The McCain in Spain Fails Mostly to Explain
I’m a bit surprised by how little coverage The Great McCain-Spain Gaffe has gotten (Well, not really that surprised given the relative insularity of the American media/political complex).
But anyway you cut it, you’ve got to be alarmed. McCain’s campaign is now officially saying that in a phone interview earlier this week on a Miami Latino radio station, the GOP candidate did not misunderstand the question nor make any mistake when he said he would not necessarily meet with Spanish Prime Minsiter Zapatero.
Huh? The President of the U.S. would not receive the leader of a fellow member of NATO? Presumably because Zapatero represents a mildly left-of-center social democratic coalition that withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq?
This is pretty friggin’ far out, no?
Josh Marshall has been all over this story from the beginning and now reaches a rather startling conclusion about this incident. Marshall argues that the simplest, most logical explanation is that McCain just didn’t understand what he was being asked and got confused. Perhaps, maybe, possibly understandably confused. And then he was too proud to ask for clarification. Or, worse, he didn’t figure out his gaffe until after it happened and now his campaign is covering for him.
Which would mean something really terrifying i.e. that the campaign was willing to snub a key Western European NATO ally merely to paper over a simple campaign trail snafu.
Here’s Marshall’s grim conclusion.
Dios MIo! We’re so far from God yet so close to a Mumbling John McCain.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Yep, that’s our Johnnie. I think Rove brought Palin in to be his nurse. Good thinking on Rove’s part. McCain seems about three steps from needing custodial care.
September 19th, 2008 at 3:06 am
John McCain would rather lose an ally than lose a campaign.
September 19th, 2008 at 4:47 am
There’s no reason to admit to the gaffe. If the base of your party is fired up about Palin who, based on her interviews, couldn’t pass a high school social studies class right now, why worry. If the press brings it up just mention that the prime minister is a, “socialist”, and that Spain borders France. Limbaugh listeners and Fox news watchers willeat it up.
Frydek-Mistek
September 19th, 2008 at 5:24 am
Screw Spain, Country First.
September 19th, 2008 at 5:57 am
Have you been listening to Palin’s bizarre, rambling near-nonsensical answers on the stump to questions about stuff like energy, about which she’s the world’s greatest expert. This is a very scary ticket folks.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:26 am
“Have you been listening to Palin’s bizarre, rambling near-nonsensical answers on the stump to questions about stuff like energy, about which she’s the world’s greatest expert. This is a very scary ticket folks.”
I’ve never heard her give specifics. Even when asked by a polite supporter to give specifics.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:33 am
If we’re keeping scorecards, be sure to include gaffes by Barack (57 states) Obama and Joe (higher taxes equals patriotism) Biden.
And, then, read reg’s nonsense, Scary. Very, very, scarry. Whooooo. Save it for Halloween, reg.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:45 am
How does it not equal patriotism? Or are you only patriotic if you rant and rave about how America is the bestest nation God gave Earth and is aloud to start war with any sovereign nation it doesn’t like while ranting and raving about how you shouldn’t have to pay for those wars?
September 19th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Liberal media reaction to Biden racial gaffe: “It’s a strength! Yeah, that’s it!”
Well, at least when Biden is making gaffes, he’s not plagiarizing other people’s speeches.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Howie, our patriotic forefathers fought against higher taxes from the King. Of course, to a liberal, patriotism is shown by their demanding higher taxes from conservatives (you know, a liberal is someone who shows his concern with other people’s money) and by bashing the U.S.
Example of a liberal:
September 19th, 2008 at 7:17 am
As an aside, because of your deep concern for privacy rights, comes this information: Democratic legislator’s son is main suspect in the illegal break-in of Sarah Palin’s email account. Surprised?
That reminds me of the kids of Democrats in Wisconsin when they slashed the tires of Republican voter vans on election day.
In the case of Democrats, “Like father, like son.”
