**UPDATED BELOW**
PALIN: “He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms uh by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed.” (via Think Progress)
Midnight Ride for $1 million and a Fox News channel position, no learnin’ required.
In 1774 and the Spring of 1775 Paul Revere was employed by the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety as an express rider to carry news, messages, and copies of resolutions as far away as New York and Philadelphia.
On the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere was sent for by Dr. Joseph Warren and instructed to ride to Lexington, Massachusetts, to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching to arrest them. After being rowed across the Charles River to Charlestown by two associates, Paul Revere borrowed a horse from his friend Deacon John Larkin. While in Charlestown, he verified that the local “Sons of Liberty” committee had seen his pre-arranged signals. (Two lanterns had been hung briefly in the bell-tower of Christ Church in Boston, indicating that troops would row “by sea” across the Charles River to Cambridge, rather than marching “by land” out Boston Neck. Revere had arranged for these signals the previous weekend, as he was afraid that he might be prevented from leaving Boston).
On the way to Lexington, Revere “alarmed” the country-side, stopping at each house, and arrived in Lexington about midnight. As he approached the house where Adams and Hancock were staying, a sentry asked that he not make so much noise. “Noise!” cried Revere, “You’ll have noise enough before long. The regulars are coming out!” After delivering his message, Revere was joined by a second rider, William Dawes, who had been sent on the same errand by a different route. Deciding on their own to continue on to Concord, Massachusetts, where weapons and supplies were hidden, Revere and Dawes were joined by a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott. Soon after, all three were arrested by a British patrol. Prescott escaped almost immediately, and Dawes soon after. Revere was held for some time and then released. Left without a horse, Revere returned to Lexington in time to witness part of the battle on the Lexington Green.
UPDATE: Sarah Palin also gets a “bushel of Pinocchio’s” from Washington Post’s Glen Kessler.
The pathetic thing is, Palin tries to sell the idea that she’s Ms. Constitution and Ms. American History- that was supposedly the purpose of this media tour (if you believe her, which few do).
If she doesn’t know the specifics of American history then fine, but then she shouldn’t try to make it one of her selling points. It’s so unbelievably cynical how the Right uses the Constitution, the Bible and American history to legitimize their agenda. Talk about self-righteous. And she’s far from the only prominent Republican to have a very thin grasp on history.
While I don’t agree with her position on issues I do respect people who study hard and know their facts. But she is not one of those people- she’s a show horse not a work horse.
I’m reading that book by her former aid, Blind Loyalty to Sarah Palin and good Lord! She really takes no interest in knowing about policy, issues or anything else. It’s kinda weird for someone who, you know, wants to possibly be POTUS.
I never understand why politicians get in the position of pontificating on the fly. It’s a situation that will inevitably get you in trouble.
I remain convinced she won’t run, but is in the race to cause Mitt Romney hell. That might have worked in 2008, but he’s smartened up & I don’t think she can tough him this time around.
Jay Leno does a segment on his show called ” Jaywalkers “. He stops people on the street and asks them questions on subjects that you expect and educated American to know. Last night he asked people on what date we declared independance from the British. One guy said sometime in the 1890′s; Leno said, ” So it was after the civil war, “. The guy said yeah, it was. Leno said, ” So we had a civil war and then the revolutionary war? “. The guy said, yeah. Other people said we gained independance in the 1900′s right before the depression. In previous segments he asks people about an election on the day of that election. They did not know there was an election. Questions on geography, our system of government, names of well known politicians; blank stares and giggles. Sarah Palin may well be the leader of the new Stupid United States of America.