the last eight years.” [...]

“He completely lacks empathy,” says Goodridge, speaking this time about her own experience meeting the governor. 

Psst! Willard! Her daughter was not adopted. You completely missed the “biological daughter” part of the conversation.

In 2003 the Log Cabin Republicans (an LGBT Republican group) held an event, and Willard was there. Here’s what he did in response to a “good to see you here” greeting by one of the attendees:

Gorton can’t recall the governor’s exact response, but he recalls Romney making a limp-wrist motion and replying with an affected stereotypical lisp. This was, assumed Gorton, an attempt to be funny and charming.

Please go read. Go read. Go read. There’s a lot more where this came from.

I’ll stop right here, because if I provide commentary, it won’t be pretty, so I’ll just keep my inappropriate words to myself.