Jason Sudeikis as Romney: "... so you have this 47% that don't pay taxes, and these people are never going to vote for me. And when I talk about these people who don't pay taxes, I don't mean senior citizens. Alright? And I don't mean members of our armed services. And I don't mean southern whites. Okay, what I mean is ... and real quick -- no one is recording this, correct? No? Okay, it's very important that no one records this. Okay, good, 'cause I'm about to say who "these people" [finger quotes] are. Now I would prefer not to have that on tape.
[Turns to camera] Ah, sorry sir, is that a camera on the table pointing right at me?
[Short camera pans right and left, as if gesturing "no"] Okay, great.
[Turning back to guests] Alright, now when I say "these people", I mean black people."
snl got it right: this is
"the whitey tape". glad somebody finally aired it.
since the surfacing of romney's "47%" comments, a narrative has settled in that romney has carelessly damaged himself with huge swathes of his own voters. while there is definely anecdotal evidence of some defections (see rwn's great diary "Conversation with two retiree GOP'ers ..."), and while i can certainly see this hurting him badly among any remaining undecideds, anyone who's been following conservatives, especially hardcore conservatives, knows that this tape only validates what wingnuts rich, middle and poor already believe (see my 2009 diary "not just obama"). to them, romney's statements come simply as an extension of his already established coded attacks on welfare.
The American Spectator: "When I hear Romney's words at this event, my reaction is "Say more of this stuff in public, Mitt." It's a strong and correct message (other than the use of a number as high as 47 percent) and it will resonate with many Americans, including quite a few who don't pay income tax."
"I entirely agree, and this should be the campaign focus. If the truth doesn't get him elected, then the country is gone at this point in history anyway." (pieceofthepuzzle)
as i commented
a couple days back:
to be more precise romney's saying that the OTHER half of the country are freeloaders (colored people).
HIS half of the country, his white base, regardless of class or income level, will always exempt themselves from that description. they rightfully deserve their govt largess (tax cuts, loans, subsidies), which don't count as loathsome handouts (welfare, food stamps, unemployment).
cnn's john king carried the conventional narrative by poignantly making the case for the 47% via his own experience:
"... so, a lot of these voters could be republicans. And ah, I understand your back-and-forth, but Alice, I, I make a personal note here: a lot of americans, of all income stripes, have struggled for the last few years and the risk for Gov. Romney is that it is insulting to them. As a kid, my family was on food stamps for a couple of years when my dad got sick. Ah, we didn't feel entitled, and we weren't victms, and my father was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing. Ah, but in the end my mother was grateful she was able to feed her kids."
meanwhile, hardcore conservatives not only exempt themselves from admissions or accusations of government assistance, they disqualify their government assistance as a form of government assistance!
craig t. nelson on glenn beck's show:
"I've been on food stamps. Anybody help me out? No."