This message is addressed to presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and his entire campaign staff, but especially to his publicity team. For all other readers, it’s just for laughs.

PLEASE NOTE: There are two Georgias.

One is right here in the southeastern corner of the United States, just north of Florida: the great State of Georgia. Its capital is Atlanta. This Georgia figured prominently in both the U.S. Revolutionary War and the U.S. Civil War. Jimmy Carter lives here. I also live here. It is very pretty — lots of Spanish moss hangin’ from the live oak trees. It is also known for its fantastic peaches and peanuts, and a lot of genuinely nice people. What it doesn’t have is real winter weather. But no place is perfect.

The “other” Georgia is an actual country. It has a much older history than the U.S. Georgia, is located in the Caucasus Mountains of Europe, and borders on Russia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Black Sea. Its capital is Tbilisi (you don’t have to pronounce the “T”). It so happens that I have visited there, and I have a good friend who is from there, so I know the difference. It is also very beautiful, but in a more rugged, free-spirited way. And they speak a whole different language, with a whole different alphabet. It would be difficult to mistake it for the U.S. Georgia.

But somehow, Donald Trump — or his publicity team — did just that, posting a new ad for his campaign with a picture of “Georgia” — but the wrong one:

Analysis of the photo has shown that it is a stock image of the views of Upper Svaneti in the Caucasus Mountains of northwestern Georgia (the country). [Cameron Henderson, The Telegraph (UK), September 23, 2024.]

Okay, it’s a little thing, and some would say it’s not worth mentioning. But for a bunch of people who play fast and loose with the truth on a regular basis, it’s just one more indication of their general disregard for facts.

And it’s really irritating to the people of Georgia . . . both Georgias! So, it’s bad for the campaign, and bad for international relations.

In closing, to the researchers and/or writers responsible for this particular boo-boo, a word of advice: Google is only as good as the information you feed it in your questions. Details, people. Details.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/24/24