Oct 6th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Today in Geography
It’s very strange that the McCain campaign can’t seem to figure out which country is where:
Three days after a mostly gaffe-free debate performance, the Alaska governor fumbled during a speech in which she praised U.S. soldiers for “fighting terrorism and protecting us and our democratic values”.
“They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan,” she told several hundred supporters at a fundraising event in San Francisco.
There’s some speculation that she meant that Afghanistan neighbors Iraq. But, of course, it doesn’t. Here’s a map to help clear things up:
Here’s a previous map I made about McCain’s belief that Iraq is adjacent to Pakistan.
49 Responses to “Today in Geography”
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October 6th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Maybe Iran is the next door neighbor while Iraq is the neighbor down the street. You betcha (wink, wink).
October 6th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I think the US would more accurately be shown as “way off to the right”
October 6th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Geography, schmeography…
What you’re ignoring is that you can draw a straight line connecting Afghanistan to Alaska that runs STRAIGHT THRU THE EARTH, without touching any other countries; ergo, the two are neighbors.
Take that, terrorist-befriender smart boy!
October 6th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Dude, your map making skillz are unparalleled. Kudos.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:44 am
neighbor = friend
In her mind, anyway.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:46 am
A few more maps and you would have an atlas!
October 6th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Perfectly understandable. She was probably studying a map like your previous one, in which Iran appears BLUE. You know, the big Sea of Iran, hence making Iraq and Afghanistan maritime neighbors.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Damn she just gave away the end of the story, the part where we invade and occupy Iran indefinitely, thus making Afghanistan effectively our “neighbor”! They were supposed to save that for the week before the election.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Look, the objective evidence supports the hypothesis that Bush is really an Iranian agent. Every action he’s taken over the last 8 years has been to strengthen Iran. If Palin is also an Iranian agent (and she certainly has Iranian physical features and non-native command of the English language), then this may be a revealing slip of the tongue, not a mistake.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Are you sure she isn’t thinking that US and Afghanistan are the neighboring countries?
“They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan,” she told several hundred supporters at a fundraising event in San Francisco.
Mentions Afghan kids, then geography comes into play, “our neighboring country of Afghanistan.” Who is the “our,” I am assuming US, unless she is claiming to be part of some other country.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:26 am
If you drew the shortest possible line from the US to Afghanistan, there would be no intervening countries, so that makes them our neighbor. That line would go through the Earth’s molten core, but that falls under the good fences make good neighbors concept.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Afghanistan neighbors China (left out of your excellent map, BTW), and China neighbors Russia, and Gov. Palin neighbors Russia all by herself, so that makes Afghanistan her neighbor twice removed.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:38 am
You eastern elites with your fancy maps and geography.
Palin and Bush create their own reality. If she becomes the VP Afghanistan will be our neighbor. The witch preacher will make it so.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:39 am
a basic understanding of geography is so elitist!
October 6th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Very interesting. Matt obviously started writing out each label seperately, probably starting with Iraq and Iran. Then, after getting to Pakistan, he decided to save time and cut and pasted that label on Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
October 6th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Perhaps it’s a syllogism.
1) Our neighbours are all foreign countries.
2) Afghanistan is a foreign country.
ergo
3) Afghanistan is our neighbouring country.
October 6th, 2008 at 11:36 am
She can see Kabul from her front porch, so that neighboring.
October 6th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Yeah, you forgot China, and the Wakhan Corridor. Also, you forgot that Sarah Palin is a fuckwit.
October 6th, 2008 at 11:46 am
It’s fun to think of space warps (twisted topology) and the center of the earth and political plots. The ugly truth is: Ms Palin is an ignoramus who makes stuff up as she goes along. She is not one of the literati, nor even a thoughtful pol, considering the weight and impact of their every word and paragraph. She can’t even SPEAK in paragraphs. Her words are just a sloppy torrent of disposable goo washing warmly over stunned audiences. Don’t look for meaning in her reactionary riffs.
October 6th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
‘”“They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan,” she told several hundred supporters at a fundraising event in San Francisco.’
I’m shocked. Truly, truly, shocked.
There are several hundred Republicans in San Francisco?
October 6th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
We’re non-contiguous neighbors. After all, Alaska is part of the US, even though it isn’t touching. Afghanistan is a non-touching neighbor in the same way.
October 6th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
If Palin is also an Iranian agent (and she certainly has Iranian physical features
She doesn’t wear nearly enough eye makeup.
October 6th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Dude, why are you such a dick about this? Obviously they’re playing Risk: Middle Eastern Edition. There’s a dotted line there. Its the same way that Brazil borders North Africa.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
China is also a neighbor – but we shouldn’t bomb them until we’ve first bombed the Iranians. And according to the Bible, Afghanistan is Iraq’s neighbor since the Persian Empire includes Mesopotamia (and, incidently, Afghanistan).
October 6th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
What do you expect from a team of Mavericks, takin shots from their own party, takin shots from the other party… but really its all about job creation…job creation and health care cause John has the leadership quality that we do need as of now for make better our country for our children.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
MOOOOOOO
October 6th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
“love thy neighbor”
-that book they all read
October 6th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
No, see, I looked at your other map and, in this attempt at a map, you’ve clearly forgotten the secret passages. It’s common knowledge that the geography in that part of the world is like like “Clue”, or “Cluedo”. Remember? You can go from the Conservatory to the Library or whatever. What do you think all those Afghan caves are for? You can bounce all over the place.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
To be a Republican, you have to have a room temp IQ, and not ever have seen a map. A lack of curiosity also propels you to executive levels quickly.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Luke 10:25-37 (King James Version)\\
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
you are forgetting Russia, the big country up to the north. That in fact is a neighbor.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
What I want to know is if she can see it from her basement in Wasilla?
October 6th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I made a custom map of the world to suit John McCain’s notions of how things are a few weeks ago. Spain has of course been moved to Latin America, Pakistan now has a border with Iraq, Czechoslovakia is back, and Sudan and Somolia have swapped places.
I suppose updating it to show our new found proximity to Afghanistan would be a little more difficult.
http://members.cox.net/roscoe45/John_McCains_map_of_the_world.gif
October 6th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Iraq is now the 51st state, so Afghanistan is of course our neighbor.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Nice map. But all that really matter are the toss-up states, right? (Or maybe ‘battleground states’ is a better way to phrase it?)
October 6th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
one of the funniest things I’ve seen all day
October 7th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Any of you smartasses actually know what “neighbour” means? Nothing in the word’s definition says “directly next to”. Iraq is separated by Afghanistan by only one tiny country, and thus is near Afghanistan.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) – Cite This Source – Share This
neigh·bor /ˈneɪbər/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[ney-ber] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. a person who lives near another.
2. a person or thing that is near another.
3. one’s fellow human being: to be generous toward one’s less fortunate neighbors.
4. a person who shows kindliness or helpfulness toward his or her fellow humans: to be a neighbor to someone in distress.
5. (used as a term of address, esp. as a friendly greeting to a stranger): Tell me, neighbor, which way to town?
October 7th, 2008 at 7:40 am
It’s time for a Palin palate cleanser, don’tcha think? If so, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx4kXgF88wQ
Cheers.
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Coming off their best-ever season and being ranked in the preseason polls for the first time in their history, it wouldn’t have surprised anyone if the No. 12 Rutgers Scarlet Knights came out a little overconfident versus lowly University
December 9th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
DURHAM — In the first book written about life in U.S. college towns, a University of New Hampshire professor explores the distinctive character and culture of these places that are so prominent in America. Blake Gumprecht, associate
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