September 19th, 2008 at 7:23 am
To bring this back on topic from another one of Woody’s thread hijacking maneuvers, what Scheuneman has effectively said is that if Spain were invaded and Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty (i.e., the law) was involked, we could very well send US troops to Spain, but John McCain would not meet with the head of government.
September 19th, 2008 at 7:31 am
It really is tragic. The comedic genre is essentially denied satirizing McCain and Palin because it’s too easy to do. It borders on cruelty because the duo is so profoundly inept, along every dimension, and with respect to every issue, they nearly mock themselves. They’re certainly making a mockery of this presidential race. Selecting any of this pair’s inadequacies, for the offices they seek, has a practitioner of humor running the risk of mocking an individual with an honest claim to a disability. There is no dignity left for this GOP ticket. They’ve trashed what little they had, all on their own.
September 19th, 2008 at 7:43 am
McCain-Palin represents the nadir of “conservatism” – even worse than Bush-Cheney. The absolute vacuity of this woman – her inability to speak coherently even on issues she’s supposed to be “the world’s greatest expert” on – is irrelevant in-and-of-itself. She’s ambitious and has responded to this opportunity the way she always has. What’s stunning is watching folks like NRO lining up to cheer on McCain’s whoring of whatever seriousness or integrity he might have ever had. They’re sinking to the Woody-level in droves. The evasion of any shred of analytical competence, the sheer indecency and lack of even a veneer of integrity we’ve been treated to here by the resident clowns truly has become the official face of the Republican party.
September 19th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Tempest in a teapot. It’s most likely McCain was tired after long weeks of campaigning and just didn’t remember who Zapatero is. Of course, the real question is, why didn’t the professionals who run his campaign brief him about Spain before the went into an interview with El Pais?
I’m not at all sure that most voters, let alone most potential GOP voters, could correctly identify which continent Spain is in. I am most certain that the majority of the kids who graduated public high school with my daughter a few years ago could not. I doubt 1% of voters could identify Zapatero.
This won’t hurt him a bit, and the belligerence will actually help-remember when GWB invaded Iraq and then complained that it was full of “foreigners?” We laughed, but Joe Republican just thought about how much he hates those slow-driving, funny accented foreigners and about how great America is.
September 19th, 2008 at 7:56 am
>interview with El Pais?
sorry, not paying attention, it wasn’t El Pais. Maybe I can run for President one day.
September 19th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Randy, I didn’t try to hijack this thread. The subject isn’t Spain but gaffes, and I provided examples and links to those of Obama and Biden that are conveniently ignored here.
I remember Obama going off on some ramble about giving a kid with asthma a breathalyzer test. Then, he said that he hadn’t had much sleep. Maybe he needed the breathalyzer.
But, the discussion should be about which party is best based upon issues rather than speaking mistakes, for which Obama and Biden are as bad as anyone else.
On issues, the Democrats are in the hip pocket of the Move-On radicals and want to take our country down the road to socialism, if not worse. You can’t trust them with maintaining our military or fighting terrorists. You can’t trust them with energy policies. And, you really can’t trust them to appoint Supreme Court justices who honor the Constitution.
On the other hand, Republicans respect the individual and don’t want to fund massive government programs with massive government taxes. For the war on terror, I trust McCain a lot more than Obama. On energy, it’s important that we drill for our resources rather than be cut off by enemies. McCain will appoint Supreme Court justices who respect legislative intent on Constituational issues rather than make new laws from the bench.
You may think that gaffes are more important than issues, but I don’t.
September 19th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Oh, boy. You should see this. Obama’s email inbox exposed!
September 19th, 2008 at 8:37 am
The subject isn’t Spain but gaffes
Read the post title.
September 19th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Woody is determined to mention the 57 states comment at least 57 times. It seems symmetry is really important to him. But in the interests of symmetry he ought to stop comparing the 57 states comment with the Spain comment. See, I think we can all agree that fatigue can set in and the sheer volume of things they need to know can cause these trip ups. The issue here, though, is the after that fact spin. So they are not the same.
