Is Sarah Palin Wrong to Stand by her Paul Revere Statements?

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If she would have just admitted her mistake and went on like any other adult, it would have not been a big deal. Revisionist history make them look like some kind of nutcases. It kind of reminds me of 1984 and demanding someone see 5 fingers when they are only holding up 4. Everyone makes a mistake now and then and insisting my candidate to be truthful is a pretty basic thing. The now famous "57 states" thing that our President misspoke was handled like adults he admitted he flubbed it and I didn't try to claim there were 57!

Allen of OK 1:58AM July 03, 2011

Look, I think Palin is a not-too-bright bulb, and a danger as a politician, but in a schematic sense she was not all that far off, even if she was relating it in her typically appallingly teen-age chewing gum fashion.
"Them patriots was a fussin' and uh-fightin' them Redocats to keep our militias and guns ready for all centuries to come" and so forth... (I loosely paraphrase, in case you wondered.)
Sigh. But let it go, people---she has said a lot more of concern that this little fuddle.

Perspicacity of AK 11:18PM June 15, 2011

Why is this such a big deal? B.O. thinks there are 57 states and that Marine Corps is pronounced exactly how it is spelled.

James of CA 3:06PM June 12, 2011

The fact that her supporters are stretching and changing her words proves that they don't care about the facts. They don't care about the real heros, who stood up to their oppressors. All they care about is twisting the minds of the American people to suit their agenda.
The fact that she is manipulating history so she doesn't look stupid is kinda scary.

matt of CA 3:30AM June 11, 2011

I'm afraid our self-appointed expert on all things Paul Revere is out-classed by three historical scholars on the subject. I speak of Boston University history professor Brendan McConville, Patrick Leehey of the Paul Revere House, and Robert Allison, a professor and historian at Suffolk University (during his NPR intterview).
Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion but the validation of Sarah Palin's citation of Paul Revere history has been proven.

Paul Revere II of MN 9:46PM June 10, 2011

The Midnight Ride of Palin’s Revere
(an homage to Henry Wadsworth Longellow's poem, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere")
Copyright, Mark Tyne, 2011 www.marktyne.com
6/7/11
Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Palin’s Revere
On the second of June, in two ought one one,
Not a school child stopped giggling at Palin’s conundrum.
In a fit patriotic showing colors don’t bleed
Sara spoke of the ride of Paul’s lightning fast steed,
Said Revere warned the British by ringing those bells
And while riding his horse, through the hamlets and dells
Fired off warning shots (and bells), to make sure we’re all free
So we all can be armed as the bells ring tra-lee!
And the school kids fell silent, at this badly told tale,
Every one of them knew, Palin should be in jail
For forgetting the simplest of tales known by all
Of how Paul Revere rode to stop Concord’s great fall.
For the Brits were invading, but by land or by sea?
If the colonists knew, they could ambush them see?
No church bell was rung from the tower for a warning
It was one or two lamps in the bell tower’s adorning
‘Member “One if by land and two if by sea”?
Perhaps Sarah should have studied more diligently.
Sarah’s liberty bell trip might have caused her confusion
But her Paul Revere story was mostly illusion.
For the war was not fought for the right to bear arms.
But to free up the colonies from Britain’s great harm.
‘Twas for national independence, revolution was struck
Not for bells ever tolling, and the right to bear glocks.
The colonists were warned, not the British, by Paul.
Revolutionary colonists, don’t like England at all.
Brits invaded by sea, with a mighty dark ship
Two lights in the bell tower, set Revere on his trip.
Paul rode through the night, to warn coming invasion
And in his swift ride, held the fate of the nation
By midnight he warned colonists, in the small town of Medford
By one warned in Lexington, by two had warned Concord
And the Lexington colonists gathered with arms
And drove back the British with shots from their guns.
Revolution was on! The first battle a win!
Thanks to Paul Revere’s ride, on that midnight quite dim.
And speaking of dim, back to Palin we go.
Where the children are mocking her confused tale of woe
For every child knows Paul Revere’s famous ride
Palin’s run Presidential should now be denied.

Mark Tyne of CA 1:29AM June 10, 2011

Let's all realize why ANY politician says anything. It's to promote their own political agenda. We are now to believe that Obama caused the current economis problems, that the lack of recovery is his fault, when the "political agenda" of the republican machine has not been to improve our situation, but to make it appear that the democrats have failed to correct the problems it took Bush's "political agenda" 8 years to create. Their opinion is that we should give the reigns back to the very party that created the problems in the first place. Let's give breaks to the very people who created the mess by their own greed and lack of self control. How many banking officials have lost their homes? Oh, wait, THEY got bailed out. Foreclosure, in most cases, merely means the bank gets paid with our tax dollars instead of being paid by the mortgagee, what a deal for the American consumer! Let's reward the perpetrators. Let's further undermine America's future by reducing the spending on education. Heck, Texas just decided to change the rules for the distribution of funding for schools, Arizona decided years ago that the money from the state lottery fund exceeded what the schools needed, so they changed the rules. Of course, the only reason a lottery exists there is because the voters were told it was going to fund the schools. Guess that wasn't the "political Agenda"

SH of TX 11:25PM June 09, 2011

Robyn, you're right. I was out of line. You put me in my place.

Jeff of CA 6:54PM June 09, 2011

It is almost sad to watch a bunch of people who know almost nothing about history try to make Sarah Palin look stupid only to have the stupid grenade fall back in their laps. And half of the posters and journalists out there are still running with the fact that she got it wrong. Even liberal history professors are having to go on NPR and admit that, um, well, she was actually kinda right.... um... sorry! That must have been very hard for them to admit that Sarah is right and all their illiterate liberal friends are wrong again. Unfortunately too many out there are still not checking their facts....I have tried to resist jumping on the Sarah bandwagon, she is just a little too much for me some time, but this Revere incident has convinced me that she will be the next POTUS, she is playing the media like a fiddle and she is outsmarting the "intellectuals" at every turn.. and you can tell that it terrifies them!

Jim of PA 6:10PM June 09, 2011

I don't have strong feelings about Palin, one way or another. That said, I don't understand why it's so difficult for her (or any other politician who has gotten their history or facts confused) to just simply say, "I'd like to retract that, as I had a momentary lapse of memory, but since then, have reviewed the facts and won't make that mistake again, now let's move on to more important things". That, or words to that effect would suffice. I think for the average citizen, it's the lying and trying to cover their tracks that frustrate us in these instances. Anyone can flub a line, forget a fact or have a momentary lapse. We are all human and we all make mistakes, and thinking people understand that it will happen to almost everyone when being barraged with questions while reporters are shoving microphones and cameras in your face at the worst times, just waiting for you to trip up. These things always look worse when the press drags it out.

jc of FL 4:57PM June 09, 2011