Big news from the Beeb: McCain doesn’t know who the Spanish PM is. It was also the lead on their round-up of the day. As a demonstration of the value of publicly funded news, it’s worth reflecting that if the BBC hadn’t picked up on this, we may never have heard about it; only the Guardian and Independent in the UK seem to have run it. Of course, sometimes other gaffes don’t seem to capture the BBC’s imagination to quite the same extent, but you can’t have everything.
You’re ‘avin a gaffe
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You mean like Osama’s 57 states in the USA or Bidens gaff (one of many) that Hillary is a better VP candidate that himself.
The BBC is pathetic with this ‘gotcha’ politics
well it’s pretty obvious that in any sane world not knowing which continent spain is in would be a bigger impediment as presindent of the US that forgetting that some dude is disabled – but as it looks like mccain was trying by a tortuous route to make some sort of political point this is a NON STORY.
Its just a continuation of the “Bush is an idiot” mythology of the left.Usual bollox along with “warmonger”, “imperialist”, any name-calling will do to support their child’s view of politics
Anyway, why shouldn’t idiots aspire to be President. What have clever people ever done for us? Gordon Brown’s quite clever isn’t he?
For the love of allah, it seems pretty apparent what McCain was getting it YET Al beeb has managed to f9ck the context of his comments up and twist it to the way they want it to look.
Funnily enough, this supposed foo pah isnt being carried by the MSM in America, who would be all over this if this was an actual stuff up.
Mailman
In fact, the story is being reported by MSM America in the same context as his quote, ie. we will work with you if you are our friend.
Funny how Al Beeb managed to miss the real story eh?
Mailman
Three points.
1. Who cares about leftist loving terrorist appeaser Zapatero?
2. This IS the continuation of Bush is a moron narrative that is lapped up by Euroweenies.
3. I would have thought not knowing the number of US States was perhaps more worrying – for a US President!
1) anyone who wants to trade with Spain – a not insignificant nation in its own right, a reasonably important voice within the EU which is an extremely important trading partner for the US and a powerful influence on latin america which is also an extremely important trading partner and potentially a major hassle if not managed effectively. in this context only a fool would ostracise them for no better reason that ideological purity. zapatero is leftist but also a realist.
also anyone with a large number of citizens/voters of spanish descent i’d imagine. arbitrarily abusing spain as a nation would not be a good move.
2) looks like it dunnit. but ‘euroweenies’?? that’s a bit 2003 (i.e. before it transpired that bush really was a bit rubbish)…
3) agreed. however in the real world away from playground spinning and bullshit i’m sure obama really does know how many states there are. i’m also pretty sure that mccain was making a point but if not its a worry
You are sure “The One” ™ knows how many states there are YET it sounds like you cant be sure if you know whether McCain knows who the Zappazorro is?
Double standard?
Nah, couldnt be.
Mailman
I am sorry to see that you have fallen for a left wing smear on this. McCain’s answers show that he knew perfectly well where Spain is, and who Zapatero is, and that he wouldn’t commit himself to meeting him because he, quite rightly, distrusts him.
See the full story here.
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/does-mccain-really-think-spain-is-in-latin-america/
What exactly would be the dire consequences of McCain forgetting in conversation that Zapatero is the Spanish PM, anyway? I’m fairly sure they could afford someone to remind him if he got the top job.
I’d apply but I’m pretty bad with names myself.
It wasn’t just that he didn’t seem to know who Zapatero was, it was that he automatically assumed he was a south american president and hence, refused to say for sure that he would interact with him diplomatically. This is blatant prejudice given he clearly didn’t know the man, the country he leads or his politics.
Er, so he wasn’t sure what country they were talking about and therefore wouldn’t commit to diplomacy with them. That’s a bad thing? Better to commit to diplomatic relations with them first and then find out who they are?
Obama didn’t visit Spain during his recent European tour…
mailman said: ‘You are sure “The One” ™ knows how many states there are YET it sounds like you cant be sure if you know whether McCain knows who the Zappazorro is?
Double standard?’
I think Cockney was being charitable and was giving McCain the benefit of the doubt.
