The Zapatero Incident

John McCain, and his massively dishonest campaign team, have jumped willingly into a ridiculous and embarrassing farce. McCain apparently had some difficulty hearing / understanding a thickly-accented radio interviewer in Miami, and as the result of the resulting confusion, he ended up suggesting that he might not be willing to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero.

McCain also appeared to associate Zapatero with Latin America, rather than with Europe. Having listened to the interview, I feel some sympathy for McCain. It is easy to understand how confused he might have been by the interviewer's accent. You or I might have taken some time to make sure we understood the question before answering, but McCain instead retreated into what he thought was a safe answer. A simple mistake, and an understandable one.

No big deal, in my opinion - until his campaign spokesman insisted that McCain heard it all, understood it all, and stood by his answers to the questions.

Does this remind you at all of a President who has trouble thinking of a single mistake he has made as President? Apparently McCain is adopting the full Bush, and applying this approach even to the most trivial gaffes and mistakes. Maybe they are just a little sensitive after his other gaffes (Czechoslovakia, the Iraqi-Afghan border, the Iran-Al Qaeda connection, and the Sunni-Shiite confusion - just to cite the foreign policy-related gaffes)

For a candidate who claims great foreign policy knowledge, McCain should be expected to make a lot fewer mistakes. But more importantly, for a man who would be commander-in-chief, McCain should be a lot less dishonest and a whole lot less ridiculous.

| +Save/Share | |