Also, even though “stump the candidate” is not really a fair game, this is what these guys do, and breadth of knowledge is really important. It’s, like, a key component of their job. I’m sure there are features of Excel that Woody can be stumped with, but I would expect him know most of the day to day ones–sort of like who is in charge of the NATO countries. Oh, and the difference between Sunni and Shia.
September 19th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Okay, I’m going, but one last one. Continuing on issues, notice which states rank at the bottom on a U.S. Economic Freedom Index.
Blue states can ruin themselves, but an Obama administration would ruin all of them.
September 19th, 2008 at 8:56 am
I think it was intentional. My Spanish friends tell me that US agencies are funding the right wing party, and have tremendous distaste towards Zapatero’s socialist/social dem/eurocomm coalition, who withdrew from Iraq, strikes a middleground between Russia and the States (didn’t recognize Kosovo) and has friendly relations with Latin American left leaders. I’d compare Zapatero’s stance with De Gaulle, who himself pissed off the US.
September 19th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Beginning with Teresa Heinz, 57 became the Democratic number.
September 19th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Randy, read the first sentence.
September 19th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Duh! Not being an aficionado of late night teevee – well, if I’m honest, I eschew the teevee altogether – Ahem – Anyway…
There is one individual who appears to be achieving what I said couldn’t be done. Take it away Jay Leno.
Note: Forget Tina Fey. Sarah Palin’s worst nightmare may be Jay Leno.
My personal favorite:
September 19th, 2008 at 9:08 am
I haven’t read all what has been said about this, but one explanation, that he didn’t understand the question not out of confusion but he most likely has a hearing loss.
It’s quite common for people in advanced age. His campaign can’t say he needs one because it would remind people of that.
September 19th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Opps- that should be he needs a hearing aid. His campaign can’t say that.
September 19th, 2008 at 9:16 am
It’s the McaCain Spain gaffe, not gaffes in general.
September 19th, 2008 at 10:06 am
WOW. This is almost as shocking as Kos denouncing the Palin e-mail hackers (which he did yesterday, and credit to him from me for that).
Michelle Malkin (!!!) today on the Bush Bailouts:
Bush Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson just wrapped up his press conference announcing the Mother of All Bailouts. He said a “bold” approach was needed to achieve “stability” in the market.
Let me translate that.
“Bold” = Massively massive, taxpayer-funded rescue.
“Stability” = Privatizing profits and socializing losses on a scale we have never seen before in our lifetimes.
I have had it with Pollyanna conservatives who continue to parrot the “fundamentals of the market are great!” line.
The fundamentals of the market suck. The fundamentals of capitalism have been sabotaged.
Yes, yes, crony Democrats are to blame for much of how we got here. You don’t need to recite all the talking points back to me. I’ve been writing about the Fannie/Freddie debacle for years.
But it is September 19, 2008. And this is a Republican White House presiding over the Mother of All Bailouts. Every step along the way since stimuluspalooza began last summer, we’ve heard that every bailout step was just a one-off. Each step was supposed to calm the markets. Each new government intervention and allocation of taxpayer dollars was supposed to achieve “stability.” Each new package of goodies rewarding irresponsible behavior and bad financial decisions was supposed to prevent new ones.
None did. And now, here we are.
This is your Bush legacy — not Pelosi’s, not Reid’s, not Obama’s: A ginormous bailout of every last, failing, panicked financial institution’s illiquid assets that may reach into the trillions — TRILLIONS – when all is said and done.
September 19th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Sorry, Randy. You’re right. After your last comment I thought I should try to respect what you’re trying to do. This will be my last comment on this thread. What I’d like to highlight is, at least, consistent with the theme of John McCain, although it’s not related in any way to his Spain gaffe. It does, however, strike me as a good deal darker than a man who, potentially, has auditory comprehension problems.
