Wait, this is the clarificaiton?

My favorite comment on the recent incident where McCain refused to indicate a willingness to meet with Spain's Prime Minister is as follows:

I think this is pretty clearly an attempt at damage control.

a) It definitely seems to me that McCain was confused by the question. He came armed with talking points about Latin America, he wasn’t prepped to discuss Spain, so he stumbled. It was a gaffe.

b) McCain’s staff decided that the “confused old man forgets where Spain is” meme is more damaging to their candidate than the “McCain is a deranged hawk who won’t talk to our European allies” meme. Anyone in Ohio who cares about our relationship with Western Europe probably isn’t voting for McCain anyway. But perceived senility could hurt him. Badly.

c) Therefore, McCain’s spokespeople do what they do best. Lie.

The comment was added to this Yglesias blog post on the incident (with audio).

I've listened to the audio and it's impossible to say with certainty what McCain was thinking. I share the opinion of the poster that he (McCain) was somehow "stuck" in Latin America mode and was either unwilling, unable, or unprepared to switch gears.

The interviewer seems surprised, but even after repeated references to "Zapatero" McCain refers to "the hemisphere" and "Latin America". The interviewer finally explicitly refers to Spain and McCain simply returns to the "meet with friends, stand up to non-friends" boilerplate.

But what seemingly starts off as a misunderstanding, is now officially troubling. I mean, I know McCain has ridiculed Obama for a stated willingness to meet various world leaders without pre-conditions, but this is a bit much.

Can I now ridicule McCain for his unwillingness to meet with NATO MEMBER STATES without preconditions?

Note that Spain is actually in both the Western Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere, but I think it's clear that McCain was thinking of Latin America and the United States' sphere of influence in the Western Hemisphere. Because the Northern Hemisphere is so vast (in terms of land mass, countries, and populations) it's an unsuitable short-hand description in most discussions of international relations. It would be bizarre to consider the President of Mexico (whom McCain references by name) as representative of the Northern Hemisphere, but understandable in the context of a discussion about Latin America / Western Hemisphere.