National Review's Joel Miller: "Palin basically got the whole story wrong"

Though it refers to last week's pointless media kerfuffle, this Joel J. Miller blog post at The Corner about Sarah Palin's Paul Revere comments is worth flagging, on account of Miller (a sometime Reason contributor) actually having written a book about Paul Revere. An excerpt from his take:

Sarah Palin said that Paul Revere "warned the British that they weren't gonna be taking away our arms, by ringing those bells and making sure, as he's riding his horse through town, to send those warning shots and bells that we were gonna be secure and we were gonna be free."

As the author of a book about Revere's life, when I heard this, I groaned. From Revere's own account, it's clear that he didn't fire a shot, he didn't ring a bell, and he didn't intend to warn the British of anything (unless you count the townsfolk as British, which they technically were for a little while longer).

The unarmed Revere left Boston in total silence. He muffled the oars of his boat as men rowed him to Charlestown, and he rode in silence after leaving Charlestown by horseback. He was, after all, on a secret mission to alert John Hancock and Samuel Adams in Lexington that they were in danger.

Only after scaring up two redcoats on horseback and turning away to Medford did he begin waking the countryside. He first woke the militia captain in Medford and then rode to Lexington raising the alarm — by shouting, mind you, not shooting or ringing bells.

In short, Palin basically got the whole story wrong.

Miller goes on to criticize both Palin's detractors and defenders in this matter. Read the whole thing. If you're a Palin completist, you may also enjoy the New York Post's Kyle Smith eviscerating her forthcoming biopic. Then watch Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie interview Miller about Paul Revere below:

Comments

[Episiarch]

Why does anyone care one whit about anything Palin has to say, ever? Why? I honestly would rather hear from Paris Hilton than Sarah Palin.

[MNG]

Because Paris Hilton doesn't poll at the top of GOP potential Presidential candidates?

[Mike M.]

Neither does Palin, so I'm not sure why you're pretending that she does.

[MNG]

Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin share the lead at 16% in PPP's latest national poll of Republican primary voters

http://www.publicpolicypolling.....S_0602.pdf

Gallup Poll: Romney, Palin lead GOP presidential field

http://content.usatoday.com/co.....up-poll-/1

[MNG]

Gallup Poll: Romney, Palin lead GOP presidential field

http://content.usatoday.com/co.....up-poll-/1

[MNG]

Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin share the lead at 16% in PPP's latest national poll of Republican primary voters

http://www.publicpolicypolling.....S_0602.pdf

[MNG]

Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin continued their run at the top of GOP primary field nationally, according to a new PPP poll of registered voters released Thursday.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.....behind.php

[Mike M.]

Sorry, but second place isn't "the top".

Nice try though; I'll gladly give you a solid A for effort.

[o rly]

Hey idiot, what do you do when someone says "top 10" or "top 40" DURRRR THEYS NOT THE TOP ONLY NUMBER 1 IS THE TOP DURRRRRR!

[MNG]

http://www.publicpolicypolling.....S_0602.pdf

[Doc S.]

I wouldn't mind if palin released a film similar to the One Night in Paris so we could judge them on their true value to society.
2 people that are worth a fortune that shouldn't be worth anything.

[Enough About Palin]

I find Hiton's breasts to be top-notch. And her nipples? Top-notch.

[SIV]

You're commenting on a political site where ideology, policy, and political figures are the primary subject matter.

[Episiarch]

Sarah Palin is a reality show queen, so why are we talking about her?

[MNG]

1. We talk about pop culture and pop figures quite a bit on this site
2. She is a political figure (she has a major PAC, her endorsement carries weight, and she seems to be preparing to run for President, and if she does she is polling well)

But of course the real answer is that she is so polarizing people cannot look away from her.

[Nick]

She is a former governor and VP candidate and she says stupid shit on a fairly regular basis. Why wouldn't she be talked about here?

[Enough About Palin]

"She is a former governor and VP candidate and she says stupid shit on a fairly regular basis."

You know, rather meets one of those metrics.

[?]

Episiarch|6.7.11 @ 11:28AM|#
Sarah Palin is a reality show queen, so why are we talking about her?

Who's forcing you?

[MNG]

Stupid liberal Joel Miller and stupid MSM National Review, don't they know she was masterfully playing the press? She knows the Founding Fathers, I mean, all of them are her favorite.

But hey, she's aware of this affront, after all she reads all journals and newspapers.

[cynical]

I wouldn't be shocked if she's playing dumber than she is. Either she's going for the belligerently stupid vote (which could carry the election, maybe), or she's pulling a Trump.

