Mitt Romney’s ‘Invisible’ America

[Lucy Goosey]

Speaking in welfare code words that is familiar to the Republican base — these 47 percent believe they are entitled, he said, to everything from “health care, to food, to housing, to you name it” — Romney let his wealthy donors know that he was committed to protecting their hard-earned dollars from government freeloaders. His words were void of compassion. It’s frightening to think that someone who once governed a state would reduce complex social issues to a mere matter of personal irresponsibility and shiftlessness.

But I’m not surprised that he made the statements, nor that they exploded through mass media, because what happens in the dark almost always comes to light. The onus is now on us to decide how we will interpret and respond to his statements.

By lumping millions of faceless, nameless Americans under one “entitlement” umbrella, Romney proved that race and class continue to render millions of hard-working people invisible in this country. And we would be fools to believe that his policies won’t be shaped by that sense of elitism.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/mitt-romneys-invisible-america/2012/09/20/2871a2d6-0338-11e2-9b24-ff730c7f6312_blog.html