September 19th, 2008 at 10:10 am
(Oops… Marc, feel free to move my above to one of the more relevant earlier comment threads if you want.)
September 19th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Perhaps the Democrats had more than a little to do with the mortgage defaults and current financial problems. Obamonopoly
September 19th, 2008 at 10:20 am
“The absolute vacuity of this woman – her inability to speak coherently even on issues she’s supposed to be “the world’s greatest expert” on ”
Let’s be fair — she was only touted as the “nation’s” greatest expert.
September 19th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Listener, don’t fall for Randy’s feeble attempt to save face by accepting that Randy is right that Marc has such a narrow perspective that he intended the discussion to cover the single gaffe by McCain and nothing else. If someone wants to attack McCain on such a stupid matter, then it’s proper to compare it to gaffes from the other side that were ignored.
Since I might have already mentioned Obama’s 57 states (did I?), let me mention another one. In his acceptance speech at the convention where the Democrats threw thousands of American flags in the trash (that could be any number of rallies,) Obama said that he was reducing the capital gains taxes on small businesses. Of course, I and others who know a little about taxes sat there and went “Whaaaaat?!”
Shouldn’t a candidate, making his “tax cuts” (aka as tax hikes) a major part of his campaign, know something about what he is saying on the topic?
Also, I listened to Obama’s speech on the financial problems being addressed today. To sum it up, he said that he needs more time to think about it. As President, he can’t just put off or ignore problems by voing present.
September 19th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Mis amigos, it wasn’t a gaffe.
It might have been, but now it isn’t. The campaign spinners faced a difficult, lose/lose decision – McCain as Arrogant Bushite, or McCain as Senile Ol’ Man.
They chose the former. Terrifying, but that’s what we’re working with.
Again, as far as we’re concerned, it’s not a gaffe and shouldn’t be regarded as such. But if you want gaffes, McCain’s got plenty. And they’re far more substantial than the Obama gaffes Woody is desperately clinging to.
September 19th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Really Woody has really lost it. If thew only gaffe Obama made was saying “57″ then he’s way ahead of McCain (Sunni/Shia, “Czechoslovakia”, where is Spain”) and by the way Paying taxes is patriotic is not a gaffe. Biden meant to say that. Brandeis said taxes are the price we pay for civilization but then tjhat is probably an alien concept to our Georgia Peach. And take a look at the “Oppressed” states. Whcich states are the most dynamic economies and new givers of tax money to other regions (like the South?) One guess.
Your guy is coming apart at the seams. Sorry. Get used to it.
And, no, I don’t approve of hacking E-Mails. But when this administration illegally spied on Americans we were told, by the Likes of Malkin, that if you had nothing to hide don’t worry. What’s sauce for the goose and all that. . .
September 19th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Why is no notice being taken of the fact that McCain, for months and months, has never (to my knowledge) appeared at a public event without the presence of a Cindy McCain or Lindsey Graham or Joe Lieberman or, now, Sarah Palin? Why exactly is the campaign unwilling to allow him to appear on his own?
It has to be some sort of physical/mental disability that his guardian that day is watching for. Maybe it is something as simple as hearing loss. Note that the latest confusion over Spain’s location [and we thought his ignorance about Iran's borders was a problem...] happened over the phone, when he could not be monitored. It could be something more troubling.
The Obama campaign has not commented. There must be rumors that it is aware of. I am all for accommodating disabilities, but we should be dealt with honestly about the disabilities as well as the abilities of our potential leaders, especially the one who could be one heartbeat away from a Sarah Palin presidency. (I know about FDR and JFK, but that, right or wrong, was an earlier time, when there was far greater misinformation about disabled people and their abilities to perform.) We now are a nation that passed the Americans with Disabilities Act. We can be trusted to know what is going on. We at least deserve some explanation for the presence of the unarmed guards around McCain [well, now that it's Palin, the "unarmed" part of that sentence may be disregarded].
