Those darned questions

I try not to fly off the handle when one of the political candidates says something that's absolute bull crap, and I realize that all of them try to blow smoke up our skirts or trousers on a daily basis, but I had to laugh at the scrambling Sarah Palin, and McCain, did after Palin made a statement that seemingly ran counter to McCain's position on Pakistan. Last Friday night, McCain chided Barack Obama during their first debate for his statements that he would attack inside Pakistan, if necessary, to strike significant terrorist targets (the same thing President Bush already has done, by the way). Then, the next day, Palin was meeting with voters in Philly, and one of them shouted a question to her asking what she and McCain would do about Pakistan, which has been accused of harboring, or even supporting, terrorists in its border area with Afghanistan. Replied Palin, "If that (an attack inside Pakistan) is what we have to do to stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should." Well, by Monday, in an interview with "CBS Evening News," Palin, accompanied by McCain, said she was replying to a "gotcha" question from a voter. McCain added that it's the "day and age of 'gotcha' journalism. ... In a conversation with someone who you didn't hear the question very well, you don't know the context of the conversation. Grab a phrase." Or, stumble around trying to explain something that really doesn't require explanation. Palin got a very basic, simple question about terrorism and foreign policy. She gave a simple, concise answer. There's no need to apologize for giving your honest opinion about something. It's already been made clear that McCain and Palin have differences of opinion on issues such as abortion and oil drilling. Is it really that big a deal that they're not in lockstep on the campaign trail on another issue? Of course, the media did jump on the apparent split in their opinions, but to blame her comments on a "gotcha" question makes it look worse.