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As Susie already noted here, Ed Schultz got the scoop and for the first time, interviewed Scott Prouty, the man who filmed Mitt Romney's now infamous "47 percent" video. And for anyone who did not catch it this Wednesday evening, I really recommend watching the entire hour he talked to Schultz.

I wanted to highlight a bit more of the beginning of the interview here: Revealed: The 'blue collar' bartender who secretly filmed Romney making infamous 47 percent remarks to wealthy donors:

The man who secretly filmed the infamous ’47 percent’ video of Mitt Romney has finally come forward and explained why he decided to wade into the presidential dogfight.

Scott Prouty publicly admitted that he was the bartender who released the footage of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaking at a private fundraiser and he said that the motivating reason behind the move was so that all Americans could see the ‘true’ Romney.

‘Frankly, the people that were there that night, they paid $50,000 per person for a dinner. I grew up in a blue collar area of Boston,’ Mr Prouty said in an interview with MSNBC’s Ed Schultz.

‘There's a lot of people who can’t afford to pay $50,000 for one night, for one dinner… I felt an obligation for all of the people who can't afford to be there.

‘I knew where he came from, he was born with all of the advantages- he was the son of a Governor, a CFO, went to prep school and Harvard- and I don’t think he has any clue what a regular American goes through on a daily basis. The day in, day out struggles of regular Americans --that guy has no idea and I don’t think he will ever have any idea,’ he said. [...]

His attention was piqued when Romney walked into the room and quickly began ordering staff members around. Even though his comments that the workers should speed up their service was likely in jest, that still rubbed Mr Prouty the wrong way.

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Last month, Fox News was trying to pretend they weren't even aware of the leaked tapes of Mitt Romney talking about his disdain for the 47 percent when they aired his late night press conference where he was desperately attempting some damage control. This Thursday evening on Fox, Romney was allowed by Sean Hannity to just rewrite his whole response. He didn't really mean what he said at all now.

Romney On 47 Percent: ‘I Said Something That’s Just Completely Wrong’:

Mitt Romney's secretly taped comment about "47 percent" of Americans never made an appearance in last night's presidential debate. But on Sean Hannity's show on Fox tonight, Mitt Romney was asked what his response would have been had the debate moderator Jim Lehrer, or President Obama, confronted the candidate about the tape.

Here's his answer, portions of which likely would have been prepared ahead of the debate:

"Well, clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of question and answer sessions, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right. In this case I said something that's just completely wrong. And I absolutely believe however that my life has shown that I care about the 100 percent and that has been demonstarted throughout my life. This whole campaign is about the 100 percent. When I become president it'll be about helping the 100 percent."

As they noted, that's not at all what he said during that press conference, when he simply said his words were "not elegantly stated" and "off the cuff." Romney's changed his position so many times and told so many lies, I'm wondering when or if he's going to finally start suffering some real political damage for it. Sadly, a lot of that is going to be up to the media and whether the outlets other than Fox, who is actively campaigning for him, are going to start calling him out.

In the mean time, since he didn't get a chance to try to sanitize his remarks during the debate, he ran to Sean's loving arms at Fox to have them "Hannitized" instead.

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I hate to break it to Paul Ryan, but Mitt Romney's comments to that audience where he didn't know he was being recorded and made his now infamous 47 percent remarks were not a "misstep" or merely "inarticulate." They were Mitt Romney saying what he actually believes. And the only reason you've got a problem with it now is because he got caught on tape doing it.

Here's the GOP vice presidential candidate on Fox News Sunday, calling it just that when asked about it by host Chris Wallace. And in regard to the poll numbers Wallace cites when he is prefacing his question to Ryan, I'd like to see what those numbers looked like if the question was something along the line of whether everyone should have their Social Security benefits taxed. I have a feeling they'd be getting some different percentages.

And speaking of polls, if Paul Ryan wants to call this a "misstep," well, it might be the "misstep" that ends up sinking his and Mitt Romney's campaign. Nate Silver has more on what those numbers are looking like since the release of that tape here -- Sept. 27: The Impact of the ‘47 Percent’.

WALLACE: Governor Romney has taken heat for the 47 percent video, where he told big -- big donors that 47 percent of the country -- it's actually 46% -- don't pay federal income taxes and view themselves as victims.