September 19th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Listener, don’t fall for Randy’s feeble attempt to save face by accepting that Randy is right that Marc has such a narrow perspective that he intended the discussion to cover the single gaffe by McCain and nothing else.
If I’m ever in position to have to save face from any of the thoroughly tendentious bilge you have bubble up in the comments here (and rest assured, it would take a lobectomy for me to get there and all of my lobes are intact and functioning quite well), I urge one of you to contact Dr. Kevorkian to harvest my organs since it will be sufficient proof that I am brain dead.
September 19th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Interesting qdpsteve – given the unhinged quality of most of her spew I was operating on the assumption that Malkin was blogging from another planet. Now all she has to do is draw the obvious conclusions that we liberal pragmatists came to long ago about the absurdity of “free-market” fundamentalism and anti-regulatory attacks on “big government” from a rightwing that proceeded to set the stage for the biggest government takeover in U.S. history. (Although a lot of corporate Democrats share significant blame for this thing and have allowed the abuse of institutions that were supposed to help insulate against these failures.) But it’s not enough to point to the fact that bricks are falling on heads…and I’m still not convinced she won’t start peddling some “It’s because of the CRA” crap like Larry Kudlow.
September 19th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Another of the Big Lies McPalin relies on crazies like Woody to spread has been debunked:
Undermining McCain Campaign Attack, Republicans Back Obama‘s Version of Meeting with Iraqi Leaders
September 19, 2008 1:06 PM
Earlier this week, the campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., seized upon a column in the New York Post that described Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as having urged Iraqi leaders in a private meeting to delay coming to an agreement with the Bush administration on the status of U.S. troops.
“Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence,” Post columnist Amir Tehari wrote, quoting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari who told the Post that Obama during his meeting with Iraqi leaders in July “asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington.”
The charge — that Obama asked the Iraqis to delay signing off on a “Status of Forces Agreement,” thus delaying US troop withdrawal and interfering in U.S. foreign policy — has been picked up on the internet, talk radio and by Republicans including the McCain campaign, which seized on the story as possible evidence of duplicity.
The Obama campaign said that the Post report consisted of “outright distortions.”
Lending significant credence to Obama’s response is the fact that — though it’s absent from the Post story and other retellings — in addition to Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, this July meeting was also attended by Bush administration officials such as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and the Baghdad embassy’s Legislative Affairs advisor Rich Haughton, as well as a Republican senator, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.
Attendees of the meeting back Obama’s account, including not just Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, but Hagel, Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffers from both parties. Officials of the Bush administration who were briefed on the meeting by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad also support Obama’s account and dispute the Post story and McCain attack.
The Post story is “absolutely not true,” Hagel spokesman Mike Buttry told ABC News. (Jake Tapper, ABC News)
September 19th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
The occasional admission by Woody that he’s full of shit would actually ENHANCE his credibility.
September 19th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Just because Obama denies his October Surprise and McCain takes the high road to dismiss it doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen. Remember that the Democrats said that the absence of evidence makes the seriousness and need for investigation of Reagan’s alledged October Surprise that much greater. Also, independent observers were not with Obama the entire trip to refute what he did at all times. Let me know when the Post puts your version of the story in the corrections and retractions column.
September 19th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
You really love spreading fabricated shit…
September 19th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
The only thing Woody hasn’t done is accuse Obama of going on a murderous rampage – like that tape that Falwell peddled claiming that the Clintons were the Lord and Lady MacBeth of Arkansas.
September 19th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
reg –
Refer back to my link a couple of days ago about the research about conservatives and their response to evidence that refutes claims. It tells you everything you need to know about Woody’s style.
September 19th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
You really love spreading fabricated shit…
It’s all he’s got.
