John McCain es un idiota.

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.

"The 'Bush Doctrine'? You Mean His World View?"

What is this? An outtake from "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader"? Please, please, please tell me that this is a joke and that there is no chance that this person could become the most powerful political figure in the world. I mean, seriously, there's no chance of that ever happening. Right? Right?



Here's one blogger on how Palin probably crammed for this interview:

"I can just imagine a note card in her pocket.
Side A: 'Terrorists'
Side B: 'Hell bent on destroying America'"

I guess the positive spin on all this is that John McCain clearly believes that America should be the land of opportunity for absolutely everyone. Think I'm exaggerating? Lest you be tempted to explain this away by saying, "Yeah, but she's smart. She can get up to speed on foreign policy quick enough," here's James Fallows' take on what this slip tells us about how Palin might govern.

[update on 9/13: apparently some commentators have tried to make the point that the interviewer himself is unaware of what the term "Bush Doctrine" means and that Palin's request for clarification is perfectly appropriate. It's true that Gibson doesn't distinguish between preemptive military action in general and what's novel about the Bush Doctrine. But if you think that Sarah Palin had this sort of nuance in mind when she asked for clarification, you're ... --what's the word?-- oh, yeah. Deluded. Your clue should be her question whether "Bush Doctrine" means "Bush's world view." Go back and watch the clip and read Fallows, linked above. There is no room for respectful disagreement on this point: anyone arguing otherwise is just being obtuse or disingenuous. If you're a Palin fan, it's better to accept the criticism, cut your losses, and move on].

Light. Sweet. Crude.

No, the title of this post does not represent my summary of the Republican National Convention (although two of the three adjectives do seem à propos) but rather the following clip from Jon Stewart. Enjoy and/or despair.

From Big Tent to Three-Ring Circus

The buzz this weekend was that there may be another line you can add to Sarah Palin's impressive resumé: the rumor was that she may be a moose-killin'-trash-talkin' -good-ol'-girl- former-beauty-queen mother-of-five-married-to-an-Eskimo-creationist grandma. Now, if this kind of claim could be substantiated, I'd be the first to admit that her motives for protecting her teenage daughter from public embarrassment would, arguably, be noble (if not slightly twisted, from my perspective). But--and I underscore that this kind of speculation is just that, speculation--then it would demonstrate a remarkable capacity to blatantly lie to the press and even those closest to her. Not to mention the fact that she would be politically naive enough to believe that this kind of story wouldn't eventually be outed. I don't know how this will play out and I'm sympathetic to those that claim we should refrain from subjecting the personal lives of politicians and their families to undue scrutiny. But it's another thing altogether when part and parcel of your political message are the details of your own rosy-hued "personal story." And hers is a personal story worth paying attention to.

[update at 3:30 pm on Sept 1: it now turns out that while this rumor was probably false, the campaign has announced that her unmarried 17-year old daughter is currently pregnant. I tend to agree with Obama's statement that nobody outside the family has any business mucking around with this issue. But it can't be good for the Republicans that they're getting this much soap opera drama only three days after the announcement that Palin was McCain's choice. If this kind of decision on McCain's part in choosing Palin in the first place--the "maverick" shooting from the hip, advisors and pundits be damned--well, then I think I've seen all I need to see of the governing style he would bring to the White House].

I'll just say one more thing about Palin, at least for now. I don't know what LDS church members will make of her but I think it's fair to point out that one of the items that has been touted to sell her to the socialcons is her former leadership of a chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. This, of course, is an organization that very pointedly does not allow members of the LDS faith to join. In fact, they made a show recently of stripping a high school athlete of an award once they found out he was Mormon. John McCain sure made the right choice if he was determined to appease the evangelical socialcons that had threatened to stay home. There's nothing they would have hated more than to see a Mormon on the ticket.

As for McCain, there was a time (about eight years ago, to be precise) when he really did seem different from other Republicans, when his candidacy seemed to betoken an uncommon willingness to work with colleagues across the aisle for the common good (remember the old "Straight Talk Express"?). But the crude calculations involved in his selection of Palin is disappointing in the extreme. In fact, those calculations are so transparent--"let's throw a bone to the evangelical nutcases and see if we can pick off a few Hillary supporters as well"-- that you almost have to believe that he intended for his motives to be regarded as both transparent and crass. And that would represent, for me, a willingness to make contemporary politics postmodern in a brand new way: maybe this is the new Straight Talk Express after all.

For the sake of comparison, consider Obama's selection of Joe Biden. I confess that I felt a certain disappointment when he announced his choice. Certainly, Obama made this choice as the result of a kind of political calculation as well: Biden helps with the Catholic vote, he helps with the blue collar vote, he helps with those worried about Obama's lack of experience. But Obama at least intended his choice to be construed as one that was principled. And, in some sense, it is. If anything were to happen to Obama, I don't think there's any doubt that Biden would be capable of competently assuming the presidency, and I think both Democrats and Republicans would agree on that much.

But here we have McCain, choosing a former beauty queen and darling of the socialcons, not caring that his motives simply are just what they appear to be: winning the election, no matter the cost. And that, my friends, is the true postmodern spirit. Who'dda thunk that a crusty old war veteran would be breaking ground like this? Give the wrinkly old white guy--to cite the ever-relevant Paris Hilton--his props.

In a not-altogether-unrelated item, take a gander at this clown from the "Christian"-oriented organization, Focus on the Family. Isn't he witty and droll? Do you suppose that this guy's finely honed comedic chops include an appreciation of irony? Nah, probably not. (That's not to say that the Republicans have the market cornered on such trash).

This Just In ...

Senator John McCain has just announced his vice-presidential running mate, 44-year old Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who has served all of 18 months in that position, subsequent to serving on the Wasilla City Council and, later, as mayor. Rumor has it McCain had wished to choose a Chinese gymnast but was dissuaded by advisers because the Constitution stipulates that the candidate must have been born in the United States.