This is just an example of the longstanding Beeboid assumption that Republicans are by definition stupid. Who was the last republican not to be presented by the Beeb as being several french-fries short of a happy meal? Nixon – and he gets protrayed as having been evil incarnate. So McCain not knowing the name of the Spanish PM is just the sort of thing that fits their world view. The demonstrable fact that Obama can’t string a sentence together without an autocue is ignored completely.
I can’t imagine the fact that Obama’s top team includes people who between them looted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will get much play with al-Beeb either.
I didn’t know the name of the paella eating surrender monkey in chief either ( beyond it being Z-something ) and I’ve been living there for most of this year.
Maybe the Beeb have trouble choosing from the multitude of gaffes Obama/Biden had offered so far.
Just for the sake of balance *cough*, to counter McCain’s gaffe, they could have used Obama’s referal to the ‘president’ of Canda.
But as the say in lefty media land: one man’s gaffe is another’s minor misstatement.
http://www.willisms.com/archives/2007/08/obama_gaffe_che.html
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MWZjY2YzZWVkMjdkMDEzMGQ0MjJkNTUyN2FkNmMzYTc=
http://www.gop.com/BarackGaffes/
“I didn’t know the name of the paella eating surrender monkey in chief either ( beyond it being Z-something ) and I’ve been living there for most of this year.”
I’d be hoping that you don’t become US president any time soon.
I didn’t know the name of the paella eating surrender monkey in chief either ( beyond it being Z-something ) and I’ve been living there for most of this year.
HSLD | 19.09.08 – 1:01 pm
So that qualifies you to comment on Spain and it’s president?
PS: Paella’s only really eaten in the South – the Valencia region to be precise.
This is just an example of the longstanding Beeboid assumption that Republicans are by definition stupid. Who was the last republican not to be presented by the Beeb as being several french-fries short of a happy meal? Nixon – and he gets protrayed as having been evil incarnate.
Yeah, Republicans are either dumb as rocks or evil super-genii. Sometimes both at the same time. Even having a Harvard MBA like Dubya doesn’t preclude you from being a simpleton. 3rd class undergraduate degrees in Media Studies from some polytechnic are much better anyway.
Anonymous:
It wasn’t just that he didn’t seem to know who Zapatero was, it was that he automatically assumed he was a south american president and hence, refused to say for sure that he would interact with him diplomatically. This is blatant prejudice given he clearly didn’t know the man, the country he leads or his politics
For goodness sake go and read the f*****g transcript before commenting. He was asked if he would meet Zapatero and rather than waffle, you know like Obama does when his autocue stops, he quite deliberately made the point that he wasn’t necessarily going to meet with people who were not friends with the USA which clearly applies to Zapatero. Even the interviewer says that she is quite sure that he knew who Zapatero was.
I think the point people here have completely over looked is…at no point did McCain say he didnt know who zapporo is.
This reeks of Obama spin.
Mailman
Selective reporting:
In the light of his “this is important” quote in his blog from the Bush-hating faux Republican Chuck Hagel, I trust Justin Webb will give equal weight to the following from the New York Times.
“Ms. Ferraro, who clashed with the Obama campaign about whether she made a racially offensive remark, said she might not [vote for Obama] either. “I think Obama was terribly sexist,” she said.”
Geraldine Ferraro (a former Democratic Vice Presidential candidate and Hillary Clinton team member) is a bigger deal than Hagel.
Will it be reported? I’m not holding my breath.
If BBC staff are so clever why do they make so much rubbishy TV? If GWB or John McCain ever see stuff like Eastenders or Casualty they will come to the conclusion that people who manufacture such stuff and proclaim it to be of high quality are probaly complete morons or cynical liars. If I was in the trash entertainment/news industry I’d be inclined to be reticent about sounding off about the cleverness and motives of other people.
Cockney | 19.09.08 – 11:43 am |
in this context only a fool would ostracise them for no better reason that ideological purity. zapatero is leftist but also a realist.
also anyone with a large number of citizens/voters of spanish descent i’d imagine. arbitrarily abusing spain as a nation would not be a good move.
I take your point, but even though we have to deal with Spain, there’s no reason for McCain not to do a little Paddington Bear diplomacy right now (this is the only sort of occasion where I think that does any good). It’s just a little election gamesmanship. No big deal. If McCain gets elected, it will be all smiles in the showers afterward, with the arm-twisting and scolding going on behind closed doors, as usual.
