Romney's Latest Comment

For god's sake, just when I think the far right can't get any more racist, Mitt Romney Spits out a comment like this: "In fact, I can relate to black people very well indeed. My ancestors once owned slaves, ..." I mean, it takes a SPECIAL level of stupidity or racism to spit out a comment like this and then think you've done well. In my experience, a lot of what we typically see as racism is actually just classism, I've had personal experiences in that respect where you end up with people being perfectly friendly despite race when they realize the person of the race they thought they hated, were scared of, etc.etc. is actually intelligent, middle or higher class, and isn't a crook. Then there's stuff like this absolute gem.

I'm serious, where the hell can someone get off thinking that saying something like this is a good idea? Is Romney just THAT oblivious? Is he stupid? Does he not think that dredging up wounds that -still- tear into our nation is a good idea? I mean for god's sake, sure, my family once owned slaves, I'm from an old plantation family in southern Louisiana,  but I don't choose that as my basis for being able to relate to African Americans! Note that he doesn't claim to have any African American friends, he doesn't claim to speak for them, he doesn't even claim to be sympathetic or even empathetic towards the general treatment and conditions that most of the Black Community in our nation live in today, no, he somehow convinced himself that the best thing to say was that his family once owned slaves, and that somehow made him able to relate to African Americans.

Am I the only one who is floored that ANYONE would think that is an okay comment to make even off hand? Let alone at a political rally where he almost certainly has had someone going over his speech before hand? That no one caught that? I can't tell whether it's racist that they think "well we're over the whole slavery thing, they should be too right?" or just ignorant to the point of