Romney's 47% gaffe not new in Far Right circles

Gonna be a big autumn. Occupy Wall Street just held a 1-year anniversary march that rivaled or exceeded its first march, and a Mitt Romney blunder is actually getting media attention, for a change.

Romney gaffed his way into the spotlight when a video surfaced of him at an earlier fundraiser where he bellyached about the poorest 47% of Americans not having to pay taxes. Romney said that because this 47% didn't pay taxes, that meant they were just lazy loafers who were guilty of trying to bilk the system. He said that this, in turn, meant they must be Obama supporters.

Think of how stupid that "logic" is.

But this talking point wasn't brand new when Romney squeezed it out of his cavernous piehole. It was in widespread circulation on right-wing websites a year ago. And it was completely discredited. Fact is, Americans who are too poor to pay income taxes actually pay more than the rich in other taxes. More importantly, this meme was just another example of the brand of classist bullying that has defined the Tea Party and other Far Right crusades of recent years.

Who composes this 47% that's been held up to mockery by the right-wing politburo? Most of this 47% is made up of the working poor, the disabled, the elderly, the homeless, and students.

What's significant here is that Romney has decided he doesn't need the support of 47% of Americans.

And from the looks of it, he's not gonna get it. There have been more than a few instances where Romney has slipped up and folks have been ready to declare the election over. This one is different in that it's actually getting substantial coverage. But he was losing pretty handily anyway. All this spectacle does is dig him in deeper.

What does the 47% meme say about the right wing overall? They spread this garbage, and they enjoy it. So why support them?

With Romney fading and Occupy booming, we can sleep much better.