Is republican stupidity contagious?

Last week Sen. McCain trotted out his standard line that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong.” Never mind that he said this on the very day that Wall Street started to implode with not one but two major banking institutions collapsing and a major insurance carrier starting to disintegrate.

He was, rightfully so, ridiculed for the remarks and was accused of being “un-informed”, “naïve”, or “senile.” (or my choice; all of the above)

Well, apparently the stupid IS contagious as in an interview with CNBC yesterday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed McCain’s inane comment:

QUESTION: How does a United States in the middle of a global financial crisis affect diplomatic efforts around the world and your efforts?
RICE: Everybody understands that this is a very specific, indeed once-in-a-lifetime – well, we certainly hope – circumstance. But people have confidence in the United States. As the President has said, this is a financial crisis, but the fundamentals of the U.S. economy are strong.

Huh?

If the economy is fundamentally strong, why do we need a $700 billion bailout?

Rice continued to seemingly kiss McCain’s ass as she repeated his backtracking mantra that he was referring to the American worker, saying; “Everyone understands our great ability to innovate, the productivity of our workers, the ability of the country to move quickly. And so I believe the United States’ standing has not been really affected.”

Um, Ms. Rice… you do know that McCain has already picked a running-mate, right? And you do know that you’re saying something that the bastion of rose-colored glasses, the White House, even disagrees with?

Is she trying to apologize for not supporting McCain’s bid whole-heartedly, or is she simply trying to distance herself from the White House by disagreeing with everything they say?

Perhaps she doesn’t want to end up like Colin Powell, marked for life because he was a member of the Bush(whacked) Administration.

Stay tuned…