Where’s Señora Palin When You Need Her?
John McCain has further covered himself with egg — or in this case huevo — in an excruciatingly embarrassing interview with a reporter for a Spanish newspaper in which it was revealed that he didn’t appear to know that Spain is in Europe, or that the leader of Spain is a guy named Zapatero.
Anyhow, the reporter said:
“Senator, finally, let’s talk about Spain. If you’re elected president, would you invite President Zapatero to meet with you in the White House?”
McCain then launched into an answer about America’s friends and America’s enemies and then talked about Mexico. Did he think that the reporter was talking about the Zapatista guerrilla group in Mexico? Or perhaps he was still high on his nightly dose of Ambien.
More here if you dare.
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40 Responses to “Where’s Señora Palin When You Need Her?”
the quote translates as “Had the feeling that McCain didn't know who he was talking to”
- just an fyi.
“Seriously, this was pretty bad.”
I knew Shaun would write about this because I have already read it on every progressive blog out there. Do you guys all blog about the same e-mail that you receive from moveon.org. I guess that beat blogging about the chief of DC tax collector going to jail for fraud that has been going on for decades. I guess if Moveon.org does not tell you it happen, then it did not really happen.
This is off topic, but who can figure out what topic Shaun is talking about anyway.
Great video of British comedy dealing with school choice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLDb2V86Ei0&eurl…
i caught this when it broke last night. it's a little bit frightening, honestly. and it just raises anew concerns that many people already had about his health. his medical records have still not been made public, to the best of my knowledge.
it also raises the (almost equally scary) prospect of palin taking over the reins in his first term, if indeed he wins this fall.
SD:
the story broke on talking points memo, btw.
do you actually read “every progressive blog out there”? i find it a little hard to believe.
do you two (SD, jwest) really not care about his competence for office? you really are just partisan hacks, aren't you?
Wow, so the two anti-American right-wing nuts (SD and jwest) decide to attack the messenger instead of addressing the subject of the matter.
Stay classy, guys.
I listened to the interview over on TPM, and it was pretty painful to listen to. McCain was clearly winging it, throwing out a stock answer because he didn't know what the question was (despite the interviewer repeating it three times in two minutes). Frankly this worries me much more than any policy or position McCain he may take — it shows mental incompetence and confusion which is much more dangerous than any ideological difference.
Onleyone,
Pause a moment for an intellectual honesty check.
Do you really think McCain doesn’t know the difference between Mexico and Spain, or the fact that Spain is part of Europe?
Is that what you want to argue?
Just because Shaun and the crazy-left websites jump on a misstatement, do you need to follow them over the cliff?
Let Shaun stand shirtless on the street corner yelling at trash cans because they are painted red instead of blue. Your mother was absolutely right when she told you to just ignore the “odd” person and that if you did bad things in private, you would end up just like him.
OK, so when Obama misspeaks or is unclear in a response (and he does), it is indicative of nothing. When McCain does the same, he is senile.
Got it.
jwest:
i saw the story when it broke. McCain seemed out of it. they repeated the question, gave him hints, then fully explained who/what they were talking about.
seeing as how, just months ago, mcCain had publicly said he would meet with zapatero., i believe that mcCain either (A) heard “zapatista” instead of “zapatero”, and then refused to retract his statement, not wanting to look incompetent; or (B) his age really is catching up with him, and he has a touch of dementia.
are you going to tell me that this isn't a real possibility? c'mon. the man is 72 with a history of physical and mental trauma. even outside of the present blunder, questions about his health have been raised (and not just by supposed “crazies”, or whatever other nicknames you give to people you disagree with).
sure, shaun has a democratic bias. fine. that doesn't mean that everything he says is untrue.
“intellectual honesty check”? back atcha.
Onleyone,
Look, there is no one on the site who hates McCain with more intensity than me, but I won’t claim he is suffering from dementia because of a simple misunderstanding.
What hyper partisans like Shaun don’t understand is that when they take cheap shots to score some fantasy points against McCain or Palin, they are just reducing any chance at being seriously considered if something real comes up.
Ignore the fool. Don’t substitute wishful thinking for reason.
well, helluva misunderstanding.
we'll have to agree to disagree, as usual.
