So John McCain yesterday appeared not to realize that Spain was 1) A NATO ally, 2) Not in Latin America, and 3) Led by Prime Minister Zapatero. ¡Muy mavericky! So naturally, given that Spain is one of America’s closest allies (yes, they left Iraq, but that just proves they have sense) and given that McCain himself said in April that he’d welcome Prime Minister Zapatero to the White House, and given that the McCain campaign could probably just blame this on McCain not understanding the interviewer’s accent (despite the fact that she clarified that she was talking about Spain multiple times, and that McCain is from Arizona, which at last report had a few native Spanish-speakers) because hey, that’s like a foreign language and stuff…well, at any rate, surely the McCain campaign would just admit their candidate misspoke, rather than causing an international incident.
Asked to explain McCain’s apparent shift in tone and position since April, [McCain flak Randy] Scheunemann gave almost no ground.
“In this week’s interview, Senator McCain did not rule in or rule out a White House meeting with President Zapatero, a NATO ally,” he said in an e-mail. “If elected, he will meet with a wide range of allies in a wide variety of venues but is not going to spell out scheduling and meeting location specifics in advance. He also is not going to make reckless promises to meet America’s adversaries. It’s called keeping your options open, unlike Senator Obama, who has publicly committed to meeting some of the world’s worst dictators unconditionally in his first year in office.”
Oh, snap! That would be awesome, except for that little part where you referred to Prime Minister Zapatero as President Zapatero. Or the part where you insinuated that McCain would actually formally snub a NATO ally because, I don’t know, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is really Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in disguise. Or maybe because Zapatero set up those special courts to deal with violence against women. Or because McCain just doesn’t like the cut of his jib.
This, of course, takes us from “misspoke” to “full-blown international incident.” The McCain campaign has evidently decided that they’d rather insult an ally than admit that their supra-genius foreign policy wonk misspoke. That’s, to put it mildly, abhorrent. If this is how John McCain deals with his friends — and Spain is a friend, and a good one — then I can’t wait to see the wondrous foreign policy McCain would create. It sure is good to know he’s ready to insult our friends even before day one. I’d hate to see what a neophyte like Obama would do if he tried to insult our friends.
McCain’s Brain Fails Mainly On Spain
I was going to write something substantial, but then I saw this:
“McCain’s Brain Fails Mainly On Spain”
WIN.
In Spain, Zapatero is called the Presidente del Gobierno. In terms of how we use the terms in English, “Prime Minister” is probably a more accurate translation, but it’s not unreasonable to use “President” instead.
But the rest of the post, I completely agree with. I have no idea why “John McCain doesn’t commit to meeting with our important allies!” struck them as a better excuse than “he misheard the question,” but it’s a position that’s so irresponsible to take that….
I really have no words.
I’d really recommend this post at Democracy Arsenal, however, which comments on the current mess and then documents that McCain has a significant history of belligerence towards our European allies.
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I have an inkling. Barreling ahead with your folly beats admitting that you made a mistake. The media makes sure of that.
I’d hate to see what a neophyte like Obama would do if he tried to insult our friends.
Well, didn’t Obama say he was prepared to bomb Pakistan if need be? :-)
I can not explain. How can someone be a senator who does not know where is Spain. In a citizen reveals a great deal of ignorance, but it is intolerable in a senator.
John McCain would love to meet with Generalissimo Francisco Franco if the Generalissimo is willing to help out in the Global War on Terror.