Fox News did a poll this week and they found that 79 percent think all Americans should pay at least some income taxes. Do you think it would be good if -- if every American paid federal income taxes, had -- even if it's a dollar, even if it's $2 -- had some skin in the game?

RYAN: We don't think that imposing new taxes on anybody is a good idea. Don't forget, Chris, the only person running for president who's proposing higher taxes is President Obama.

So our point is we don't want to...

WALLACE: Because he would end the Bush tax cuts for the -- for the wealthy.

RYAN: Yeah, tax rates -- he already passed all these ObamaCare taxes. About a dozen of them hit middle-income taxpayers, breaking that promise. He's proposing a massive tax increase on job creators in January.

But to go to your question, we don't think the idea or the solution is to impose new taxes on low-income people. We want to get people out of poverty, back to the middle class. And that's why our economic policies are designed to create jobs and opportunities so people can get higher take-home pay.

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Lawrence O'Donnell skewered Mitt Romney for his time writing love letters in the sand to Ann on the beach in France during the Vietnam war, and for being one of the few people out there to actually protest in favor of that war, while simultaneously getting draft deferments.

And he wrapped things up with Sen. Jim Webb who while introducing President Obama at a campaign event in Virginia, reminded Mitt Romney of just who that 47 percent he was talking about that fundraiser includes and what they're owed -- Webb to Romney: A ‘thanks’ would have been nice:

Introducing President Obama in Virginia Beach, retiring Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), condemned Mitt Romney for failing to mention veterans or the military in his GOP convention speech.

The omission was all the more damning, Webb suggested, because Romney is of an age where he might have served in Vietnam but did not.

“If nothing else, at least mention some word of thanks and respect when a presidential candidate who is their generational peer makes a speech,” said Webb, a former Navy secretary and decorated Marine who served in Vietnam. Romney was exempted from the draft, first as a student and then as a missionary.

“This was a time when every American male was eligible to be drafted. People made choices,” Webb said. “Those among us who stepped forward to face the harsh unknowns did so with the belief that their service would be honored.”

Webb also tied in Romney’s much criticized remark that 47 percent of Americans believe they are “victims” who feel entitled to federal handouts, saying some of those benefits go to veterans.

“Those young Marines that I led have grown older now. All gave some. Some gave all. That’s not a culture of dependency,” he said. ”They paid. Some with their lives, some with their wounds, disabilities. Some with emotional scars. Some with lost opportunities. Not only did they pay, they are owed. They are owed.”

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After opening up this segment with something I could have done without, which is carrying a bit of water for the Fox/Romney theme that President Obama is somehow not doing his job or spending enough time talking to world leaders because he didn't have any one on one meetings while the United Nations was in town and heaven forbid he spent a part of his day appearing on The View, therefore he should be losing this election, he manged to get some good jabs in on Mittens and the GOP clown show he ran against in the primaries.

After calling President Obama "the luckiest dude on the planet" because of the constant string of gaffs and flip flops from Mitt Romney on everything from saying Americans have adequate health care because of access to emergency rooms -- to his claiming he has an economic plan and then telling a group of wealthy fundraisers that electing him alone will satisfy that confidence fairy and magically revive the economy -- to his saying he shouldn't be elected president if he over paid his taxes-- to his double-talk on income redistribution -- Stewart reminded the viewers of just why President Obama is not losing this race given the terrible economy and turmoil across the Middle East and Africa.

Stewart wrapped things up by reminding viewers just how Romney managed to get the nomination to begin with, showing highlights from the Republican primary race. As Stewart noted, "That concludes our segment, Mitt Romney is the 2nd luckiest dude on the planet." I'd have a hard time disagreeing with that sentiment.

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After explaining that Mitt Romney's so-called "reboot" this week was thrown off by the leak of the tapes of him trashing half of the country as a bunch of lazy, mooching freeloaders at a wealthy donor's fundraiser earlier this year, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart explained that it set off a "firestorm everywhere, but nowhere more acutely than at Romney campaign headquarters," otherwise known as Fox "News."

As Stewart noted, it triggered something he likes to call "Chaos on Bulls#%t Mountain."

Which was followed by one of the better smack-downs of ClusterFox for their propaganda machine going into high gear trying to give cover to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign and for repeating his talking points about all those "welfare queens" that make up 47 percent of the country. As Stewart pointed out, the real welfare queens are the likes of ExxonMobil, AT&T, Wall Street, wealthy farmers, and their poster child, Mitt Romney.

