Who Cares Where Spain Is?

I should think that knowing where Spain is located and it's current Prime Minister is quite important considering John McCain's not really knowing who the PM of Spain was when interviewed as he stated that ""I'm willing to meet with any leader who is dedicated to the same principles and philosophy that we are for human rights, democracy and freedom and I will stand up to those who are not." As I understand it from my reading the reaction in Spain to their PM being grouped together with Hugo Chavez and the like was less than joyous.

I should think that knowing where Spain is located and it's current Prime Minister is quite important considering John McCain's not really knowing who the PM of Spain was when interviewed as he stated that ""I'm willing to meet with any leader who is dedicated to the same principles and philosophy that we are for human rights, democracy and freedom and I will stand up to those who are not." As I understand it from my reading the reaction in Spain to their PM being grouped together with Hugo Chavez and the like was less than joyous.

Typically, it is NOT important that an American does not know where Spain is, an American who thinks that in Latin America still lives in trees and eat with their hands of poverty is typical. But I wonder, as a person to represent that drive as chairman of what was once the most powerful nation in the world if it is only going to worry about the Middle East, internal and economic affairs AND ALL of the rest mentioned in this article when in fact???. the future of the economic affairs of this country and the future of international relations with Middle East depend purely on basic knowledge of "basic education" to know where is Spain, Latin America, Europe (wise by being old and well educated) and the threat posed by Russia's relations with Latin America for the financial future of the world! That only we know, the well educated, a little beyond the eyes of some Americans too nationalistic that will NEVER AND NOT realize that the food and water for future generations of the entire world is in Latin America.
Spain and the rest of Europe are the only nations that could help the United States find economic stability and internal security through international relationships based on knowledge, wisdom, a basic knowledge will be no harm for the next President of the United States, it could change the world course and leave the wrong path.

Actually, it doesn't even matter what candidates think. What matters is how they look. Our society has become "entertainment"-dominated. Obama wins the debates if he shows "conviction." But even winning the debates my not guarantee victory at the polls. What matters most there is how Americans "feel." And that's okay. I don't care who Americans elect as long as the vote count is accurate.

While it would certainly be nice to hear the candidates pressed to address big-picture questions about their policy visions, nobody in a position of great power who is compelled to make vital decisions quickly -- even with the help of advisers -- can succeed without a certain minimum degree of basic knowledge. Without it, they can't build a "big picture." McCain (and now Palin) wouldn't be pressing for a potentially disastrous US confrontation with Russia if their attitude towards Georgia weren't a purely ad-hoc one based on ignorance of the larger regional and strategic picture.

Kudos to Mr. Haass for addressing a different viewpoint regarding foreign policy. Foreign policy doesn't necessarily equate to a "reactive damage control policy" as seen over these past 8 miserable years of the Bush administration. Going on a wild goose chase for WMDs without any clear objectives is NOT a foreign policy. Having served in the military does not make an individual candidate more experienced at developing forieign policy, as our nation's objectives in the world and our ability to execute them, does not solely revolve around military strength.

America's foreigh policy must, once again, incorporate our democratic, economic, health ,trade, energy, environmental, educational, as well as our military objectives . Our nation has lost sight of what a truly effective foreign policy can do for us as a nation that countries can look up to and emulate. I believe the United States leap into Iraq without just cause, and a clear sense of indifference towards the United Nations was the wrong thing to do. I believe global sanctions and isolation of Iraq and focusing on clear military objectives in Afghanistan would have proved to be in our nation's best interests in the long run. Saddam Hussein would have subsequently become a weakened dictator simliar to that of a Fidel Castro, and any military aggression he would have made against in the Middle East would have been universally denounced by the United Nations and strigly supported by the American people. Instead, our President led our nation into a war that has no definitive military objective, nor a clear benefit from a foreign policy standpoint. The additional fact that it is costing our nation billions of dollars a year, makes it even less acceptable to the American taxpayers, especially our nations struggling middle-class families. So whoever gets elected our nation's next President must have not only a strong knowledge base about national security, but everything else that has been thrown the window with regards to what really makes the USA, the leader of the free world...

The problem with the majority of the Americans is that they think the whole world consists of just the USA. They have been brain washed by the authorities that they will believe blindly what the propaganda machines tell them. The most regretable thing is that they think the US is a democracy where infact the election is just a lobbyists affair. In other words the majority of the Americans are actually dumb idiots. If the campaign does well they can even elect a hot steaming dung as president!

McCain is going senile .

McCain is going senile .

Name any politician that you like and there are several mistakes in speaking as this one is being spun. They all make these mistakes, that you want it to be something more shows not only a horrible sense of logic but your other shortcomings as well.

This is like claiming that being ignorant of the location of the appendix is not important to being an expert in medicine, and how you "think" about the appendix is what's important.

Seems to me that if you know enough to think intelligently about such things, some knowledge of geography would sink in automatically.

What the candidates know about the world is less important than how they think about it.

Or how they handle what they don't know. McCain response was a slap in the face to one of our allies.

IMcCain's parroting of vague policy jargon re. South America, when he did not understand who Zapatero was begs the question, how many other times has this happened and gone unnoticed. Obama always impresses me in interviews because he really seems to listen to the interviewer and is less likely to try and fob them off with generic, one size fits all answers. He gives thoughtful, somewhat pedantic answers, but does actually seem to think before he speaks. I am so tired of the lack of humility on the republican side. At least Obama says he will consult and listen to economics advisors before coming out with a hard and fast answer to the current problems. To pretend that a candidate can come up with a neat solution to all the economic turmoil we are facing is ludicrous. A thoughtful approach to problems and crises would serve us much better than the gung ho knee jerk reactions displayed by McCain, or the cover all answers he offers when he doesn't fully grasp the situation at hand.

This strikes me as the worst kind of "so what?" argument there is.
Knowing basic geography should be a no-brainer for any presidential candidate. However, if McCain was too tired or distracted to understand the reporter's question, that's a whole different issue. Will he be too tired or distracted to do his job? To understand who's who and who our allies are?
This goes far beyond getting a country's location wrong-- this strikes at the heart of McCain's pretension that he's a foreign policy expert. Being "tough minded" doesn't count for much if you have no grasp of the basics when making a decision.