On April 7, I wrote the following, which seems all the more true now:
“The neurophysiology of the aging brain is not fully understood, and I am trying to tread carefully when it comes to McCain's 71-year-old noggin, which was subjected to terrible abuse while in captivity, brain-eating chemotherapy when he was being treated for melanoma, perhaps a few too many vodka martinis, and who knows what else.
“But the reality is that a characteristic of some aging brains is inflexibility and an inability to grasp new concepts. In other words, an inability to learn.
“In McCain's case, it's not necessarily an in-your-face thing, but he keeps causing me to wonder.
” . . . McCain would be the oldest person to assume the presidency, which makes his age a legitimate issue. But I know a couple of septuagenarians who are as sharp as tacks and run mental circles around people half their age. For me it's less the fact that McCain would be 72 upon taking the oath of office than the state of mind of this particular 72-year-old.
“When the red phone rings in the White House at 3 a.m., the president must have a fully functioning brain as well as the ability to be flexible; again, to have the capacity to learn.
“John McCain would seem to fail on both counts.”
That’s true. Shaun did say this.
Then, when he didn’t receive an answer from the trash can he was talking to, he pushed the shopping cart loaded with his belongings down the sidewalk to his next audience – an amiable looking mail box.
Move along kids, don’t stare.
fine, fine. have fun with your trolling, folks.
I dunno. While listening to the interview I got the initial impression McCain didn't hear the word Spain, didn't recognize Zapatero's name, and thus thought they were still talking about Latin America and tried to wing it rather than asking the interviewer to repeat the question or something.
Upon revisiting TPM it appears my interpretation occurred to Josh Marshall as well. In contrast, according to that same TPM link, McCain advisor Randy Scheunemann is now suggesting that “McCain knew exactly who Zapatero was and was simply repeating the neocon anti-Zapatero line.” If you listen to the interview though, that interpretation doesn't make much sense. But if that's the real interpretation, it's an awfully extreme snub.
By the way, jwest, what's your interpretation?
Ricorun,
I’ll go along with Marshal and assume McCain didn’t hear the question correctly due to the accent. Naturally, he tried to smooth through the interview without admitting a mistake.
Nothing to see here, move along.
Nothing to see here, move along.
Until Scheunemann piped in, I would have agreed. He certainly didn't help matters. I wonder if they'll throw him under the bus too.
Correcto mundo, Ricorun.
Until Scheunemann piped up, I was on the fence. His comments really nailed it for me.
I swear, it is just so ELITIST to expect a man running almost solely on foriegn policy credentials to, you know, know the names of the leaders of our allies. Only those hoity-toity intellectuals who vacation on the Mediterranean would know such a thing.
Also: I think the caption actually says “I got the feeling he didn't know who I was talking about”.
Not quite as bad as thinking the US has 57 states.
Just trying out my new Disqus picture.
They are not “moderates” by any stretch ( they tend to drift to the right on all points rather than consider all points, in my estimation)tho they do occasionally raise some interesting points. Shaun seems to be their favorite punching bag. It's the internet bully syndrome- masked by anonymity they feel they can launch epithets and ad hominems till the cows come home. They forget ( and in truth sometimes I'm guilty of it as well) that it's far easier to lay into someone when you can't look them in the eyes.
daveinboca,
Right, sure…accidentally saying “states” in place of “primaries” (of which there WERE 57 primaries) as a slip is far more dangerous than someone either a) thinking Spain is not our ally b) if he didn't hear/understand the question being too proud/stubborn to ask for a repeat. /snark
Good grief…I sure hope he never confuses Australia for Afghanistan!
If you'd honestly like to start comparing the list of misstatements between Obama vs. McCain (*cough*Sunni/Shia among many others*cough) then have at it.
“Then, when he didn’t receive an answer from the trash can he was talking to, he pushed the shopping cart loaded with his belongings down the sidewalk to his next audience – an amiable looking mail box. “
Funny, but mean-spirited, and completely and equally invalidates your fallacy.
hah! “Parents are the worst people to bring up children”…
That actor was in “The Madness of King George”-Nigel Hawthorne. Great actor.
Until Scheunemann piped in, I would have agreed. He certainly didn't help matters. I wonder if they'll throw him under the bus too.
