DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT GEOGRAPHY…. In July, John McCain got confused and started talking about the “situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border.” Iraq and Pakistan, of course, don’t share a border.
Yesterday, McCain’s running mate got even more confused about geography.
Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin called Afghanistan “our neighboring country” on Sunday in a speech that could revive questions over her tendency to stumble into linguistic knots.
Three days after a mostly gaffe-free debate performance, the Alaska governor fumbled during a speech in which she praised U.S. soldiers for “fighting terrorism and protecting us and our democratic values”.
“They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan,” she told several hundred supporters at a fundraising event in San Francisco.
The gaffe could add fuel to comedians and late-night talk show hosts who have seized on her linguistic infelicities to portray her as someone not to be taken seriously.
I’m curious about what she was trying to say, but haven’t come up with anything. I saw some suggestions that she might have been thinking of Iraq as part of the U.S., but Iraq and Afghanistan aren’t neighbors, either.
Just four days ago, the McCain campaign slammed Joe Biden for committing a lot of “gaffes.” I think they were projecting.
