Mike Krumboltz reports: "In the video, which was taken at Boston's Old North Church, Palin gives a bizarre version of Revere's 1775 ride. Addressing an unknown person, Palin remarks: 'He who warned the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms by ringing those bells and, um, making sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that, uh, we were going to be secure and we were going to be free.'"

Sarah Palin campaigning in Hew Hampshire, 06/02/11. (photo: Reuters)

Sarah Palin: "Paul Revere Warned the British"

By Mike Krumboltz, The Upshot/Y!News

04 June 11

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS4C7bvHv2w

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arah Palin is a divisive figure. But no matter where you stand with the former Alaska governor's politics, this recent video of her speaking about Paul Revere's historic ride is sure to raise a few eyebrows.

In the video, which was taken at Boston's Old North Church, Palin gives a bizarre version of Revere's 1775 ride. Addressing an unknown person, Palin remarks:

He who warned the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms by ringing those bells and, um, making sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that, uh, we were going to be secure and we were going to be free.

A couple of things are wrong with that interpretation, but one central main point seemed to be lost on Palin: Revere wasn't warning the British about anything. Indeed, he was warning the Americans about an impending British attack - as his celebrated historical catchphrase "The British are coming!" made abundantly clear.

But Palin can take some small consolation in knowing she's not alone among high-profile leaders affiliated with the tea-party wing of the conservative movement in misremembering a key development in colonial American history - even as the movement prides itself on serving as the guardian of the American Revolution's founding principle of liberty. Last month, Michele Bachmann - Palin's likeliest rival for the tea party vote should they both elect to run for president in 2012 - told a crowd in New Hampshire that they came from the state where the first "shot heard round" helped set off the American Revolution in Lexington and Concord. Lexington and Concord, of course, are in the neighboring state of Massachusetts.

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+10 # Dust 2014-09-12 15:16

Clean water
Clean air
Clean food
Freedom of information
Freedom of communication
Freedom of education
Freedom of/from religion

One world.

-13 # arquebus 2014-09-13 00:21

By golly that is a great idea. Let's eliminate fossil fuels from the face of the earth on the 21st. But, wait....the next day--the 22nd--how are people going to get to work? How are trucks going to haul food to the cities? Oh, that's right....they are going to use electricity from the non-existent solar grid.

Somebody ought to tell these yahoos that Rome wasn't built in a day...it takes time to move from one system to another. They need to relax....we are in a transition period...fossil fuels will be phased out...already are. Just takes a bit of time...the sky isn't falling.

+4 # Dust 2014-09-13 11:44

Seems like this protest is part of the phasing. Why object? Rome wasn't built in a day, but it sounds like if you had been on one of the seven hills when the first architects sat down and said "Heus quis similis locus urbis", you would immediately have started objecting. But your objections make no sense- if I said I needed to walk down the street to get a book from the library, you'd jump up and start screaming that it takes time to walk to the library, and first I need to put on a jacket, and make sure I have my library card, and can read, and most importantly - what will I read while I am walking there???

+6 # Floe 2014-09-13 13:37

Oh you think the sky is not falling? Well what if you're wrong? We've known about the dangers of burning fossil fuels for decades and what's been done about it? Practically nothing. Just token change. Don't be ridiculous to infer that it's going to be done tomorrow. But I can tell you one thing we can do tomorrow - and that is make the commitment to be off the demon's expectoration within ten years and you just watch the money flow in from investors waiting for some bold state to give the long-term go ahead. WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A LONG-TERM ENERGY POLICY. Doing what you suggest is kicking the can down the road. NO. We go for everything and we go for it NOW. We've given enough chances for governments and corporations to do something and they failed. Miserably.

+2 # bmiluski 2014-09-15 11:28

You're absolutely right arquebus....Rom e wasn't built in a day but at least it was built.
The Climate March just want's authentic participation by ALL nations to fight this very credible danger to all our lives.

+1 # NAVYVET 2014-09-13 07:29

Thank you! I love this acronym: CONG! My British friends would say CONG has pong!

+6 # born1929 2014-09-13 11:25

There is a Chinese proverb: There are two best times to plant a tree .... the first is twenty years ago and the second is now
stan Levin

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