Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
I’m sure most Americans are aware that former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has been on a bus tour along the east coast of the United States. What is the purpose of her tour?
Only Palin knows for sure. She did, however, provide people with her reason for taking this tour of historical places on her Sarah PAC website.
It’s interesting when (for the 100th time) reporters shout out, “Why are you traveling to historical sites? What are you trying to accomplish?” I repeat my answer, “It’s so important for Americans to learn about our past so we can clearly see our way forward in challenging times; so, we’re bringing attention to our great nation’s foundation.” When that answer isn’t what the reporters want to hear, we’ve asked them if they’ve ever visited these sites like the National Archives, Gettysburg, etc. When they confirm that they haven’t, it’s good to say, “Well, there you go. You’ll learn a lot about America today.” (They usually don’t want to hear that either!)
Last Thursday, Palin stopped in Boston for a tour of three Revolutionary War sites. She said she was “getting goose bumps’’ from all the history she was glimpsing in Boston. She added, “You’ve got to know a lot about our past in order to know how to proceed successfully into the future.’’ And thanks to Palin we’re learning history anew as she provides reporters with her version of American historical events when she speaks to them on stops along her way.
After visiting the Old North Church in Boston’s North End, she hailed Paul Revere and what he did on his “famous ride.” Here is how Palin described that event: …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.
Got that? Revere warned the British! That’s news to me. And to think that I thought for decades that Paul Revere had been riding around on his horse warning certain American colonists about the British. The archivist at the Cambridge Public Library doesn’t know what really happened that fateful night either. The archivist wrote the following in a blog post: “Paul Revere and his famous midnight ride is so much a part of the collective memory of the American Revolution that it is often forgotten that Revere was just one of several men and one woman who alerted the Minutemen of the impending British advancement.”
I guess the History Channel got it wrong too. Following is what I found on the channel’s website. It includes no mention of bells.
By 1775, tensions between the American colonies and the British government had approached the breaking point, especially in Massachusetts, where Patriot leaders formed a shadow revolutionary government and trained militias to prepare for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from Great Britain to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On April 18, he ordered British troops to march against Concord and Lexington.
The Boston Patriots had been preparing for such a British military action for some time, and, upon learning of the British plan, Revere and Dawes set off across the Massachusetts countryside. They took separate routes in case one of them was captured: Dawes left the city via the Boston Neck peninsula and Revere crossed the Charles River to Charlestown by boat. As the two couriers made their way, Patriots in Charlestown waited for a signal from Boston informing them of the British troop movement. As previously agreed, one lantern would be hung in the steeple of Boston’s Old North Church, the highest point in the city, if the British were marching out of the city by Boston Neck, and two lanterns would be hung if they were crossing the Charles River to Cambridge. Two lanterns were hung, and the armed Patriots set out for Lexington and Concord accordingly. Along the way, Revere and Dawes roused hundreds of Minutemen, who armed themselves and set out to oppose the British.
Tim Murphy—snarking little fellow—wrote this in an article at Mother Jones: “We don’t mean to nitpick—we just think that if you launch a major publicity tour on the subject of great moments in American history, it might make sense to brush up on the details first. We can only imagine how Palin might try to spin this: ‘Listen my children and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. If the story doesn’t sound like what you read on Wikipedia, you know who to blame: the elite liberal media.’”
It’s just not fair! Tim Murphy and other members of the “lamestream media” love to make fun of Palin. I don’t understand why. She’s only trying to give us the scoop on what really happened in our country’s past—just like Representative Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota. Thank heavens we have women so well versed in American history that they can enlighten us today with their knowledge.
SOURCES
Palin hits town to pick her spots, take her shots (Boston Globe)
Just passing through (Boston Globe)
Reminding Reporters, too, of America’s Foundations (Sarah PAC)
Sarah Palin’s Reasons for Bus Tour Misguided (Yahoo)
Paul Revere’s Ride, Reimagined by Sarah Palin (Mother Jones)
The Other Paul Revere: William Dawes’ Midnight Ride through Cambridge (The Cambridge Room)
Revere and Dawes warn of British attack (History.com)
You can certainly see your enthusiasm within the work you write. The arena hopes for more passionate writers such as you who are not afraid to say how they believe. At all times go after your heart.
Does the quitta from Wasilla ever finish anything she starts?
Sarah Palin: Reports Of Bus Tour ‘Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated’
Huffington Post, 6/22/2011
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/22/sarah-palin-bus-tour_n_882678.html
Excerpt:
JUEAU, Alaska — Sarah Palin is disputing online reports that she has canceled her bus tour of historic American sites, saying in a Facebook posting that her schedule will be tight the next few weeks because she’s been called for jury duty.
“As I said myself at the end of the east coast leg of the tour, the summer is long, and I’m looking forward to hitting the open road again,” she wrote on Wednesday. “The coming weeks are tight because civic duty calls (like most everyone else, even former governors get called up for jury duty) and I look forward to doing my part just like every other Alaskan.”
Palin said that her “One Nation” bus tour would resume “when the time comes.” She added that she’s looking forward “to hitting the open road again.”
