Where's West Africa?

[Victor Steinbok]

As you noted CNN implied, Bachmann appears not to recognize that Libya
is in Africa. This might have gone unnoticed if it were only the first
time she made this type of error. Best I can tell, the line has been
flagged by every major liberal blog.

I don't like Bachmann, but I actually don't think this is a major issue.
Inclusion category errors are routinely made by most politicians,
irrespectively of their erudition and intelligence. Only the perceived
idiots get flagged because the errors confirm expectations. If Obama
made the same error, it would go unnoticed (perhaps because his critics
are ignorant?) or would be quickly dismissed for any of a number of
reasons (he was tired, he misspoke, etc.). Major newspapers are guilty
of far worse flubs--for years I held on to a clipping from a Boston
Globe front page that contained a headline and a one-sentence graf:
Jesse Jackson to Visit Cuba: Jesse Jackson has announce that he will
visit China in [specified month]. I threw it out when it became
impossible to maintain its structural integrity. To this day I don't
know if he ever visited Cuba or China that year...

     VS-)

On 10/22/2011 4:04 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> At 10/22/2011 03:46 PM, Victor Steinbok quoted:
>>> "Now with the president, he put us in Libya. He is now putting us in
>>> Africa. We already were stretched too thin, and he put our special
>>> operations forces in Africa."
> Not having watched sufficiently, I don't see what Bachmann should be
> raked over the coals for.  Libya is in Africa.  Or is the problem
> that we didn't put "our special operations forces" in Libya but
> operated from the air?  Or that other, earlier presidents did put
> special operations forces into Africa (East Africa, that is)?
>
> Joel

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