You know how Sarah Palin said Paul Revere warned the British? Well, he did. Now, who looks stupid?

You may have heard recently something about that Sarah Palin telling a reporter that Paul Revere warned the British on his famous rousing revolutionary ride.

Now, that so many Americans have wallowed in their smug confirmation that Palin is an idiot unqualified for anything but repeating sixth-grade history, how far, wide and fast do you think the contradictory news will spread that the former governor of Alaska was indeed correct?

That the Republican non-candidate, in fact, knew more about the actual facts of Revere's midnight ride than all those idiots unknowingly revealing their own ignorance by laughing at her faux faux pas? How secretly embarrassing this must be, to be forced to face that you're dumber than the reputed dummy.

As it happens, though, such phenomena are regular occurrences in American politics, reminding consumers of news to be wary when some fresh story seems to fit contemporary assumptions so absolutely perfectly.

The well-known fable is Revere's late-night ride to warn fellow revolutionaries that....

...the British were coming. Less known, obviously, is the rest of the evening's events in which Revere was captured by said redcoats and did indeed defiantly warn them of the awakened militia awaiting their arrival ahead and of the American Revolution's inevitable victory.

Palin knew this. The on-scene reporters did not and ran off like Revere to alert the world to Palin's latest mis-speak, which wasn't.

Like a number of famous faux gaffes in American politics, the facts of the situation no longer really matter.

The initial impression was eagerly grabbed by so many, starting with the reporter and millions of others gleefully sharing the story that reinforced their beliefs and/or desires.

This phenomenon is actually not a new one in American politics, although its immediate spread is obviously hastened by the Internet. Speaking of which, Al Gore did not invent it. Nor did he claim to, as often as you've heard otherwise.

In 1999, the hapless former journalist, who should have known to make a better word choice, told CNN that in Congress he "took the initiative in creating the Internet."

Democrat Gore never used the word "invented." That was part of another willful misinterpretation that fit expectations of Gore's boasts and was gleefully spread by opponents as further proof of his unseemly hubris. It lives on to this day.

Perhaps you remember how one day during a photo op President George H.W. Bush was overheard asking a store checkout clerk how this price scanner thing worked?

That quote was immediately transmitted as proof of how disconnected that Republican chief executive was, that he had no knowledge of something as ordinary as a checkout scanner.

The fact is, asking such inane and often obvious questions as "what are you doing here?" is a bipartisan ploy used by politicians to fill the awkward time void they are hanging around someone working while photographers snap their photos several hundred times.

President Obama likely said much the same thing last Friday in that Toledo Chrysler plant when for the benefit of nearby photographers he feigned interest watching assembly-line worker Anthony Davis install a dashboard instrument panel. (See photo below)

A classic example of this faux faux pas was in 1992 when Vice President Dan Quayle agreed to participate in a New Jersey classroom spelling bee.

Working from a placard, Quayle corrected one sixth-grader by telling him to add an "e" to "potato." Journalists gleefully noted the spelling misteak. And Quayle's dunce hat was glued in place.

Trouble is, that mis-spelled placard was actually written out by the classroom teacher herself, either through her own ignorance or, a few suspect, some sly political set-up. Quayle knew he hadn't written it and thought the error was the point of the lesson.

And because the classroom spelling bit was a last-minute addition, aides who would have foreseen the everlasting damage of their boss inexplicably adding a mistake to a student's work did not know what the placard said. Quayle subsequently forbade them from explaining the error to the media, for fear of embarrassing the teacher.

One of the immutable laws of public communications in politics and other fields is, if you have to explain something, you lose. Seeking to explain you were for something before being against it simply digs a deeper hole.

This time the mistake for Palin, who used to be accused of dodging reporters' questions, was bothering to answer such an amateur media gotcha question in a noisy, moving crowd. Better would have been a simple dismissive and cheery, "You're kidding, right?" Such are the ongoing lessons for primary candidates. Which she isn't now, of course.

Early in a previous race for the Republican presidential nomination almost 12 years ago, then Texas Gov. George W. Bush was in a jammed New Hampshire airport meeting room, answering questions from local media. Apropos of nothing, one reporter (perhaps prompted by an opponent's camp) asked Bush his pre-written gotcha: Name the new president of Pakistan.

Obviously, Pervez Musharraf had nothing to do with New Hampshire issues and is similar to some Democratic candidates flubbing the name of Russia's then prime minister during 2008 debates (Dmitry Medvedev).

