¡Que barbaridad!

Senator John McCain’s radio interview this week, in which he could not distinguish Spain, or for that matter Europe itself from Latin America has set the international press ablaze:

The Guardian (London): calls it “painful” to listen to.

El Pais (Madrid):“At best, this is evidence of his ignorance about [President] Zapatero”

Le Monde (Paris): gives him the benefit of the doubt that he “seems ignorant of the existence of Spain’s President” [Zapatero has been in office four and a half years] but that “perhaps it is because Zapatero pulled his country’s troops out of Iraq (in 2004).”

And it’s still breaking…

What does this really say about the Republican ticket? Frankly, I find it impossible to believe that John McCain doesn’t know which countries comprise Western Europe, or for that matter, the members of NATO. If he doesn’t, it’s an unacceptable shortcoming in a potential President (we’ve seen how dangerous a willfully ignorant President can be). If he’s forgotten, well, (to be polite and non-diagnostic) it’s fair to question whether he’s losing mental acuity, which is more sad than anything else. However, because he is running for President, and because he has as a running mate a woman who thinks proximity to Russia’s mostly uninhabited easternmost islands is foreign policy experience, the cumulative diplomatic weakness in any potential Republican administration should frighten anyone paying attention. Because confusing major countries like Spain and Mexico is not an acceptable gaffe in a world leader.

Spain has the fifth largest economy in Europe, eighth in the world, and per capita income on par with Japan and France. It’s not the level of country a presidential candidate might be given a pass on (in fairness, a “gotcha” question might be, “Who’s the king of Swaziland?”).

Listening to the interview is, as the Guardian puts it, painful – in the extreme. McCain sounds like he’s got a handful of cue-cards covering the Republican Party-line on Chavez/Venezuela, Morales/Bolivia, Calderon/Mexico, Uribe/Colombia, and of course, Raul Castro. But that's where the brain chip ends. So when he's asked about Spain, he can't answer, even when he answers (idiotically) that we will engage "everyone in the Latin America" – at which point, he is reminded that Spain is in Europe (twice!) [and a member of NATO] -he seems baffled, and proceeds to talk about Mexico. So, when the interviewer asks him about Europe, he has nothing to say. He falls back on being willing to talk to any leader who shares “our views” [his views] on “democracy and free-trade.” Even when discussing the topics on his cards, he is completely mixed up.

For example, when he says Morales is the same as Chavez, if you've ever seen or heard or even read anything about them, they couldn't be more different! Morales is a soft-spoken dove, who rose to prominence simply by a popular revolt against American multinationals (specifically, Bechtel) making Bolivians pay for RAINWATER! (Even if it fell on their own roof!). Now, some still-wealthy old-guard oligarchs are trying to destabilize his government, and being given assistance from the Kissinger school of American interventionists. So all Morales has in common with Chavez is being fed up with U.S. foreign policy getting in their hair. They have evicted the US Ambassador - because he was involved in subverting the Morales government. Bolivia has no oil, and Morales, therefore is in no position to bluster like Chavez, nor does he hold the same sort of strident worldview as Chavez. But, then, understanding that would involve nuance.

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http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/17244

He didn't study. Deja vu all over again.

Watching Maddow's new show tonight, Madman?

Who Cares What Europe Thinks! Especially the Spaniards and the Dutch.

dont know about it fill me in

anyhow one would think a gaff like this from a presidential candidate would be front page news, damn this left wing media protecting Mccains reputation

She uttered your post title about 25 min ago.

Its also at this website glad to see it hit the mainstream corperate media http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1842156,00.html?imw=Y

Is this like the time Obama visted 57 states

No kerbear this is the thread were mccain thought spain was part of south america please start your own thread about obama with links and proof of that, thanks please stay on topic

But that is not as bad as the time that Obamarama thought the US had 57 states

Ouch. The question about Zapatero came after a series of questions on how McCain sees relations with Venezuela, Bolivia and Cuba. He said he would not speak to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez "without any sort of preconditions, as Senator Obama has said he would," and said Chávez was "depriving his people of their democratic rights." He judged Bolivia's Evo Morales as "very similar" and also condemned Cuba's Raúl Castro. When the questioner said, "Now let's talk of Spain" and asked whether he'd invite Zapatero, McCain responded with a vague statement that he would meet "with those leaders who are our friends" and then cited Mexican President Felipe Calderón as an example. The questioner tried several more times to steer the Senator back to a clear answer on Spain, but McCain never directly addressed the nation, saying, "What I would say is that my record is that of someone who has worked in a friendly atmosphere with those who are our friends and faced up to those who aren't."

From this, much of the Spanish press has concluded that the Republican candidate, who hails himself as the experienced foreign policy choice in this election, confused Spain — a NATO member and key ally in the fight against terrorism — with one of those troublesome Latin American states. That was certainly the interviewer's impression, for she followed up with a gentle reminder that Spain was a country in Europe. As Spanish newspaper El País put it, "In the best-case scenario, [his answer] demonstrates his ignorance with respect to Zapatero."

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1842156,00.html?imw=Y

The McCain gaffes are piling up and now staff is keeping him (along with Palin) from the press. This ticket is becoming late second term Reagan and anytime Dan Quayle.

Dems are scared, they have to do the mud slingin tactics

speaking of quayle remember the Murphy Brown episode when Murphy wanted to be a single mother and quayle went nuts? wonder what he has to say about palins kid

When asked if he would meet with the Prime Minister of Spain McCain said no, he'd meet with the President of Spain.

The funny part is Spain doesn't have a President.

Mccain owes america an alziemers test

So when Obama Visited his 57 states, was he talking about the 57 states of islam?

Is Barack a Muslim??? Oooooooohhhhhhhh.... Weren't you just *****ing about smear tactics?

How come when Dems and libs do it, it is called the truth, and when republicans and conservatives do it, it is call propaganda and Smearing....

I don't think liberals can take it