Politics, open government, and safe streets. And the constant incursion of cycling.

McCain: Zapatero, Zapatista . . .

let’s call the whole thing off:

In the interview, McCain is asked about Hugo Chavez, the situation in Bolivia and then about Raul Castro. He responds to each of these with expected answers about standing up to America’s enemies, etc. Then the interviewer switches gears and asks about Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister. And McCain replies — very loose translation — that he’ll establish close relations with our friends and stand up to those who want to do us harm. The interviewer has a double take and seems to think McCain might be confused. So she asks it again. But McCain sticks to the same evasive answer.

(This is what happens when you’re an old and confused man.)

Update: I don’t really believe that McCain doesn’t know that Spain is in Europe, as posited by some.  He’s old and of poor judgment, but he’s not stupid.  I do, however, believe that he had no idea who the Prime Minister of Spain was, and that’s pretty telling.  To be fair, I guess, Spain’s never come up as a possible bombing target, so why would McCain be interested?  Maybe Spain needs to hire a lobbyist to take a place on the McCain staff to make sure it stays that way . . .).

Update II: Head over to TPM for the rest of the story.  It’s just . . .Christ.  There are people who are going to vote for this man.

Update III: McCain’s advisers try to claim that McCain *did* know who Zapatero was, and that he was intentionally avoiding committing to meeting with Spain’s Prime Minister.  This, of course, is bullshit, unless McCain’s advisers want to acknowledge that McCain thinks that Spain is a Latin American country.  It does give you some insight to the McCain campaign, though, that rejecting our own NATO allies is the *preferrable* option here.   Can we just get to November already?

Update IV: Bienvenido, lectores de Cadenaser.com

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10 Comments

  1. Sito Feijoo

    I am a Spainish-american (yes I meantSpain-ish), so I was not surprized at Mccain’s ignorance. Afer all he doesn’t know the difference between Sunni’s and shi-ia’s. Thinks he needs a 9-11 sytle commision to determine why Wall Street Crashed and beleives that becuase Gov. Palin can see Russia from “land in Alaska,” sheis qua;ified tp be vice rpesident.

    Why shouldwe, even remotely, hope he would know that Spain is part of the European contitent? Oh, I;m sorry, he was in the Hanoi Hilton when they rearranged the world map.

  2. miriam

    I am so sorry, the Republicans candidates McCain and Palin gives the worst image of the Americans internationally.

  3. MB

    We’re all sorry, Miriam. Funny thing is that the GOP tendency towards “free” trade creates a lot of Republican fans around the world insomuch as it results in more jobs for them. And yet the GOP still manages to screw it up.

  4. sasha

    I think you’re forgetting the important fact here, my friends. Spain is foreign and scary.

  5. Zappa

    I live in France, a European country.

    From here, we have the feeling that the american government is making war everywhere because he doesn’t know anything about the people of the world outside its borders.

    How can you have such power and be so ignorant?…

    I believe it’s not really ignorance but also a way of preserving a “way of live” regardless of all the disasters it may provoque (human or ecological)…

    But we hope very deeply that something will happen after these elections…

  6. José E. Grande

    Creo que el candidato republicano es simplemente un paleto y su segunda otra paleta pretenciosa, deberían dejar de leer tanto la biblia y coger algún libro de cultura general.

    Un español.

  7. MB

    I agree with you, José. As would many Americans. We just have to hope that more of them vote.

    ~

    Zappa, I do think there is some ignorance (among Americans) about the direct global costs of maintaining an “American way of life.” There simply isn’t an awareness – as far as they know, cheap consumer goods grow on trees somewhere. It’s not a blameless ignorance, but I don’t think it’s malicious.

  8. joako

    It makes me wonder… countless days of military academy, wasted for nothing
    I mean here is a picasso that illustrates that PSOE is not the zapatistas, Zapatero is not Castro, and that there is a **sligth** difference between eta and alqaeda.
    http://www.opendemocracy.net/arts/guernica_4550.jsp

  9. joako

    certainly… it s because of brainless donkey-people like him, the reason that most of the picasso’s are nolonger exposed in US museums :P

  10. MB

    I’m not sure about the Picassos, but he’s certainly a jackass.

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