Real Clear Politics reported earlier in the day:
Though Palin and her staff never announced a timeline for the remaining legs of her trip, aides had drafted preliminary itineraries that would have taken her through the Midwest and Southeast at some point this month. But those travel blueprints are now in limbo, RCP has learned, as Palin and her family have reverted to the friendly confines of summertime Alaska, where the skies are currently alight for over 19 hours a day and the Bristol Bay salmon fishing season is nearing its peak.
It should be noted, however, that Real Clear Politics never indicated that Palin was officially cutting her trip short.
The Huffington Post reported earlier in the day that Palin’s bus tour appeared to take a truncated route after it was reported that the former governor’s tentative itinerary included stops in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Iowa.
Elaine,
Another great link. Palin, as usual, can’t be trusted. She has no concept of reality or facts. She should stay up in Alaska and spend her campaign money on private vacations with less public scrutiny.
Palin Bus Tour Takes Extended Pit Stop
By Scott Conroy – June 22, 2011
Real Clear Politics
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/06/22/palin_bus_tour_takes_extended_pit_stop__110313.html
Excerpt:
Less than a month after she appeared poised to shake up the Republican presidential campaign, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has once again receded from the 2012 limelight.
When Palin launched her “One Nation” bus tour on Memorial Day amid a swirl of media attention and excitement from her fervent fan base, many political observers who had once dismissed her were reminded of the jolt that her candidacy could provide to what has thus far been a relatively sleepy GOP nominating fight.
As Palin toured historical sites along the East Coast, she was clearly reveling in the tangible excitement she’d ginned up: She even eagerly answered questions — from the denizens of the “lamestream” media — ranging from matters of political process to an array of issues facing the nation.
In an apparent repudiation to those who dismissed her trip as a mere publicity stunt, Palin’s openness with reporters about her intentions to visit Iowa and South Carolina — in addition to her highly scrutinized stop in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire — lent credence to her repeated assertions that she was indeed seriously considering a White House bid.
Though Palin and her staff never announced a timeline for the remaining legs of her trip, aides had drafted preliminary itineraries that would have taken her through the Midwest and Southeast at some point this month. But those travel blueprints are now in limbo, RCP has learned, as Palin and her family have reverted to the friendly confines of summertime Alaska, where the skies are currently alight for over 19 hours a day and the Bristol Bay salmon fishing season is nearing its peak.
As Palin enjoys her sojourn to the 49th state, she has not reconnected with key early-state figures like Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and she may have jeopardized whatever political momentum she gained from her recent reemergence in the 2012 discussion. Her political action committee’s website still greets visitors with a stale banner, announcing the nationwide bus tour beginning “[t]his Sunday, May 29th.”
More than a few of Palin’s core supporters have grown impatient and confused about her strategy, venting their frustration on Internet fan sites.
The former governor herself has consented to only one interview since her East Coast jaunt ended early this month, and her lack of recent public activity has generated a host of rumors about what her next step might be. Last week, the American Spectator, citing a single and unnamed Republican source, claimed that her presidential decision was imminent. Palin shot this speculation down immediately, but she didn’t counter it with anything definitive.
kderosa,
“Actually, my hobby is running experiments on palin derangement sufferers. My hypothesis is that once provoked, these poor souls are incapable of disengaging from an argument. So far the experiment is going quite well with lots of data collected to support the hypothesis.”
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You are your own best subject. I don’t think your self-evaluation is going very well. Of course, projection is a big part of your syndrome. Maybe, in time, you’ll find a cure for what ails you.
Another data point collected.
OS,
Yep.
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Troll,
In addition to my many other fine qualities, I am indeed silly.
That doesn’t change that you are a propagandist engaging in the Big Lie tactic and failing miserably. You have demonstrably hit every criteria of the tactic and your refusal to walk away once exposed is simply confirmation that you are indeed engaging in said tactic. Poorly I might add. Not only does it show your basic incompetence in administering the Big Lie, your inability to shift tactical gears shows a remarkably shallow skill set or perhaps that you are operating off of a script without any true understanding of the mechanics of what you are engaged in.
I’m sorry you suck at your job, but you have nobody to blame for that but yourself.
Actually, my hobby is running experiments on palin derangement sufferers. My hypothesis is that once provoked, these poor souls are incapable of disengaging from an argument. So far the experiment is going quite well with lots of data collected to support the hypothesis.
Like a moth to the flame, back to repeating the same old arguments. How many more repeats do you need for them to be “right”?
Speaking of repeats: You’ve repeated your propaganda argument over 100 times and your Big Lie argument about 61 times. You’re silly.
BiL, I think I figured out that he gets a bonus from his teabagger overlords if he is the one to make the last post to this thread. It is the only explanation that makes sense. What he does not realize is that we do this as a hobby and there are more of us than him unless he brings in more trolls.
Which brings us back to the main point that St. Sarah of Teabag made a truly idiotic statement and ever since the trollz have been fanning out across the intertoobz trying to alter every historical account in sight to revise history to make it conform to the stoopid.