This is almost certainly going to sound nitpicky, if not actually petty, but bear with me. It’s not unreasonable to note that John McCain continues to make references to a country that doesn’t exist.
At a press conference in Phoenix today, for example, McCain referenced Czechoslovakia. Again.
“I was concerned about a couple of steps that the Russian government took in the last several days. One was reducing the energy supplies to Czechoslovakia. Apparently that is in reaction to the Czech’s agreement with us concerning missile defense, and again some of the Russian now announcement they are now retargeting new targets, something they abandoned at the end of the Cold War, is also a concern. So we see the tensions between Russia and their neighbors, as well as Russia and the United States are somewhat increasing.”
On first blush, this sounds like more antagonistic rhetoric towards Russia — which McCain wants to kick out of the G8 — which isn’t especially helpful.
But more importantly, Russia can’t “reduce energy supplies to Czechoslovakia.” Czechoslovakia, of course, doesn’t exist. It split into two countries more than 15 years ago. McCain has actually been to the Czech Republic and Slovakia since they became independent countries, and he’s met with their leaders.
So, McCain slipped up. He’s 71 and this is going to happen from time to time, right? Well, there’s a little more to it than that.
First, as Greg Sargent noted, McCain has made this same mistake more than once during the campaign. About three months ago, McCain vowed to “work closely with Czechoslovakia” on missile defense. Last fall, during a Republican debate, McCain said: “The first thing I would do is make sure that we have a missile defense system in place in Czechoslovakia and Poland, and I don’t care what his objections are to it.”
Second, before Republicans condemn Dems for being picky on this, let’s not forget that in the 2000 campaign, when McCain also screwed up Czechoslovakia, it was none other than George W. Bush who said it deserved to be a campaign issue: “A guy gets up and quizzes me [on world leaders] … but John McCain says something about the ‘ambassador to Czechoslovakia.’ Well, I know there is no Czechoslovakia [there’s a Czech Republic and a Slovakia], but yet it didn’t make the nightly national news.”
Look, I know this was just another verbal slip. McCain has been incompetent about foreign affairs for quite a while, and in the grand scheme of things, it’s relatively inconsequential that he keeps referencing a country that ceased to be in 1993. He’s said far worse.
But the raison d’etre of John McCain’s entire presidential campaign is the notion that he’s an expert on foreign policy, thanks to his decades of experience as a Washington insider. When the foreign policy expert keeps referencing a non-existent country, it’s not unreasonable to mention that maybe his expertise isn’t quite as impressive as his campaign and the political media establishment would like us to believe.
Put it this way — in August 2007, Barack Obama mentioned “the president of Canada” in a debate. Canada, of course, has a prime minister, not a president. Obama had made a mistake. What happened? Political reporters pounced (see here, here, here, and here, for example), mocking Obama’s error and highlighting the gaffe as evidence that he’s “too inexperienced to become commander in chief.”
At the time, David Frum argued, “Barack Obama refers to the ‘president of Canada,’ the kind of misstep that would cost a Republican candidate for president dearly.”
It seems Frum had it backwards. The media jumped all over Obama’s inconsequential error. McCain, meanwhile, makes mistakes like this all the time, almost always with no media scrutiny at all.
How much attention do you suppose McCain’s Czechoslovakia mistake will get?
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What next? Is he uniting the two Germany’s?
It would seem nitpicky if it didn’t stop being a country 15 years ago but it did.
I have to admit that when I went to Amsterdam a few years ago my awareness of the Czech Republic was greater than my knowledge of Slovakia.
Just remember that your neighbor’s kid, the snotty one, was born in Bratislava.
Not petty or nitpicky at all. The fact that he’s making a pattern out of this kinda suggests that he doesn’t realize (or, more likely, care) that there are now two separate countries where there once was one. If Obama was saying “Czechoslovakia” McCain would sure as Hell say it speaks to his ignorance of the global situation and the media would question it, too.
Widespread @ 3:
Bratsylvania (GOP boarding schools)
Never mind that the current sad state of Russian politics is the direct result of US interference, that in the rush to privatize everything, supported the corrupt drunken imbecile Boris Yeltsin over the intellectual statesman Michael Gorbachev, the person who really ended the cold war and brought democracy, however short lived, to Russia. While Gorbachev offered a social democracy, Yeltsin rushed to hand over control of the country and its assets to a small group of Kremlin insiders and criminal class and created an oligarchy. This was the policy advocated by the Chicago School economists sent by the Reagan and Bush the first regimes and their theory of shock therapy economics.
McCain: Damn, I can’t find it again.
Aide: OK sir, we’ll do this again. Put your hands on your hips, now slide them around the back. Now down. There you go sir, that’s your ass, you finally found it.
Is it because he’s “old”? I know plenty of “old people” - older than this, too - who are a hell of a lot smarter than this.
Or is it because he’s dumb?
Or maybe he’s just being a “maverick” again. Yeah, that’s it…
Carol @ 1:
Nah, bringing democracy to the USSR.
Snowball @ 6:
Excellent points.
Keep in mind the fact that he is also making policy speeches. Not just making comments on a blog somewhere.
MCain: “Havel, Tear down that wall.”
“Mr. Prime Mayor - knock down those, err.. that… uhh… them wall-type-dikes!”
“You c*nt!”
Anybody going to do a photoshop of Bush and McCain as the Festrunk Brothers (from SNL)?
