Unlike Sarah, uh, Paul Revere Used No, uhm, Bells Or, also Warning shots

[kpete]

CHRIS WALLACE: I gotta ask you about that real quickly, though. You realize that you messed up about Paul Revere, don’t you?

PALIN: You know what? I didn’t mess up about Paul Revere. Here’s what Paul Revere did. He warned the Americans that “the British were coming, the British were coming.” And they were going to try to take our arms so got to make sure that, uh, we were protecting ourselves and, uhm, shoring up all of our ammunitions and our firearms so that they couldn’t take them.

At one point in the night, Revere was temporarily detained and interrogated by British soldiers at a roadblock. He intentionally provided them a falsely inflated description of the colonial militia’s strength, though only in the most strained metaphorical reading could this be considered a “warning.”

Furthermore — again due to the need for secrecy and stealth — Revere used no bells or warning shots, and delivered his message in face-to-face contacts throughout the night. (Palin seems to simply forget her inclusion of the bells and warning shots in her initial recounting.) Revere did instruct Robert Newman to hang lanterns in the Old North Church steeple as a signal to spread the word, but Palin omitted that aspect of the ride entirely. Which is especially curious, given that the lanterns were immortalized by the line “one if by land, two if by sea” in the poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.


the rest:

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/06/05/236840/palin-doubles-down-on-paul-revere-history-lesson-i-didnt-mess-up/

[Ilsa]

1. Uh Sarah, he wasn't warning "Americans." he was warning

British colonialists (most of them thought of themselves as British, or Englishmen, not "Americans") that the Regulars (soldiers) were on their way.

[FLyellowdog]

2. She should be met at all her stops

by scores of non-followers ringing bells to warn others of her arrival.

What an idiot! :rofl:

[Maru Kitteh]

7. That's a beautiful idea. Simple. And VERY funny :-)

[rurallib]

3. Paul Revere could see Russia from his house

and see when Putin flew overhead

[hfojvt]

4. clearly, she was confusing Paul Revere

with the much more noteworthy Israel Bissell. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1232480&mesg_id=1232553

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

Revere didn't ring bells and fire warning shots, but Bissell did!!

[dynasaw]

5. Distortions about Revere's role

were actually perpetrated by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who took liberties giving Revere sole credit. In actually only one of the thee riders (Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott) who set out to sound the warning to the patriots managed to reach Lexington. Revere and Dawes were detained by the British militia and only Samuel Prescott got to escape to sound the warning because of his knowledge of the countryside.

Revere was not recognized as a hero in his own lifetime.

[HopeHoops]

6. Well she did get ONE thing right (only one thing) - he did ride a horse.

I wouldn't have been any more shocked if she had said he was riding a Harley. She's a fucking moron.

[MikeMc]

8. Wiki told me that Robert Newman did, in fact, shoot the bells as a signal. One cracked

and was moved to Philly's Independence Hall...