[PotatoHeadMick]

Whatever about his politics this seems to show why you really shouldn't listen to financial "experts" on TV. If he is so clueless about something so simple as the difference between Ireland and the UK how can we trust him to tell us about anything else?

The guy admits that he recently visited the UK and appeared not to understand the very simplest and most basic political and economic situation in the country he was visiting? It's not like it was Burkino Faso or somewhere, it's the UK, the US' biggest ally and one of its most important trading partners.

That's quite apart from the shocking level of ignorance about the fairly well-known history of Ireland that a guy called Joe Kernen might be expected to be familiar with.

[yarddog]

Well Northern Ireland is a part of the UK.

[Celtic Conservative]

Joe Kernan, you’re a sassenach!

pogue mahon!

CC

[murron]

I thought Ireland was part of the UK. Also thought that the UK is not a country but a group of countries.

[Mount Athos]

Northern Ireland is still part of the United Kingdom.
Probably most Americans would make the same mistake, don’t think it is too embarrassing

[9YearLurker]

He and his 5th grader wrote a book defending capitalism.

[JimSEA]

My measuring stick is “If I know more that the expert, he’s a pathetic SOS”.

[Flycatcher]

Bet he thinks New England is a state.

Or a European country.

[workerbee]

Was it George W. Bush or Sarah Palin -- or both? -- subjected to a pop quiz during an interview that included questions along the lines of "who is the vice-president of the subcommittee of the parliamentary advisory group on Latvian environmental affairs?"

Ok, I'm exaggerating. But the same folks who would give this "journalist" a pass for not knowing the Ireland and Northern Ireland were separate entities, would point to said pop quiz and say "SEE? An imbecile!"

[matthew fuller]

I can totally understand the confusion about England/Great Britain/Scotland/Wales/etc. It has always confused me also. I have always thought that a “country” was the largest political division in the world until recently when I began to understand that the United Kingdom is composed of many countries. From Wikipedia:

The UK consists of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.[12] The latter three have devolved administrations,[13] each with varying powers,[14][15] based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, respectively. Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man are not part of the United Kingdom, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation.[16] The UK has fourteen Overseas Territories,[17] including the disputed Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, and Indian Ocean Territory.

Now the above description doesn’t even mention Canada and Australia, which seem to be somewhat under their queen or something, which is way too much for me to keep track of. So if a News reporter is confused, I can believe it.

[50mm]

B’fhéidir theip air tíreolaíocht agus stair i scoil.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Ireland is in Africa and the UK is in Central America. What’s so confusing? /s

[dfwgator]

[Vendome]

I suggested Ireland independence to a guy from Ireland and he went completely nuts.

Went into a real tizzy and ticked off the list of reasons why Ireland should not be independent.

Who knew?

[free-in-nyc]

Well, this has been a most entertaining thread - but I’m more confused now than when I started! :)

[Lorianne]

What a dolt.

[Buckeye McFrog]

News anchors today are hired on the basis of blondeness and cup size. Fluency in English or knowledge of history and world affairs are no longer must-have skills.