[Craftmore]

why?are you truly unaware that paul revere did in fact warn the british that the colonists were ready to fight after he was captured?read your history before you say palin mispoke.

[worst-case scenario]

Paul Revere did not ride to warn the British of anything. He rode to tell Hancock and Adams that there were warrants out for their arrest, and to tell the guys who ran the “Early Warning System” - an already-arranged bell-signal - to start it up. He also rode to tell the residents of Middlesex County that there was a regiment of Redcoats coming to seize the colonial armory at Concord.

Revere didn’t want the British to know ANYTHING about it at all - because the Middlesex Men wanted to set up, essentially, an ambush for them as they approached Concord.

Sarah punted like a kid who’s been called on in class and didn’t know the answer, so tries to bluff it out with a few dimly remembered facts and a confident attitude. What makes it doubly annoying to New Englanders is that she’d *just finished the Walk.* Didn’t she actually pay attention to anything? She billed this tour as a history lesson. Instead it seems to have been turned into a series of photo-ops at historic sites.

[hinckley buzzard]

The British were going to Concord to seize a cache of guns and ammunition. Paul Revere was taken by the British during his ride. Under questioning he warned the British not to try to take our guns because they would meet armed resistance. During his ride church bells pealed to alert the local populace. Everything she said in her statement was historically correct.

[Polybius]

I wish at times like this she would just say that she misspoke. .... heysean

why?are you truly unaware that paul revere did in fact warn the british that the colonists were ready to fight after he was captured?read your history before you say palin mispoke. .... Craftmore

Before you criticize heysean for supposedly not knowing history, maybe we should first hear what Palin actually said.

Here is the exact Palin quote on video:

"He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t gonna be takin’ away our arms, uh, by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed." .... Sarah Palin

There are several elements in this quote:

1) The British were warned by Revere that the American colonists meant business. (True)

2) This was accomplished by "ringing bells". (Huh?)

3) This was accomplished by "warning shots". (Huh?)

Remember the days, long, long ago, when even the elementary school kids that went to public school could tell you about Paul Revere and silent LANTERNS ...... "One if by land. Two if by sea."

The last thing that the colonists wanted was church bells and "warning shots" being heard, in the middle of the night, from miles away, tipping off the British that the Americans were waiting for them.

We can safely assume that the British used "enhanced interrogation methods" before Paul Revere spilled the beans and then deliberately exaggerated the number of colonists that were waiting for the British. The ideal outcome would have been to blindside the British.

Any way you slice it, Sarah Palin massacred the historical facts.

Instead of warning the British of American determination to fight during an interrogation after capture, Palin's version of history has Paul Revere warning the British of American determination to fight by ringing bells and firing shots ...... essentially trash-talking to the British:

BANG! BANG! "That's what you'll get from us, redcoats!" BANG! BANG!

CLANG! CLANG! "Here we are! You wanna piece of us! Come and get it, redcoats!" CLANG! CLANG!

Nothing in her statement alludes to Revere's capture and subsequent interrogation. According to Palin's version, Revere warned the British of American intentions to fight by "ringing bells" and "firing warning shots".

Did she "misspeak"?

I think that heysean is being charitable. "Misspeaking" implies that you knew the correct answer but your tongue betrayed you while speaking.

I believe that Sarah Palin simply does not read very much until she has no other choice. She probably read about the details of Paul Revere the week before, read that he was a brass bell-maker, read something about an Old North Church, read something about Revere's capture then, a week later, the historical facts were completely scrambled in her mind: Paul Revere warned the British about the American willingness to fight by ringing bells at them.