In any case, Zapatero ran on an anti-US platform. The day he won is the day I stopped buying Spanish wine and clementines. My country may trade with them to keep the wheels oiled, but I don’t have to.
PS: The BBC is playing this up to show that McCain is old, not stupid. They probably scoured their sources to find just the right photo, too.
David, completely understand your stance on Zapatero and at the end of the day the US and Spain will have a reasonable relationship because they’re reasonable mature democracies. We’re not talking Venezuela or Russia here. Which is why outrage from the Spanish on an election tactic and “what is Spain anyway” whining from the neocon die hards is a little childish.
But anyway the above is irrelevent, the question is whether McCain is retarded enough not to know who the President of Spain is. It looks completely wrong to take that conclusion from the interview so why are the Beeb devoting a page to it?
Talking of gaffes, ‘Question Time’ and Harriet Harperson, Minister against Men (and Palin):
“I wouldn’t vote for Palin says Harman in new gaffe”
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23557787-details/I+wouldn%27t+vote+for+Palin+says+Harman+in+new+gaffe/article.do
Hugh:
I’m sorry to use this strand for this comment but it is time sensitive. Sarah Palin has become the target for a subtle line of BBC negative reporting. In two reports on the BBC web page (Thursday and Friday) about the hacking of her e-mails, the following sentence appears:
“Mrs Palin is being investigated in Alaska for alleged abuse of power while governor of the state.”
The offending stories are:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7622726.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7624809.stm
Why is this sentence in the stories? What is the relevance of this information?
In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, propagandists in the Soviet Union advised Hollywood filmmakers not to make grand communist films but to infiltrate lines of dialogue with a communist message into mainstream films thus planting seditious ideas in a clandestine way. It seems someone at the Beeb has learned this lesson well.
Perhaps this now paves the way for a story that reads: “Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin woke up and brushed her teeth today. She is being investigated in Alaska for alleged abuse of power while governor of the state.”
I’d alert others to keep an eye out for this sentence appearing on air today.
Biodegradable | 19.09.08 – 1:29 pm So that qualifies you to comment on Spain and it’s president?
Cockney | 19.09.08 – 2:53 pm But anyway the above is irrelevent, the question is whether McCain is retarded enough not to know who the President of Spain is.
Spain is a monarchy & therefore doesn’t have a president.
Here is the transcript of that part of the interview. Judge for yourself.
QUESTION: Senator, finally, let’s talk about Spain. If you’re elected president, would you be willing to invite President Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero to the White House to meet with you?
MCCAIN: I would be willing meet, uh, with those leaders who our friends [sic] and want to work with us in a cooperative fashion, and by the way, President Calderon of Mexico is fighting a very very tough fight against the drug cartels. I’m glad we are now working in cooperation with the Mexican government on the Merida plan. I intend to move forward with relations, and invite as many of them as I can, those leaders, to the White House.
QUESTION: Would that invitation be extended to the Zapatero government, to the president itself?
MCCAIN: I don’t, you know, honestly I have to look at relations and the situations and the priorities, but I can assure you I will establish closer relations with our friends and I will stand up to those who want to do harm to the United States of America.
QUESTION: So you have to wait and see if he’s willing to meet with you, or you’ll be able to do it in the White House?
MCCAIN: Well again I don’t, all I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the hemisphere that are friends with us, and standing up to those who are not, and that’s judged on the basis of the importance of our relationship with Latin America, and the entire region.
Cockney | 19.09.08 – 2:53 pm |
It looks completely wrong to take that conclusion from the interview so why are the Beeb devoting a page to it?
To show he’s old and senile. They don’t come right out with it, of course. They’re pretending they’re merely reporting the story, dispassionately, impartially.
But the Beeboids always tell us to look at the big picture, and to consider the content of their overall reporting, which includes plenty of bits about McCain’s age, the skin cancer thing, etc. So in that context: drip, drip, drip….
Conversely, there is rarely any mention of Obamessiah gaffes. After all, did the BBC do a whole story about the time the Obamessiah spoke about the “President of Canada”?
“Spain is a monarchy & therefore doesn’t have a president.”
doh! clearly there’s only one retard around here…
Cockney | 19.09.08 – 3:46 pm
cheer up – the interviewer clearly made the same mistake.