[Doc S.]

I, for one, am stunned that a politician would reference a story or anecdote that they actually know nothing about.
Tragedy.

[MNG]

I give her a little break, I hate how every single thing a pol says is poured over and the least little gaffe becomes news. It's one reason why they are so over-careful when they speak, and ironically this being over-careful often leads to stupid sounding sound bites.

[capitol l]

I understand your point, Minge, but what should we do when one of these fuckers goes full on retard?

Just pretend it didn't happen? Or that the diarrhea spewing forth from their lips is honest, good, and wise?

[MNG]

I think anyone that talks a lot will make gaffes, so I would look at the 'overall body of work' so to speak.

[capitol l]

C'mon man, Bush, Biden, and Palin, the most famous gaffe-masters, bring the stoopid almost every time they speak.

Other politicians, however, speak almost exclusively in platitudes so it is actually news when they actually say something remotely human.

Really, it's a lose/lose situation for everybody involved.

[Nick]

Obama has made more gaffes than Biden in total but because it's a smaller percentage of his total speaking he gets a pass, and because he's so effing cool, amirite?

[TrickyVic]

""C'mon man, Bush, Biden, and Palin, the most famous gaffe-masters, ""

Bush(s) Can anyone beat the father and son team?

[capitol l]

Puking on Japan's PM was the ultimate gaffe.

[mad libertarian guy]

We pretend all the time. At least when the right people say stupid shit. It's only those damn Republicans who have every word poured over by the media.

[.]

MNG|6.7.11 @ 11:25AM|#
I give her a little break, I hate how every single thing a pol says is poured over and the least little gaffe becomes news.

It's pored not poured. I don't have your law degree, yet even I know that.

[Lord Humungus]

I blame those warbly film-strips and 16mm films from elementary school.

[bendover]

"Palin got it all wrong"

Funny that. Yesterday evening listening to NPR on the radio - they had some professor on that confirmed that Palin was correct in her interpretation of events (if somewhat inarticulately stated).

Who knew that NPR is now a Palin apologist.

[MNG]

Revere rode to warn the British?

[SIV]

Her whole account sounded like one of those Paul Harvey-style "Now you know the rest of the story" punchlines. The sort of thing you get from tour guides, museum docents and public lectures.

She wasn't being stupid and this wasn't one of those clever manipulations of the media she plays so well.

[Mongo]

The prof on NPR essentially summed up Revere's ride as what was laid out in Miller's blog.

[kderosa]

... and then concluded that Palin got it essentially right. Apparently, reasonable expert minds can differ on this. But feel free to make up your own mind by consulting the various historical and analytic sources available online.

[kderosa]

Revere was captured on his way to Concord and then warned (as in to "inform someone in advance of an impending or possible danger, problem, or other unpleasant situation") the British officer capturing him that the jig was up and the colonial militia had been alerted and would be ready for them when they reached Concord to seize the munitions and gun powder. This warning was soon confirmed by the sounds of gun volleys and church bells being run which affirmed that the alarm had indeed been sent out. Just google Powder Alarm.

[MNG]

That is incredible straining, likely to induce hemorrhoids.

He was on his way to Concord not to warn the British, but the Americans. When he was captured he may have told them what he was up to, but that is a warning in the goofiest of senses.

[bendover]

MNG - take it up with the professor that NPR interviewed. Money Quote:

Q. So you think basically on the whole Sarah Palin got her history right?

A. Well yes she did, now remember she's a politician she's not a historian, and God help us when historians start acting like politicians, and I suppose policitians start writing history.

[Bee Tagger]

God help us when historians start acting like politicians

The professor means, God help us when Doris Kearns Goodwin speaks.

[kderosa]

He actually told then what the colonials were up to and warned them that the militia would be waiting for them.

By goofy I'm guessing you mean an established dictionary meaning of the word. The dictionary is your friend. Use it. Your comments will be better informed and less embarrassing.

[Fatty Bolger]

It seems obvious to me that she meant "warned the British" in the way a rattler warns off a predator by shaking his tail.

[joshua corning]

It seems obvious to me that she meant "warned the British" in the way a rattler warns off a predator by shaking his tail.

Or a dad who is telling kids in the back seat to shut the fuck up.

"I am warning you...you do not want me pulling over and coming back there."

[joshua corning]

That is incredible straining, likely to induce hemorrhoids.

MNG proven wrong and so he chooses to double down.

Classic.

Aside from all this crazy shit MNG do you really think it is even remotely important for a politician to know the story of Paul Revere?