Part two below the fold.

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It seems one of the Republicans who is trying to distance themselves from Mitt Romney's statements about the lazy, mooching 47 percent who don't pay income taxes at that fundraiser is having a little trouble -- Linda McMahon hits Romney for 47% talking point she used:

In her second run for the Senate, Linda McMahon seems to have realized that she needs to temper her teabaggy leanings and sound Republican-lite. So she was first out of the gate to distance herself from the unraveling Mitt Romney.

“I disagree with Governor Romney’s insinuation that 47% of Americans believe they are victims who must depend on the government for their care. I know that the vast majority of those who rely on government are not in that situation because they want to be. People today are struggling because the government has failed to keep America competitive, failed to support job creators, and failed to get our economy back on track,” McMahon said.

Yeah, except here's McMahon's problem. The very day she launched her 2012 Senate campaign, this happened:

When News 8 questioned McMahon regarding President Obama's push for higher taxes on wealthy, she said she would like everyone to pay their fair share.
"I'd like to see everyone pay their fair share," said McMahon. "Forty-seven percent of the people today don't pay any taxes, so let's have a fair tax code where everybody pays their taxes."

And it's on tape. Read on...

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We all knew this was coming. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart does his best to unpack Mitt Romney's ridiculous assertions about that lazy, mooching 47 percent that just wants to live off of the government dole. And in the process we get treated to a Mr. Smithers analogy and Stewart pointing out that apparently Mittens' own parents would not be supporters of his, since they were on welfare.

And last but not least Stewart compared Romney's disastrous press conference the previous night to the captain of a cruise ship trying to convince the everyone to stay calm while blowing up his life jacket, just before hitting an iceberg.

If the Romney campaign thinks these leaked tapes from Mother Jones are going away any time soon, I think they're sadly mistaken.

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As Media Matters noted, if Mitt Romney was hoping to find some friendly territory after the previous day with the leaked tapes of his "47 percent" rant and the disastrous press conference that followed later that evening, he wasn't going to find any friendlier territory than Neil Cavuto's show on Fox.

Romney Turns To Fox News' Chief "47 Percent" Antagonist: Neil Cavuto:

Mitt Romney, taking a considerable amount of heat over leaked videos showing him bashing 47 percent of voters as incorrigible moochers, will reportedly sit down with Fox News' Neil Cavuto this afternoon for an interview. From a damage control perspective, that move makes a lot of sense. You'd be hard-pressed to find a media figure more antagonistic toward the poor, more contemptuous of recipients of government benefits, and more sympathetic to Romney's line of attack than Neil Cavuto.

To recap, Mother Jones published a surreptitiously filmed video of Romney at a fundraiser telling donors that "there are 47 percent who are with [President Obama], who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims ... These are people who pay no income tax." Romney added: "My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

It's an argument tailor-made for Cavuto's sensibilities.

Lots more there with Cavuto trashing the poor as moochers and bemoaning the rich being asked to pay more in taxes with lots of video to boot. And as TPM noted, Mittens decided to play the "I know you are, but what am I?" game again during the interview as well -- Mitt Romney To Obama: No, You Have A Hidden Video Problem:

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The Romney campaign needs to get themselves some better spokespeople if they're going to continue to say things like this: Mary Matalin: Thanks To Romney, We Can Single Out ‘Parasites’:

Conservative commentator Mary Matalin hailed Mitt Romney's "47 percent" line on CNN as good news for Republicans.

"There are makers and takers, there are producers and there are parasites," she said. "Americans can distinguish between those who have produced and paid in through no fault of their own and because of Obama's horrible polices who cannot get a job or are underemployed. That's what the campaign is about."

Matalin really needs to put down the Ayn Rand novels and find somewhere else to get her talking points if she wants to stop alienating everyone in the country other than the extreme right-wing, libertarian leaning Republican base. Most people don't believe poor are causing our problems in the United States, or that they don't pay enough in taxes. Quite the opposite, in fact. But if you listen to Lady McCheney here, it's those lazy, mooching, welfare recipients that refuse to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps that are destroying America.

As Hilary Rosen reminded her, it's not the 1960's any more.

Full transcript below the fold.

(John Amato: This reminds me of the time that Glenn Beck called me a parasite.)

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