The US president can’t be expected to know the name of every country’s leader and Spain isn’t a very important country. The president will have people who know that kind of thing on his behalf. I’m sure he could swot up things like that if he was going to appear on a trashy quiz show like the ones the BBC makes.
The BBC seem to pick on the word ‘Hemisphere’.
That seems to me like McCain was talking about Countries in the Northern Hemisphere, which would of course include Spain, unless some rent boy loving drug taking beeboid thinks Spain isn’t in the northern hemisphere?
Am I stupid. I don’t know who the PM of Spain is. Neither do I know who the governers of 48 sates are.
Is there much point in knowing leaders of some of these regions of the EU ?
Martin – But stay! Obama also said, live on the mike, that he had “visited all 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii!” Odd that he didn’t know that Hawaii, the state where he was born, and Alaska had been been admitted to statehood the year before he was born. It’s been 50 states for all the years he has been on earth.
Re McCain – I only know the name of Spanish Prime Minister because his name is shoe-maker in Spanish and I happened to know that. Otherwise, who cares?
Cockney no one in the United States gives a crap about Spain. They don’t vacation there, they’ve never seen products with Hecho en Espagna stamped on them. Dream on. Spain is a very important trading partner to Latin America – mainly S America. Mexico doesn’t seem to have an overload of trade with Spain,although I have seen olive oil from Spain in supermarkets.
Biodegradable, you are right! Even Obama missed Spain off his all important 3-day diplomatic mission to Yurrop.
Max – I hadn’t read “the President of Canada”! That’s wonderful! And Obama had actually flown up to Canada to meet with the PM around three months ago to assure him he was just kidding when he told he folks in Ohio he would trash NAFTA. And he still thinks he met with a president?
Someone wrote: “also anyone with a large number of citizens/voters of spanish descent i’d imagine. arbitrarily abusing spain as a nation would not be a good move.”
I have never met a single person of Spanish descent in the US. Not a one. Whoever wrote this is confused because he doesn’t realise that Americans sometimes refer to Mexicans and Central Americans as Hispanics because Spanish is the language of their countries. This is a local N American usage and doesn’t include Spain.
Mark2 rightly points out that Mr McCain intends to continue to work closely with Mexico’s President Calderon – a genuine Conservative and a brilliant mind – and that is infinitely more important to the United States from every point of view: the economy of both countries (NAFTA), the fight against the drugs trade from south of Mexico with Mexico used as transit, and close military cooperation. North America comprises 300m Americans, 105m Mexicans and around 45m Canadians.
Who the hell cares about Spain which offers nothing trade-wise or strategic-wise? Does the US export anything to Spain?
The last Spaniard anyone in N America has heard of is Cortez.
Your search – obama “my muslim faith” site:bbc.co.uk – did not match any documents.
Sure, it was only a gaffe. But WHAT a gaffe. Why wasn’t it reported?
“Am I stupid. I don’t know who the PM of Spain is.”
Yes
“Neither do I know who the governers of 48 sates are.”
I’m sure John McCain does, but then he’s not stupid.
“Spain isn’t a very important country.”
Member of NATO. One of the larger members of the EU. Umpteen million hispanic citizens. Hmmm.
“The president will have people who know that kind of thing on his behalf.”
F***ing hell, maybe he has people who wipe his arse for him as well. And tell him what to say. Maybe the White House cat can do the job.
“Cockney no one in the United States gives a crap about Spain. They don’t vacation there”
I’m sure that very few people in Spain give a crap about Arizona in particular and the US in general or have any great desire to vacation there – having as they do great food, weather and an enviable lifestyle. Doesn’t mean their PM doesn’t know who John McCain is.
Does it really come down to “our bloke cocked up about [x] (except he actually didn’t as pretty much everyone has spotted) ergo [x] must be irrelevent”???? If he makes a gaffe about food are you going to stop eating?
Cockney, running up the wrong street, writes: “I’m sure that very few people in Spain give a crap about Arizona in particular and the US in general or have any great desire to vacation there – having as they do great food, weather and an enviable lifestyle. Doesn’t mean their PM doesn’t know who John McCain is.”
Perhaps their lifestyle looks enviable to British people, but not Americans? I can’t see any reason for Americans to have information about Spain at the tip of their fingers. Doubtless when Senator McCain is President, he will get briefings on Spain, as needs be.
