Has McCain declared Spain an enemy of America? (TPM)

El Cid! (More on Mccain's Liberation of Spain)

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.

This is obviously a story that's difficult to get a handle on because of multiple layers of translation and retranslation. So I would ask that those of you who are speak Spanish fluently to review this article in El Pais and the audio in the post below, and let us know any other information you find.

--Josh Marshall

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

McCain elude decir si recibirá a Zapatero en caso de llegar a la Casa Blanca

IG's translation: McCain avoids saying if he will see Zapatero (Spain's Prime Minister) if he wins the White House

http://www.cadenaser.com/internacional/articulo/mccain-elude-decir-recibira-zapatero/serpro/20080917csrcsrint_2/Tes

Audio of interview:

http://www.cadenaser.com/internacional/audios/entrevista-union-radio-candidato-republicano/seresc/20080917csrcsrint_1/Aes/

pendejo.

:rofl:

I'll like to see his health record.

How do these idiots get to these positions of power?!

McCain is an ass

and he makes Bush look like a rational man.

a tad too much. ;-)

You know, when he was with Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders.



REMEMBER THE MAINE!!

I listened to the radio interview and, while it's difficult to hear some of McSame's words over the voice of the translator, the overall excellent quality of the translation makes it apparent that it did accurately reflect what he was saying in English. He was so geared into his talking points and focused on the questions on Latin America that either he didn't hear (or worse, didn't KNOW) that Zapatero is from Spain, not Latin America. His answer was that he wouldn't answer whether he would invite Zapatero to the White House, falling back on his tired talking point of "we will meet with our friends and not with our enemies", blah blah blah. He's as bad as Bush.

Thank you for listening to the radio interview and sharing your thoughts with DUers.

Remember the fuzz the MSM made about Hillary and Obama being tentative on the name of Russia's President during one of their debates? This is far more serious!