[Not an Economist]

Technically he did. As most colonist regarded themselves as British subjects at the time, he was warning his fellow British subjects about the British regular troops that were coming to grab there stuff and arrest some people. While there were some people advocating for independence, that view didn't become prevalent till later.

[kderosa]

Here is the link to the NPR interview.

Then you have David Hackett Fischer's "Paul Revere's Ride" pp. 129-137 which also backs-up Palin's garbled, though essentially correct, extemporaneous utterances. Those pages are available on Google Books.

Only a very ungenerous reading of Palin's words , which Miller has done, leads one to the conclusion that Palin was clearly wrong.

[zoltan]

Also, apparently this little tidbit of history about Paul Revere warning the British is told during the tour of the house. So she might have just heard it from her tour guide and repeated it.

[SIV]

^THIS^

Palin is taking a tour of historical/"patriotic" sites and she related what she just learned--not "what everybody knows".

[Azathoth]

And, given that the question she was answering when she said this was 'what have you learned?' the whole thing starts to make sense.

[Fatty Bolger]

NO! She's an ignorant monster! Stop destroying our meme!

[joshua corning]

I didn't even know Revere was captured by the British and warned them...so yeah if i took the tour I would have just learned that fact.

Did anyone here know this? My guess is most poeple, Palin included, didn't know that.

[SIV]

I knew he was captured by the British but in one of those revisionist history ways: "Paul Revere was so incompetent he was captured by the British before he warned hardly anyone...the Founding Fathers suck, if not for Lafayette we'd all be speaking English now."

[zoltan]

I did not know this fact!

[Mensan]

I've taken the tour, and that's pretty much what the tour guide said.

I've also, read Fischer's book, Paul Revere's Ride, and he wrote (I'm paraphrasing) that while Revere was in British custody, he told them that they should not attempt to raid the armory in Lexington, because the militia was waiting to stop them. Then as they approached Lexington a warning shot rang out, and the town hall bell started ringing. Revere then said to a British officer that the bell is ringing and the militia is alarmed, and you are all dead men.

[adam]

I've read her words a few times and I'm still trying to interpret what the hell the she said.

[anomdebus]

if somewhat inarticulately stated

Exactly, if her detractors had stuck to saying she mangled the story enough that it's hard to tell what she meant, they would have been on a lot firmer ground.

[proegg antichicken]

Girl, you thought you found the answer on that magic carpet ride last night
But when you wake up in the mornin' the world still gets you uptight
Well, there's nothin' that you ain't tried
To fill the emptiness inside
But when you come back down, girl
Still ain't feelin' right

...

[Benjamin]

Really? This felt like a Monkees' moment? I'd be even better if we found out that Weiner had "I'm A Believer" blaring in the background while taking his package pictures. Cause, everything's better with the Monkees (or at least a bit more unsettling and uncomfortable).

[Enough About Palin]

Paul Revere and the Raiders =/= The Monkees.

[Enough About Palin]

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

[Colin]

"send those warning shots and bells"

She could've meant that as a metaphor.

Not saying she did.

[kderosa]

No need for a metaphorical explanation. Warning shots and bells were indeed rung that night by the colonists as part of the Powder Alarm that Revere and other riders had set into motion.

Palin's garbled phrasing does not necessitate the interpretation that Revere himself was doing the shooting and ringing.

[Mo]

But Revere didn't ring the bells or fire the shots. And warning the red coats was not his intent, just something that happened after he got captured.

[kderosa]

Palin doesn't specifically say that Revere himself did the ringing and shooting. And why would you infer that literal meaning when the figurative meaning is also a fair interpretation which has the advantage of being also historically accurate.

Also Palin never mentions "intent" that's another inference.

[TrickyVic]

"Ms. PALIN: Part of Paul Revere's ride - and it wasn't just one ride - he was a courier, he was a messenger. Part of his ride was to warn the British that we're already there, that, hey, you're not going to succeed."

Part of his ride wasn't to warn the British, Unless you count getting caught as part of his ride.

[SIV]

Discovering America was not Christopher Columbus' intent, just something that happened after he failed to find a new trading route to Asia.

[Ken Shultz]

This looks to me like somebody obtusely taking her specifically and literally when she was speaking generally and figuratively.

If she had said that "Abraham Lincoln won the Civil War", would someone protest her ignorance and say that "Actually Abraham Lincoln never fired a shot--it was the Union troops who won the war!"?

The answer is "yes". They made a big deal over her being factually correct when she said there was an Alaskan island from which Russia could be seen--they'll make a big deal about anything she says at random.