California has better, and cheaper, wine than Spain. Better low-cost “champagne” as well.
Spain doesn’t even have Tex-Mex. Jeeeez …!
Spain is a monarchy & therefore doesn’t have a president.
will | 19.09.08 – 3:22 pm
Mark2:
Here is the transcript of that part of the interview. Judge for yourself.
QUESTION: Senator, finally, let’s talk about Spain. If you’re elected president, would you be willing to invite President Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero to the White House to meet with you?
‘President’ Zapatero
It appears that prime minister Zapatero is sometimes referred to as president Zapatero in Spain, because he is “president” of the government. In America, prime ministers tend to be called prime ministers, but for the record, Scheuneman can claim some technical validity here.
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Luis_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (n. Valladolid el 4 de agosto de 1960) es un político socialista español, y el quinto presidente del Gobierno de España desde la Transición, tras su victoria en las elecciones generales de 2004. Es el actual presidente del Gobierno (IX Legislatura), tras revalidar su cargo en las elecciones generales de 2008.
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidente_del_Gobierno_de_Espa%C3%B1a
El Presidente del Gobierno es el Jefe de Gobierno de España. Su elección se realiza en el Congreso de los Diputados, la Cámara Baja de las Cortes Generales, mediante un proceso llamado investidura, y luego es nombrado por el Rey, ante el cual presta juramento o promesa.
http://www.google.com/search?&q=president+zapatero
And Obama referred to the Prime Minister of Canada as the President. And Canada is one of the three countries in NAFTA! It’s not a lot to remember …
An interesting point has just occurred to me. Has Obama been to Mexico? I mean, never mind Germany and France, both of them cogs in the EUSSR, but how about the other of the three countries in N America? And the homeland of a large voting bloc in the US – the Hispanics.
Now that I am thinking about it, I’d be surprised if Obama hadn’t tried to get a gig in Mexico to play to the millions of Latinos back home in the US – almost all of them originally from Mexico. Strange that he never went to Mexico, whose President is a genuine classic conservative and a brain box… Jes’ sayin’ is all.
Martin:
“The BBC seem to pick on the word ‘Hemisphere’.
That seems to me like McCain was talking about Countries in the Northern Hemisphere, which would of course include Spain, unless some rent boy loving drug taking beeboid thinks Spain isn’t in the northern hemisphere?”
When American politicians mention ‘the hemisphere’ they are almost always referring to the Americas, i.e. Canada, USA and Latin America. Spain doesn’t figure in their use of the term.
The only hemisphere American politicians refer to is the Western Hemisphere, That is, the Americas. They spend 24 hours a day not thinking about Europe.
Verity, re: “Martin – But stay! Obama also said, live on the mike, that he had “visited all 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii!””
Actually, Obama’s mistake was much worse. He said that he’d visited all 57 states, and had only one left… Alaska and Hawaii.
Apparently he thinks there are 58 states, and that Alaska and Hawaii are the SAME state.
I mean, that’s the BEST interpretation. Otherwise, I’d have to presume that the man can’t count to two.
Hmmm… it would be fascinating to ask these Brit politicians and reporters what they think of the President of Guam.
And yes, that would be a trick question, given that Guam is a US Territory, and their president has the middle initial of “W”. 😉
Actually, Mamapajamas, he made two separate errors on separate days. One was that he said he had visited all 57 states. The other, I believe made earlier but can’t remember, was when he said he had visited “all 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii.”
I noticed specifically because it reinforced my notion that Obama is as close to a Manchurian Candidate as we’re ever going to get (I hope) and that he had been taught some things wrongly. Among them that Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states. Possibly he learned these things in Indonesia, as a child, and they were using old textbooks …
I have noted him being corrected before on small points, and rather than argue them, he looks confused. As though he had been taught the wrong information and is therefore stymied for an comeback – because as far as he knew, that was correct.
Anyone else – with a quick wit – would have corrected himself quickly re the 57 states mistake. Possibly making a quick-witted reference to Heinz 57 and Senator Kerry. But he was dumbfounded. Same with the “all 48 states” remark. He could have dismissed his mistake very quickly – “Been watching too many old movies on TV trying to relax …” or something. It would have been forgotten instantaneously. But he froze.
It’s interesting.
“Gordon Brown’s quite clever isn’t he?”
Thanks for the laugh.