Does John McCain (a) know that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is the current president of Spain? and (b) know that Spain is in Europe? It appears that the good senator is having a hard time distinguishing between the usual suspects in Latin America (Chávez, Morales, Castro) and the current Spanish head of state. In a recent interview with Cadena Ser radio network, McCain didn't seem to have the faintest idea who Zapatero is and thus waffled on whether or not he would meet with him as president of the United States (click here for an audio interview with McCain in Spanish). Now, it's okay that a politician doesn't spend his day texting and swapping viral videos with every foreign head of state in the world. But for heaven's sakes, Spain has had a significant role to play in the Iraq saga and should at least be on the radar screen of someone that wants to govern the United States. To be sure, Zapatero has his share of extremist detractors that would link him with the Latin American hard left (of course, for those people, anyone to the left of Pope Benedict is a commie and even he is a bit dubious at times). And Zapatero's relationship with Washington has been decidedly cool during his tenure. I happen to think that Zapatero is an idiot as well, for reasons I won't go into here. And, well, yes, he could pass for Mr. Bean's stunt double. But if he's an idiot, and if Hugo, Evo, and Raúl are idiots, they are so for different reasons. And there's no question that diplomatic protocol would dictate that Zapatero should be received at the White House.So, here we are with a presidential ticket that thinks a refueling stop in a foreign country counts as a visit and is hazy on the difference between Spain and Latin America. Heaven help us.
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