You mean Africa is, like, a continent?

You betcha! According to Fox News’ Carl Cameron Sarah Palin wasn’t aware of this. Nor, he says, could she name the countries that signed NAFTA. Clue: there are only three. This latter problem alone must, one supposes, have horrified the campaign (though of course they only had themselves to blame), the former something that though hard to believe (surely!) you can’t do very much about. Of course, self-interest abounds here: McCain’s advisors have every incentive to pin the blame upon Palin. But still…

UPDATE: Ramesh Ponnuru says it’s rather more likely that Palin didn’t appreciate that South Africa was, you know, a country not just the bottom bit of Africa. That would still be startling, of course, but more plausible.