September 19th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
In matters of relevance beyond Woody’s front porch, I’m afraid that the Congressional Democrats are going to simply sit down with Paulson and Bernanke and go along with any scheme they propose, hat in hand, simply because they’ve been told that Saddam Hussein possesses WMDs…I mean that the entire economy is about to collapse if we don’t bail out Certain Important Parties. I’m sure that some form of drastic action is necessary, although I’m not informed or expert enough to know exactly what – but if the Dems simply allow a couple of Bush Administration quacks to determine what moves are next in the game without tying pro-active measures to strong regulatory reform that creates a new set of sustainable rules for the financial sector, they will look like suckers and undercut any leadership credibility. Obviously Bush is irrelevant in the current moment – this is another Katrina on his watch, but with consequences for other than mostly poor, mostly black people so something is going to be done. But Congress needs to get out in front on this and put a plan forward independently of Bernanke and Paulson. Not sure that’s possible, given their track record…
September 19th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
See Kevin Phillips in todays HUFFPO. The real objections are coming from the likes of Grassley and other “Conservative” Republicans who aren’t sure they like the Paulson bail-out plan.
Hey! Re Spain – doesn’t McCain fancy himself the new TR? As soon as he locates it on a ,map the old rough rider will find a hill to charge!
September 19th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Unfortunately, I think Phillips is having an acid flashback. Grassley, et. al. aren’t credible on this thing either because they’re fundamentalists who can’t bear to admit that the government has a major role in stabilizing financial markets and setting ground rules that guarantee some measure of sanity BEFORE this shit gets out of hand. How many of these things have got to happen before common sense takes hold ? The last round of deregulation of financial services got us the S&L scandal. During which John McCain showed us his stuff…
September 19th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Yeah, that government intervention thing has been great. Hey, how’s Sarbanes-Oxley working out?
September 19th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
>Congress needs to get out in front on
>this and put a plan forward independently
>of Bernanke and Paulson. Not sure
>that’s possible, given their track record…
Like epxecting the old East German opposition parties to take bold policy initiatives. It’s not gonna happen.
September 19th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Woody – go play in your sandbox.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Here’s a sermon for you, reg.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Did you know that there are ‘Blacks Against Obama’ Are they racist, too?
September 19th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
According to an AP poll, more Americans would rather watch a football game with Obama than with McCain.
Clearly the election is over…
September 19th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Woody: “Republicans respect the individual and don’t want to fund massive government programs with massive government taxes.”
Higher taxes are inevitable. How else are we going to fund massive government endeavours like the two trillion dollar war in Iraq and the half-trillion dollar bailout of the financial sector? With conservative pixie dust?
September 20th, 2008 at 5:25 am
I read the bailout is more like a trillion dollars, but DC Sniper has got it right.
Even Americans who don’t spend much time with a calculator are figuring out that with the banking system in a free fall, McCains talk about invading Iran and paying for it with a tax cut. Or was it the other way around, cut taxes, then distract attention from the deficit by invading Iran?
Oddly enough, Obama is talking about cutting taxes and invading Iran. The difference is, he’s also taking about where he wants to cut taxes and talking about talking with Iran’s leaders, making it clear that war is a last resort, not a way to seek a bump in the opinion polls.
Obama’s getting a bump because, even though he calls for tax cuts, that’s not the beginning and end of his economic prescription, whereas with the Republicans, that’s the only answer they have to every economic problem.
September 20th, 2008 at 8:24 am
reg: According to an AP poll….
reg, that’s what the AP gets by including liberals in the poll, when they would rather read poetry in a coffee shop than attend a (ugh) football game.
Look for me on ESPN game day. I’ll be at the Auburn – LSU football game. I don’t expect to see many Obama supporters there.
September 20th, 2008 at 9:17 am
An inside look at how Obama’s much-touted ban on campaign contributions from lobbyists has really worked.
September 20th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Woody – did you ever play football, other than “touch” ?
Just curious.
I did.
September 21st, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Woody,
“I don’t expect to see many Obama supporters there.”
…except the ones scoring the touchdowns.