More Palin Scandal Emerges After Electon

ABC News reports that after the election, more disturbing facts about Sarah Palin came to light.
Specifically, Fox News reported that Palin didn't know Africa was a continent and did not know the member nations of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- the United States, Mexico and Canada -- when she was picked for vice president.

In addition, Newsweek reported that Palin spent far more than the previously reported $150,000 on clothes for herself and her family. Apparently Palin leaned on some low-level staffers to put thousands of dollars of additional purchases on their credit cards. The national committee and McCain became aware of the extra expenditures, including clothes for husband Todd Palin, when the staffers sought reimbursement. A McCain aide described the Palin family shopping spree to Newsweek as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast."

But that's not the funny part. The funny part is "longtime Palin staffer" Meg Stapleton's attempt to defend Palin. Stapleton told ABC:

"[T]he Fox News report on Africa and NAFTA was taken out of context. She explained that during a briefing session, someone asked Palin to explain the McCain-Palin stance on an issue, and as she was responding, "in the middle, she said 'country of Africa' and somebody instantly wrote it down and said, 'Oh, my God, she thinks it's a country... But "she knows it's a continent," Stapleton said. "It was just a human mistake.'"

That doesn't even make sense. Either the statement was taken out of context (in which case, it was the reporter's mistake, not Palin's) or she made a mistake, but it was just a 'human' mistake. It can't be both. And for that matter, what exactly is a 'human mistake'? Is there any other kind of mistake someone can make? Is Palin's next gaffe going to be a robot mistake? Or a computer mistake?