McCain appears to flub geography
One possible downside to Barack Obama's high-profile trip was that a flub would raise more questions about his readiness on foreign policy. But it appears that the far more experienced John McCain made the first verbal mistake.
On all three network morning shows today to attack Obama for opposing the so-called surge of troops to Iraq -- where the Democrat just landed this morning -- McCain appeared to confuse Iraq and Afghanistan.
Asked on ABC's "Good Morning America" about the situation in Afghanistan -- where both presidential candidates call for sending more US troops to take on the resurgent Taliban and root out al Qaeda, McCain replied.
"I think it's serious. . . . It's a serious situation, but there's a lot of things we need to do. We have a lot of work to do and I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border."
Iraq and Pakistan do not share a border; it is the Afghanistan/Pakistan border where intelligence officials believe remnants of al Qaeda are rebuilding.
This was probably just a slip of the tongue, let's not waste our time dissecting it.
BUT while we're on the subject, someone should ask John McCain if he knows the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite, and which group he thinks al Qaeda belongs to.
McCain may know a good deal about military strategy, but he doesn't know jack about foreign policy and diplomacy. "Know thine enemy," and McCain doesn't. We've got generals to worry about the military strategy. I want a president that knows who the hell we're strategizing against.
Is that any worse than saying there are 58 states in his own country?
Don't worry, this error will be swept under the rug by the so-called liberal news media. If Obama had said it, though, we'd never hear the end of it. Does the news media have a pro-Obama bias? Nope, pro-McCain is more like it --- that was a good BBQ!
Is that any worse than saying there are 58 states in his own country?
Flub and Flap flap flap!
Whatever, he got flustered. I'm definitely not a McCain supporter, but focusing on small slips like this is a huge waste of time.
McCain was fifth from the bottom of his graduating class at the US Naval Academy. This man is of below average intelligence. When will people begin to see this? His claim to fame was that he had his fifth plane (in 23 missions) shot out from under him and he was held prisoner for five and a half years. This doesn't qualify for anything other than our sympathy and thanks for doing his job. This last error in knowledge is one in a long line of errors that would not have been made by a good high school student. My gosh, McCain still refers to the country of "Czechoslavakia"!
Of course Ines would compare the two....because both have logical conclusions. Barack was referring to the 47 continental states (48 total) "save one, excluding Alaska and Hawaii that I have to visit". Intent understood. Mistake noted. McCain Clearly meant Afghanistan while mixing the three countries up. Mistake noted. So folks, let's get off the gaffe band wagon.
AS for McCain confusing Shiites and Sunnis, it wasn't a one time slip. He did it thrice in an interview while in Iraq. Joe Lieberman had to correct him to get it straight. This mistake is more telling. Shiites are not helping al Queda. Sworn enemies. Iran is not helping al-Queda, but Shia insurgents into Iraq, including Moqtada al Sadr. The McCain mix up is indicative of his command of the different factions at war. That worries me.
Obama may have said 58 states, instead of 48, because he was exhausted and coming off little sleep, but in the case of Sen McCain:
1) Mcain went on all three morning news shows this morning and on each referred to the "Iraqi/Pakistan" border, which doesn't exist
2) sent a rebuttal full of punctuation errors and run-on sentences to the New York Times (rebutting Obama's Op Ed) , only to have it rejected as "unprintable" by the NYT editor
3) not once, but twice, referred to the 15-years defunct "Czechoslovakia" as a
current country
4) continuously mixes up Shiites and Sunnis
You can look at one mistake and right it off as a mispeak (in Obama's case), but these serious mistakes on McCain's part can no longer be overlooked. If McCain is so wrong so much of the time, can we really trust him to be leader of the free world ? This advice, coming from an uncommited independent voter !
McCain was fifth from the bottom of his graduating class at the US Naval Academy. This man is of below average intelligence. When will people begin to see this? His claim to fame was that he had his fifth plane (in 23 missions) shot out from under him and he was held prisoner for five and a half years. This doesn't qualify for anything other than our sympathy and thanks for doing his job. This last error in knowledge is one in a long line of errors that would not have been made by a good high school student. My gosh, McCain still refers to the country of "Czechoslavakia"!
What do you mean by "appears to" flub?
It's right there on tape. It's a flub, not an appears to flub. Readers deserve straight talk.
The sad part is that most Americans don't care if McCain doesn't know the difference between Shiite and Sunni, because they don't either.
As long as the candidate feeds the collective ego. After all, this is the greatest country in the world!
John McCain continues to make mistakes that reflect that he is simply not thinking or ignorant of political affiliations, nuances, geography, etc, This is very troubling coming from a candidate for President. He himself admits that he doesn't understand economics yet he is faced with one of the most difficult economic challenges in decades. His military experience which according to him is his major qualification for the Oval Office, is mediocre at best. He was not even a mediocre pilot, a poor student at the Naval Academy or an above average Naval officer. His moral compass is not commendable when he abandoned his sick wife to chase Cindy and others while he was married. John McCain simply is not qualified to be the POTUS.
McCain was fifth from the bottom of of his class and still scored choice positions BECAUSE HIS FATHER WAS AN ADMIRAL. Militarily speaking, he was born with silver star in his mouth.
McCain is much like Bush. He was born on third base and think he hit a triple.
A non-story - it's clear what McCain meant, and there is NO DOUBT he knows the difference between Iraq and Afganistan - he's visited there - what 4 times the last couple years?
The liberal media is reaching - and there's nothing there.
This is a real issue considering McCain could be the potential leader of the free world. John McCain's age and health has come into question, so as voters we must be appropriately informed as to whether these are innocent gaffes or statements made by a truly confused individual. McCain repeatedly makes mistakes in regards to geography and history:
1. Refers to Czechoslovakia as a still existent country.
2. Confuses Shiites and Sunnis.
3 Confuses Iran with Iraq.
4. Appears to be confused with the location of Al Qaeda.
4. States that Iraq and Pakistan border one another.
5. Claims Vladimir Putin is the president of Germany.
As a commander-in-chief, America's top diplomat, and spokesman for the "West", we deserve a leader who does not embarrass his/her fellow Americans on a national and international stage with continuous acts of confusion and misstatements.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
Send your comments to masspolitics@globe.com
browse this blog
by categoryINside Boston.com
of the rich and creamy