Imagine if Obama went around talking about the Soviet Union instead of Russia.
He sounds more and more like Montgomery Burns every day.
“Yes, I’d like to send this letter to the Prussian consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4:30 autogyro?”
Excellent.
Gretchen @ 9:
…then he’ll visit the flood ravaged East Pakistan, and finally make a stop in Upper Volta.
Gretchen @ 9:
Don’t forget about Yugoslavia while you’re at it.
Thresher @ 16:
It’s 3:00AM. Don’t you want your president answer the phone by saying, “Ahoy ahoy!”?
This reminds me of Bush’s run for Pres. McSame’s bar has been set just as low, and since little is expected then much will be accomplished. By the way, did you know that he was a POW war hero?
“Old man yells at cloud” part 350.
I guess McCrazy’s little friends Joe, Lindsey and Phil weren’t around to babysit and do damage control. Grandpa mustn’t be left unattended, you know.
The Sting Sun Times article (last of the 4 Obama links) is freaking hilarious !
mccain is trying to appeal to his base and republicans prefer not to hear factual information.
As someone who is half-Slovak and KNOWS Slovakia is its own country, I will say only this:
McCain is a STARY MUZ (old man) and has once again proved it.
You libruls can laugh all you want, but who better to protect us against the Ottoman Empire?
Milwauken @ 25:
Hilarious! :^)
Milwauken @ 25:
Certainly not the lying twits that are running the show now, or the cranky old man who will keep pushing Dubya’s agenda.
John McGoo…
Mr. McGoo to you,
he hasn’t clue,
so what is new.
Though he’d still do,
for the NeoCons he did woo,
but we’re in a stew,
so he may be through.
mudshark @ 27:
Just so you know, I’m aware of the sarcasm.
When is the next autogyro from Prussia to Siam?
TheNextDylan @ 14:
They are two wild and crazy guys from Bratislava. I can’t think of Slovakia without thinking of Steve Martin.
Alice X (Chomsky Nader) status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 28:
I was sure you were going to bring in John Yoo.
Blue Buddha @ 19:
A lifetime of working with nuclear power has left him with a healthy green glow… and as impotent as a Nevada boxing commissioner.
Milwauken @ 25:
And what about the Austro-Hungarians? Better watch them, they can be dangerous. And while touring the African continent Mc Clueless should consider a trip to Rhodesia and make a stop at the Belgian Congo too.
McCzechBlank’s
McSame 2008.
Vote early! Vote often! Without leaving a paper trail.
Four more years of the same savvy foreign policy that worked for Firefly of Freedonia.
Well at least he hasn’t referred to the Czech Republic as the Kingdom of Bohemia… yet.
I’m expecting McCain to declare a preemptive strike against the Spartans.
McCain should also be worried about the growing conflict between Formosa and China.
Pittsburg Steelers of Czechoslovakia….keep it up mcBush
It’s not just that he’s 71. He also graduated in the bottom 1% of his class at the Naval Academy. Why is that not relevant, particularly in light of these ridiculous, sophomoric gaffs? Have we ever, in our history as a nation, elected a man President who finished in the bottom 1% of his class in college?
Do you think he knows the personal computer has been invented
Milwauken @ 25:
I always thought that would be a great name for a furniture store .
We don’t want this moron elected dog catcher much less president.
it’s a mistake to focus on his age.
McKeatingFive is just lazy and indolent, like the man whose armpits he aspires to sniff again.
it’s 3am and the phone rings in the whitehouse
mccain answers confused and addled.
mcfuckhead starts singing bomb, bomb, bomb iran……
it was a wrong number misdirected call………..
and now we have a SITUATION when iran is bombed.
Czechoslovakia, USSR and Yugoslavia make a good test of current map knowledge if foreign policy is your alleged strong point.
McCain’s buddy Liebermann must not have been there to correct him nor must have his wife not been there to poke him in the back. McCain cannot handle himself by himself for long. He is getting too old (I’ll say it). When the debates start with Obama, McCain will need someone to stand up there with him or a microphone in his ear.
Pretty soon, old kooky Grandpa will be referring to the War on Mesopotamia. And the update on the ongoing search for his lost boyhood home, Atlantis.
Snowball @ 38:
rotflmao , that is funny
Don’t forget, with the
LiberalCorporate Media’s assistance, George Bush was (s)elected President despite his numerous malapropisms and gaffs. Media talking heads will just characterize this, and gaffs to come, as more evidence of McCain being a straight-talking man of the people who’s not an intellectual elitist, but a person like you or me who you can have a glass ofprune juicebeer with.Yes he pulled a Bob Dole. When Bob Dole ran for office Bob Dole referred to the “LA Dodgers” as the “Brooklyn Dodgers”.
Well now that’s out of the way, I think I’ll use the Google to see how the Soviet Union is doing.
I think Frum has a valid point about “president of Canada” — that really disappointed me about Obama and I think the critics were right, it shows he doesn’t know nearly enough about the world (fear not, I’m still counting down the days to vote for Barack!).
If you said to McCain, “John, you know it’s not called Czechoslovakia anymore” and he said, “Say what?!?” then I’d be scared. But making a mistake (it used to be Czechoslovakia) versus being mistaken (it has never been “President of Canada”) is not really the same thing.
Today McCain had green jello, a bowel movement and the kids ran in terror when he yelled at them to get off his lawn. A good day for McCain!