Forget for a moment how "I can see Vladimir's house from here!" makes Caribou Barbie an expert on foreign affairs...
John "sweet coconut" McCain's senior foreign policy adviser cites a steamy romance 50 years ago with a Brazilian babe among the things that illustrate McCain's decades-long interest in Latin America.You know, where Spain is.
5 comments:
I used to make mud pies when I was a kid. I guess that makes me a geologist. *headdesk*
How pathetic can these guys get??
I ordered Chinese food last night. That makes me an expert on Sino-American trade policies!
I cleaned the litter box this morning. That makes me a veterinarian!
I'm watching CNN right now. Why aren't I getting paid for being a national pundit?
EXACTLY! And to carry it to another level - - just because you physically VISIT a place on a business trip, vacation, or military assignment, does NOT make you a political/cultural authority on that city/country/region. It MAY pique your interest enough to provide the MOTIVATION to read/study/examine and perhaps even participate in the political-cultural aspects of the area, in which case you could then justifiably be termed an 'authority' or 'knowledgeable' about the region, but I've known plenty of friends who were in the military and stationed in bases overseas (ie; in one of the 721 FOREIGN bases the US maintains) who didn't know (nor care) jack-shit about the larger political/cultural situation of the foreign area they were in. They obviously knew about the basic logistics (where to obtain food/clothing/shelter/entertainment) but -- just like a New York cabbie isn't an expert on NYC politics -- they weren't experts on the local culture or it's politics. Similarly, businessmen/women traveling from city-to-city don't become experts on the politics/culture of those cities just by being there - - they're often too busy with other priorities to have the time to spend learning about it, and that is just NOT a priority for them in most cases.
By that yardstick, James Bond ought to be Supreme Overlord of the Universe by now, because man, he's been everywhere.
The dog just let one fly! She'd be perfect as McInsane's natural energy czar!
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