Things that surprise me are the more everyday variety. For example:

A local news broadcast during a recent election. A man on the street interview, not intended to make anyone look bad - just to get the perspective of Joe Public.

"A democrat hasn't won in this county since Abraham Lincoln!"

Now the fact that a person on the street didn't realize that Abraham Lincoln was indeed a republican wasn't what I found so sad. The sad part was that the journalists and editors for the news program, who are supposed to be knowledgable about not only politics, but also how to verify information, actually chose this quote to play on the air over several others. Not only that, but the news anchor did not correct the quote.

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Spock Jenkins of the Vulcan Jenkins'.