In and of itself, the WaPo story about Romney’s attack on a long-haired possibly-gay kid in high school is pretty sickening, but it alone probably wouldn’t have much impact on how he’s perceived by voters in November. But it does show an early start to a pattern of behavior which should have some impact.

The punk rich kid who thought it was funny to charge a kid and forcibly cut his hair because he was “different” grew up to be a rich guy who concluded that it wouldn’t hurt his dog to travel a long distance on the roof of his car, a rich guy who “likes to fire people,” a guy who made his living finding “inefficiencies” in companies and destroying them in the name of “enhancing shareholder value,” and a guy who thinks Paul Ryan’s “granny-starving” budget is “marvelous.”

This is not a man who has much empathy for anyone not in his class. He would govern of and for the 1% of the country, and wouldn’t worry a lick about the 99% of us who aren’t included in that group. He’s essentially a “Richie Rich” or “Daddy Warbucks” without the publicly redeeming qualities those two characters have.

Alex Koppelman at The New Yorker sees the same thing I do.