Gotcha Question

Sarah Palin is always getting those "Gotcha Questions" thrown at her. This is the latest Gotcha Question:

"What have you seen so far today, and what are you going to take away from your visit?"

That's your basic old, "So, how's it going?" question. You can pretty much answer it any way you want and not put your foot in your mouth. She answered with her famous Paul Revere answer.

"He who warned uh, the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms, uh by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that uh, we were going to be secure and we were gonna be free."

On last night's Report, Tom Ridge was the guest. Stephen introduced him and mentioned that in addition to being Homeland Security Adviser under George W. Bush, Ridge is a lobbyist. Apparently Stephen was misinformed. Ridge told Stephen that he's not a lobbyist.

That's right. Here's what it says in the Wikipedia entry about Tom Ridge:

"In July 2010, companies seeking to use hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale Formation engaged Ridge and his company at $75,000 a month to help them gain support."

And over at Washington Post, there is this definition of a lobbyist: "A person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest."

So, completely different. Glad that's all cleared up. Next they went on to discuss hydraulic fracturing. Stephen mentioned that thanks to Vice President Cheney's Energy Task Force, gas companies did not have to reveal what chemicals were being pumped into the ground.

Then Stephen had a question that he was wondering about. "Some are things like kerosene, benzene, urea, toluene. How many of those can I feed my toddler? Cuz it's perfectly safe, right? Right?"

Now that's a Gotcha Question.