Saturday, June 04, 2011

Paul Revere's Ride, Reimagined by Sarah Palin

On Thursday, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin passed through Boston as part of her totally-not-a-presidential-campaign-test-run, family-vacation East Coast bus tour. Because the purported mission of the trip is to help Americans "appreciate the significance of our nation's historic sites, patriotic events and diverse cultures," the former half-term Alaska governor did what most tour groups do when they come to the city: she checked out the Freedom Trail, which winds past historic landmarks like the Old North Church and Paul Revere's house. As she explained on her blog, "There's so much history here. It's amazing how much of our nation's history can be found in just two and a half miles on the Freedom Trail." There certainly is a lot of history to be found on the Freedom Trail, but Palin appears to have lost most of it.

Here's how she described Paul Revere's famous ride:

"…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."

This is actually the opposite of everything Paul Revere did. He wasn't sending any messages to the British soldiers who were about to move on the patriots' weapons stockpiles and arrest key leaders. According to history, Revere was warning the Minutemen that the Brits were coming so these militia members could prepare. He did not ring any bells. He instructed a friend to put either one or two lights in the tower of the Old North Church ("one if by land, two if by sea"). He did not fire any warning shots. His ride at the time was no act of symbolism; it was a stealth operation in support of a local resistance movement whose goals at that point remained largely undefined. (Tim Murphy at Mother Jones)

In nightly baseball news, the Yankees can’t hit and lost and the Red Sox can’t pitch and won. Look for Chad's post if you really need more detail.

Bob Lorenz just might be the first baseball broadcaster to make ESPN’s Top Worst Ten moments. Last night’s mind-numbers included this analysis of one of the Angels, “When he’s hot, he’s hot, but when he’s cold, he’s cold.” Stop the presses. Fortunately, Flash was in the booth administering another dose of “color” anesthesia and much needed sleep.

Could there be a YES job in Sarah’s future?

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