Grip, Best Boy, Gaffer.

John McCain's problems with facts (this week's edition). He has raised the bar for making gaffes.

"I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border," McCain said. The ABC posting added: “Iraq and Pakistan do not share a border. Afghanistan and Pakistan do.”

-“Somalia” for “Sudan” - As recounted in a reporter’s pool report from McCain’s Straight Talk Express bus on June 30, the senator said while discussing Darfur, a region of Sudan: "How can we bring pressure on the government of Somalia?" Senior adviser Mark Salter corrected him: “Sudan.”

-“Germany” for “Russia” - A YouTube clip from last year memorializes McCain referring to Vladimir Putin of Russia - following a trip to Germany - as “President Putin of Germany.”

-This spring, McCain said troops in Iraq were “down to pre-surge levels” when in fact there were 20,000 more troops than when the surge policy began.

-Also this spring, McCain twice appeared to mistake Sunnis and Shiites, two branches of Islam that split violently. Even though aides and Joe Lieberman repeatedly corrected him, he made that gaffe 4 times in 3 days.

-In Phoenix earlier this month, McCain referred to "Czechoslovakia,” which has been divided since Jan. 1, 1993, into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He also referred to Czechoslovakia during a debate in November and a radio show in April.

-In perhaps the most curious incident, McCain said earlier this month that as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, he had tried to confuse his captors by giving the names of Pittsburgh Steelers starting players when asked to identify his squadron mates. McCain has told the story many times over the years - but had always referred correctly to the names he gave as members of the Green Bay Packers.

When he totally blew it on "The Surge" - when it happened, what events it triggered, he had to redefine it as "the surge", the one he defines as "a counter-terrorism measure".... just not the one for which the President takes credit, the one that the rest of the world understands.

And don't get me started on his campaign's anti-Obama smears - the ones that are chock full of lies. FactCheck.org

Labels: Best Boy, Czechoslovakia, Gaffer, george w. mccain, Grip, john mc bush, mccain, packers, somalia, steelers, sudan, vietnam