The real surprise in the Mitt Romney videotape affair is that so many people are surprised by its revelations. Surely, everyone knows by now that the Republican presidential candidate is a contemptuous patrician who has nothing but disdain for us “little people”? It is so obvious in his condescending smirk, his effortless fabrications, his dismissive laugh.

Romney has such a low opinion of American voters that he smilingly professes to be on every side of every issue, He invents accusations that are easily refuted, and “facts” that are effortlessly debunked.

So what if they’re all lies? Those dumb voters won’t know the difference, will they?

When I was growing up in Jamaica, we called that “giving them something to hold on to.”

Romney obviously plans to win the presidency by fooling all the people all the time.

But it isn’t working.

Strangely, it took a smuggled videotape of  Romney’s address to a group of filthy-rich donors for the pundits to get the picture. In the tape, the presidential candidate dismisses 47 percent of Americans as a pack of lazy moochers who are unworthy of his attention. These Americans don’t pay federal income taxes, he says, and they wouldn’t vote for him, regardless, because tax cuts don’t affect them.

He chides these pathetic folks for thinking they’re “entitled” to food, housing and health care, and he expects them to vote for Barack Obama because the president will make sure these undeserving leeches get the necessities of life.

He sweeps these voters aside like so much trash. And he argues that the voters he really needs to target are the ones who make enough money to appreciate his promised tax cuts.

The tape also reveals Romney’s real views on the economy, world affairs and a host of other crucial campaign issues. He has been accused of withholding specifics of his plans for the presidency. Now here they are – on the smuggled tape.

Intriguingly, he concedes he has no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian impasse. The tape shows him dismissing the whole thing as a waste of time. He says he would just “kick the football down the field” and hope that something comes along to resolve the situation. As for the economy, not to worry; that will solve itself once he is elected and everyone regains their confidence in the system.

The response to the tape’s revelations has been almost universal horror. Members of his own party have turned on Romney with a vengeance, lambasting him for spilling the beans. Of course, they share his disdain for us “little people,” but we are not supposed to know that. We are to be kept in the dark and fed BS like so many mushrooms. After all, unlike Romney, they want our votes.

By dismissing all voters who aren’t rich enough to matter, Romney writes off the majority of America’s retirees, disabled veterans and civilians, parents of handicapped kids, and millions of low-wage “values voters,” who listen daily to Rush Limbaugh and watch Mike Huckabee on Fox News.

Surely, now that the cat is out of the bag, these people won’t still support Romney?

I know that as one of the “little people,” I am insulted – and angered – by his remarks. Yes, I get Social Security. Yes, I get Medicare. But I paid into that system for decades, and I am entitled to the benefits it provides.

Yes, Mr. Romney, entitled.

Click here to listen to Romney’s speech.