Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

Fuck the economy - let's go to war with Spain!

Did John McCain really just suggest that the Prime Minister of Spain might be one of America's enemies? One of those international leaders he'd refuse to meet with?

Does he want to liberate Spain too?

Alas, the link is in Espanol, which long-time readers of this blog will know I speak roughly a dozen words fluently of. Hola! Donde esta el gato? Bueno! And my bloody work computers think Babelfish is forbidden territory. So it's a good thing, after that eye-popper, that TPM came through with an update:

We wanted to give you an update on the post below where we described Sen. McCain's latest gaffe in which he seemed to suggest that he might not be willing to meet with Spanish Prime Minster Zapatero because he is among those world leaders who want to harm America.

The story is already getting picked up pretty quickly in the Spanish press. And the way it's being interpreted in the Spanish press is that McCain got confused about the fact that Spain is a country in Europe, rather than a rogue state in Latin America.

Our review of the audio suggests the same conclusion. In the interview, McCain is asked about Hugo Chavez, the situation in Bolivia and then about Raul Castro. He responds to each of these with expected answers about standing up to America's enemies, etc. Then the
interviewer switches gears and asks about Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister. And McCain replies -- very loose translation -- that he'll establish close relations with our friends and stand out to those who want to do us harm. The interviewer has a double take and seems to think McCain might be confused. So she asks it again. But McCain sticks to the same evasive answer.

Fantastic. McCain can't tell the difference between a Sunni and a Shi'a, he thinks Czechoslovakia still exists, he believes Pakistan borders Iraq, and now he has no idea that Spain's not a Latin American rogue state.

Tell me again that this stupid twit is a "foreign policy expert."

In light of that, I have no idea why his campaign's stupid enough to suggest he can pwn Obama in a debate:

Four years ago, the Bush campaign knew exactly how to play the game. Matthew Dowd, the Bush-Cheney campaign's chief strategist, told the Washington Post that John Kerry "is very formidable, and probably the best debater ever to run for president." "I'm not joking," Dowd added. "I think he's better than Cicero," the ancient Roman orator.

The goal, obviously, was to build up expectations that Kerry couldn't meet. It's common sense -- partisans on both sides want the public to expect their guy to be average and other guy to be great.

I found it odd, then, that Frank Donatelli, the deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee, seemed to have this backwards while talking to the National Review.

"Starting early next week, I think you'll see a lot of interest in Friday's debate. It may draw the highest numbers we've ever seen, and I think that for the v.p. debate, you'll see a tremendous amount of interest. We feel good about that. Senator McCain is much better at giving answers off the cuff, and Obama has some trouble when he doesn't have his teleprompter."

Do what, now? I think it's time to take the Republicons in for a full neurological exam - they keep getting reality ass-backwards. McCain's off-the-cuff answers lead to gaffes, misstatements, flip-flops, embarrassments, incoherent mumblings, outrageous lies, and calling the Prime Minister of Spain a potential enemy of America. Obama, in comparison, is eloquent, clear, factual, and doesn't often slip up. But McCain's gonna do better. Riiight.

Maybe they think that because the World's Stupidest Democrat just plumped for McCain:

In general, the notion that a Democrat that few Americans have ever heard of is prepared to support John McCain is pretty inconsequential. There are some high-profile Republicans, including Iowa's Jim Leach, backing Barack Obama, so the notion of a low-profile Democrat breaking party ranks seems largely forgettable.

But a lot of news outlets seem to be taking this pretty seriously, so it's probably worth taking a closer look.

Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a prominent Hillary Clinton supporter and member of the Democratic National Committee's Platform Committee, will endorse John McCain for president on Wednesday, her spokesman
tells CNN.

The announcement will take place at a news conference on Capitol Hill, just blocks away from the DNC headquarters. Forester will "campaign and help him through the election," the spokesman said of her plans to help the Republican presidential nominee.

Explaining her distaste for Obama, Forester said, "I feel like he is an elitist."

Let me get this straight. Lynn Forester de Rothschild, who tends to go by "Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild," is the CEO of an international holding company. She's married to Sir
Evelyn de Rothschild, a British financier and a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England. She splits her time living in London and New York.

And she's backing John McCain, a multimillionaire who has lost track of how many homes he owns, because she perceives Obama as "an elitist."

I give up. These aren't people. They're parodies.