Next stop, Southern Ossetia…….these “cockaroaches” have a way of surviving….
“Senator, finally, let’s talk about Spain. If you’re elected president, would you invite President Zapatero to meet with you in the White House?”
Seems pretty straight-forward to me. My feeling is that McCain knows who Prez. Zapatero is and he knows where Spain is. I think the reason McCain didn't answer the question is that he doesn't know whether Spain is a friend of America or an enemy. He doesn't know current US policy nor does he have his own thoughts on Spain. So he offered generalities to avoid saying the wrong thing, which he woudl surely be attacked on by everyone in the media. As it is the mumblings of an old man aren't that interesting…
daveinboca:
sean hannity called, he wants his talking points back.
RemNov:
Austin is at least aboveboard; and he has been fairly explicit in making it known when he believes his party of choice steps out of line. i can respect that. the rest are gadflies at best and (as i said before) partisan hacks at worst.
and hey, y'know, at least jwest thinks up his own insults instead of repeating what they spoon-feed 'em on Fox News.
” daveinboca”
sean hannity called, he wants his talking points back.”
LOL!
“After listening to the interview, however, I agree with the characterization that McCain was unaware of our relations with Spain, or even the country's geographical and political position. When asked about meeting with Zapatero and the country's relationship with the U.S., McCain ignored the question and went into some boilerplate about America's friends and enemies and analyzing relations (think Palin and the Bush Doctrine).”
Maybe McCain has the same WH aides coach him as Gov. Palin. I think John McCain would be a huge improvement over George Bush– but this is really lame.
After listening to the interview, however, I agree with the characterization that McCain was unaware of our relations with Spain, or even the country's geographical and political position. When asked about meeting with Zapatero and the country's relationship with the U.S., McCain ignored the question and went into some boilerplate about America's friends and enemies and analyzing relations (think Palin and the Bush Doctrine). .
Uh- maybe Sen McCain has the Bush WH aides coaching him on foreign policy. While, I think McCain would be a huge improvement over W, this is pretty lame considering that this is supposedly his forte.
It seems McCain really did intentionally snub Zapatero. Yowza. Things are getting curiouser and curiouser.
McCain knows full well who Zapatero is and that he is a weasel—-this is John's backhanded way, a bit clumsily, of saying that our relations with Mexico are much more important than relations with a EU-nuch member of NATO which reneges on committments.
Good for Johnny Mack. Only the DNC -lite crowd on this blog and the usual suspects Lenin called useful idiots in the Kossack realm would think McCain doesn't know much about Spain. He knows a lot about Spain & the Venezuelan radio bi-yotch asking the questions might have elicited his contempt as well.
jwest, re your new Disqus picture- I love it! I'm thinking of changing mine to something fun, too. I suppose I can always put a picture of McCain up….
I can just see it now- a picture of McCain next to all my pro-Obama comments.
Hmmm…..
Anna, “Good grief…I sure hope he never confuses Australia for Afghanistan!”
That raises an interesting question…. I wonder if McCain thinks afghans come from Afghanistan. I wonder what McCain would do if he looks at an afghan and sees a tag that says, “Made in China”.
“McCain knows full well who Zapatero is and that he is a weasel—-this is John's backhanded way, a bit clumsily, of saying that our relations with Mexico are much more important than relations with a EU-nuch member of NATO which reneges on committments”
Daveinboca- first of all- there's only one t in commitments.
Second=
I get it now– we're doing so well in the GWOT that McCain can easily afford to offend the head of state of a major European power and Nato ally before he EVEN takes office! Hey- we don't need their stinkin' sangria or anything else they got.
Time to get dust off the cowboy boots and kick butt, right? You should immediately get on the phone to your Senator and demand that they change the name of spanish rice in the Senate cafeteria to Star Spangled Rice!
Warning – I have been taking Ambien occasionally for a couple of years now and had no real side effects. But you do need to definitely heed the warnings and go directly to bed. I took two and stayed up a while longer picking up around the house. That is the last thing I remember for the next 30 hours. I hadn't put the bottle away and they tell me that I must have taken several more without knowing it. I had to be hospitalized for 2 days.
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