[SIV]

A woman swam to Russia from Alaska (or vice-versa)

[Professional Critic]

Just like there are 57 states. Look, these politicians speak in front of people taking notes all day, every day. Every once in a while they misplace a number or word. It happens.

People who want to believe Palin is an idiot lap it up. Mostly TEAM BLUE. Just like TEAM RED gets all hot and bothered when BO said there were 57 states. BFD.

[Ken Shultz]

I think this just scores points for her with Republican voters.

The American people may not get the candidates we want--but the media gets exactly the candidate it wants.

And they want Sarah.

[rogue biologist]

apparently the thetans will get their candidate too.

[rogue biologist]

apparently the thetans will get their candidate too.

[BHO]

Texas is one of those 57 states that's historically republican.

My parents marched at Selma then procreated me.

[.]

I have to wonder how many in the younger generation of Americans even know who Paul Revere was.

[proegg antichicken]

I had to recite Paul Revere's Ride in 5th grade, didn't you? Ah, Catholic schools.

in the eighteenth of april in seventy five...

[xenia onatopp]

Never had to memorize Longfellow, but only because I spent grades 4-12 in the Lexington, MA public schools, where Paul Revere was just part of the background noise of daily life. There used to be a great ice cream stand right at the place where he was captured; sadly it was torn down when the Feds bought up all the surrounding land to make a national park. There's a bitter sort of irony in that which few of the native liberal academics appear to have noticed.

[Edgar A. Poe]

Longfellow is overated and possibly a plaigerist.

[Mensan]

Not to mention that his poem about Revere was a piece of propaganda, and he deliberately changed the facts of the actual midnight ride.

[o rly]

WHO THE HELL CARES? I'm not a Palin fan (her resume is a joke, and I don't like her attention-whoring antics, nor her cultish fan-base), but the fact remains, she very often gets policy right. All I get from this is that "dey aint going to be taking away our arms, theys getting a warning". Who can object to that?

[almightyjb]

Who fuckin cares. She made a point using a popular reference and everyone there got the point. That's known as communication. If she was teaching a history class this article would be relevant but she wasn't, so it's not.

[Enough About Palin]

"In short, Palin basically got the whole story wrong."

Who gives a fuck?

[Azathoth]

I thought the best part of that NRO article was the way Miller got torn to shreds in the comments--using Revere and Gage's own words.

[Mensan]

Yeah, for a guy who wrote a book about Paul Revere, you'd think he should, ya' know, know something about him. Maybe read some of his letters, or other first hand account of events.

[Platypus]

What's really REALLY funny to me, is how everyone has had to re-read their Revolutionary War history to dissect Palin's rambling, stumbling description of Paul Revere's Ride -- just to see if she's wrong or right.

It's funny to me, but I'm very tired of Sarah Palin.

[joshua corning]

It's funny to me, but I'm very tired of Sarah Palin.

I would like Reason to actually look at her policy positions.

Maybe she sucks maybe she does not.

But I guess according to Reason we should judge her on her ability to regurgitate historical facts about some silver smith who died 200 years ago.

[The bottom line]

She was let into the club up there in Alaska and ratted out the corruption she encountered.

Is it any wonder the D.C. establishment fears and despises her?

[.]

That is the best thing about her.

[joshua corning]

Quick everyone write down what they know about Ichabod Crane without looking it up on the internet.

Now that everything you wrote is completely wrong and so you are no longer considered intelligent.

[Mensan]

I know he commanded the Army in North Florida during one of the Seminole Wars, but that's about it. Since that's the only thing I know, and I'm fairly certain that it's correct, then I am still intelligent.

[Libertarian2]

I don't car who's President, but any candidate who uses the word, "gonna" should be disqualified. And that includes "gunna," which my least favorite Tennessseean, Al Gore, uses.

[*]

also, no President should evah pronounce "Cuber" with an "r"

[-]

"as he's riding his horse through town, to send those warning shots and bells"

Just because Palin is an idiot doesn't mean she can't speak in metaphors, however clunky and semi-retarded.

[Isaac Bartram]

if not for Lafayette we'd all be speaking English now.

Actually, I read somewhere that there was enough German spoken in Pennsylvania that there was a demand from some quarters to make it the official language.

In the end they decided on no official language at all and we've been muddling through ever since.

[Federal Dog]

Has Mr. Miller read Paul Revere's letter recounting the ride? If so, why does he think Paul Revere mispresented warning the Brits?

[AlmightyJB]

Yeah, the problem with Washington is there is not enough slick talking ivy league educated snobs.