Spain is in Europe, John

Dearest John-boy went out yesterday and had one of his classic McCain 'boners'. I mean mistakes. Mistakes. Johnny seems to be of some confusion about the country of Spain.

"Would you be willing to meet with the head of our government, Mr. Zapatero?" the questioner asked, in an exchange now being reported by several Spanish outlets.

McCain proceeded to launch into what appeared to be a boilerplate declaration about Mexico and Latin America -- but not Spain -- pressing the need to stand up to world leaders who want to harm America.

"I will meet with those leaders who are our friends and who want to work with us cooperatively," according to one translation. The reporter repeated the question two more times, apparently trying to clarify, but McCain referred again to Latin America.

Finally, the questioner said, "Okay, but I'm talking about Europe - the president of Spain, would you meet with him?" The Senator offered only a slight variance to his initial comment."

So clearly John was refusing to commit to a meeting with the leader of Spain. The question is why? Was he completely unaware of the name of the PM of Spain and thus had no idea who this Zapotero person was they were referring to? Did he think Spain was one of those socialist Latin American countries with the leaders who wear red and denounce George Bush? Or did he know who Zapotero was and where Spain is geographically, but refuse to commit to meeting with a NATO ally because he's still all pissy that they pulled out of Iraq?

People seem to think it was numero uno. That he heard Zapotero after a couple questions about Chavez/Castro and just assumed the Spanish name he heard was that of a Latin American dictator with a large beard. Some think it is the pissy third option, though McCain has previously said we need to smooth over our differences with Spain.

In my heart of hearts I believe it is the second: McCain doesn't know where Spain is and is unaware of it's government. Not for any real reason, just I like the thought of it. I imagine Rick Davis sitting McCain at a table and pulling down a large map of the world. He gets a pointer and circles Spain on the map and starts furiously tapping on Europe. He circles Spain again and then mimes a big 'X' over South America. John, sitting at his desk, puts his hand to his chin as "The Thinker" did and nods confusedly. Then Davis slams down a large book with 'NATO' written on it in giant letters, opens it to the 'S' section and start maniacally pointing at the page and then back at Europe on the map. Recognition hits McCain like a ton of Iberian ham as he throws his hands up and screams "I understand now!"

Spain is an ally, John.