Mitt Romney as a young man, fighting the war in his own special way ... in France (Andre Salrnier)

Mitt Romney as a young man, fighting the war in his own special way ... in France (Andre Salrnier)

Well, here's a funny story from Buzzfeed about Mitt Romney: Back when he was a young, impressionable college student at Stanford, he was a Vietnam war protester.

Oh, he didn't protest against the war; he protested against the anti-war protesters:

Carey Coulter, a conservative and anti-Communist student who had spent time as a civilian in Vietnam, was outraged and organized a counter-protest. [...] As the roughly 150 counter-protesters held signs and chatted with passing students, a tall, neatly-dressed 19-year old Coulter had never seen before approached him. "He walked up to me and said that he had some experience with the press, and that he would handle the press for me if I wanted him to," Coulter recalled. "I said fine, because I was busy running the demonstration."

Naturally, Mitt Romney supported the Vietnam war. Alas:

Romney did not, however, serve in Vietnam. As a Mormon missionary, he was considere[d] "'a minister of religion'' by the church and was exempt from the draft.

Convenient for Mitt, wasn't it? He voiced his "ardent support" of other kids going off to die in Vietnam, but, darn the luck, his religion required him to go live in a palace in France:

But the Republican presidential hopeful spent a significant portion of his 30-month mission in a Paris mansion described by fellow American missionaries to The Daily Telegraph as “palace”. It featured stained glass windows, chandeliers, and an extensive art collection. It was staffed by two servants – a Spanish chef and a houseboy.

No doubt Romney wanted to go fight in the war he supported so much that he graciously offered his expert media services to the anti-anti-war protesters, but, tragically, he had to oversee his servants in his Parisian palace. And then he had so much studying to do:

Before and after his missionary deferment, Romney also received nearly three years of deferments for his academic studies.

Aw, shucks. Don't you just hate it when your studies get in the way of fighting in a war? Poor Dick Cheney had that same problem.

This little tale does prove one thing, though. Turns out Mitt Romney does have a core conviction after all, and it's one he's somehow managed to hold without flip-flopping for more than 40 years: He's always willing to screw over the 99 percent so he can enjoy his life of luxury.