You've Got Your Experts! W's Got His Own

In dissecting Bush's speech last evening on MSNBC, Chris Matthews said, "Bush’s claim of ‘36 countries’ in Iraq is ‘ludicrous.’"
In his address to the nation, President Bush said, “To the international community: The success of a free Iraq matters to every civilized nation. We thank the 36 nations who have troops on the ground in Iraq and the many others who are helping that young democracy.”

In the MSNBC post-debate analysis, Matthews went on and said, "The fact we have 36 countries fighting on our side in Iraq must be news to the soldiers over there. I don’t know who these people are or how many divisions they have. All we read about in the papers are American GIs getting killed by IEDs and terrible accidents and all kinds of enemy action over there. … The idea we’re one of 36 countries fighting the war I think is ludicrous and why the President would throw that out there, I think it only opens him up to ridicule."

Perhaps Mr. Matthew did not know that one of W's key advisers and speechwriters was Miss South Carolina from the Miss Teenager USA Pageant. Some of you may remember, Miss South Carolina appeared to be a bit "geographically challenged" when asked to describe why most Americans cannot find particular countries on the world map. I believe she was the one who had the important duty of counting all the countries that have ground forces in Iraq. Let's take a quick look at her expertly crafted list:

1. South Africa
2. North Africa
3. Hot and Humid Africa
4. Poland
5. Ralph Lauren Polo
6. New York
7. China
8. Japan
9. Latin America
10 Greek America
11. California
12. Hawaii
13. Paris, France
14. Paris, Tennessee
15. Beverly Hills
16. England
17. New England
18. Old England
19. Albania
20. Transylvania
21. Canada
22. North Pole
23. South Pole
24. Puerto Rico
25. India
26. Spain
27. Spanish Harlem
28. Grease
29. Florida
30. Texas
31. Mesopatamia
32. Vatican City
33. Asia Minor
34. Asia Major
35. Columbia
36. British Columbia

That's her list so far. She still is counting.