Bush didn't know the Pakistani leader's name that day and looked clumsy attempting to answer. He could have brushed it away by instantly asking the reporter some arcane political who's-who, laughing off their mutual ignorance and quickly taking the next question. But he didn't and took media lumps for several days.

As everyone now knows, such a splashy gaffe can effectively doom any chance a candidate has of winning two terms in the White House.

Related:

Sarah Palin plays the media like a violin; They'll try to get even

Piper Palin shares her Mom's hot/cold attitude toward the media

Mitt Romney leads in Iowa poll, Sarah Palin comes in second, Ron Paul falls to 7th

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photos: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters; Gary Hershorn / Reuters; Jeff Kowalsky / EPA (Obama at Chrysler, June 3).

Comments

[YeloStalyn]

Just a heads up for anyone interested... potato IS spelled with an E at the end... or can/could be. One of my grandmother's favorite books as a HUGE Oxford English dictionary. It was about 8" thick and very old. Anyhow... potato was listed as having potatoe as an acceptable and correct alternate spelling.

[tiliyeah]

why didnt the left drive by reporters attack obama when he misspoke and said 57 states, what about him saying over an over corps..not knowing the s'' is silent,and that stupid blunder toasting the Queen of Enland.
If you all cant see the bias in the drive byreporting, it's that you have turned a blind eye..and are all liers.
the DRIVE BY ELETES cant stand PALIN, because she did not kill her child, she professes JESUS CHRIST AS HER SAVIOUR, SO THE DEMON FILLED demonic..athias hate her...but whatch out . she is a child of the most HIGH GOD...and GOD MAY confuse all her enemies.. they shall blabber jebberish, that makes no since , you hate mongers have made me a ..watchful voter, who will vote for her if she should run, I will burn the phone wires across the country calling on her behalve, Your hatefullness is shamful...your like pack of hungry hound dogs...running after a fox..

that goes for coric also

[tiliyeah]

I wonder how much history obama knows and was he asked all these non important questions?..i understand that no-one can ask anything unless the submit in writing prior to his apperance..so that the staff can dig up the snwere for him and out on his teleprompter...and than the left call him a gineous

[Dave]

Liberals and their media controlled talking points are getting really old. Palin attended 4 different colleges because she paid for her degree HERSELF. She worked and attended college when she saved enough money. She didn't ride the affirmative action train barry obama hopped on with his "C" average from Occidental college and indonesian transplant status on his application. Palin has been in public service for 20 years, most of those years serving at the exectutive level. Barry obama never even ran a hot dog stand before clueless people voted for him in 2008. He was ACORN's lawyer for a few years (you know, that organization that was just exposed for happily helping supposed pimps setup their underage sex rings). Palin stepped down as governor because obama's henchmen exploited a loophole in AK's ethics reform laws pertaining to the governor's office. Palin was going bankrupt, the state was losing out, and she defeated ALL 18 LAWSUITS before she stepped down and there were another 20 lined up. Get your facts straight before throw out tired old leftwing talking points.

[DaveS007]

Revere did not say anything to the British about taking away guns, and he did not warn them in any respect during the context of his ride, but after it was over he told them that we had a greater force than they imagined. It is not what she said about guns which is another attempt to inject the 2nd amendment into an unrelated event. This article by a known Palin whorshipper is a typical republican attempt to justify the stupidity of an idolized, corrupt, undereducated politician. The fact that she can use her charisma to sway other undereducated people to throw money at her does not make her smart. It makes her a perfect unethical republican operative. She is at best weak in her use of the "gotcha question" excuse which is completely worn out, and disingenuous like in her faux apology to Romney.

[Carolynr]

I know...you can't stand it when you people are the ones that need a history lesson. But...why should I stop there. Our esteemed president cited 57 states in lieu of 50. What the hey...give the guy a break...he's only President of the United States. Oh...and when he didn't know how to shut his mouth when the British played Hail To The Queen...well, some of you more "sophisticated" ought to send a message to the WH...and inform him of "proper decorum. It wasn't enough that he returned a gift from our ally...tsk...tsk...he then had to given DVD's of his speeches that cannot play in England because of their configuration.

But...I must remember...HE GRADUATED FROM HARVARD...THAT MAKES HIM SMART. Palin...she's stupid because she isn't ivy league...and well, even though she was right...let's call her wrong...just because we don't like her.

[Pio Caesare]

Yes, and Adolf Hitler helped some people. Really, he did. Really. Now, have I really summarized the main point on who Hitler was and what he did? Regarding Palin and Paul Revere she either didn't know the story or she just got flustered and it came out wrong. Her subsequent claims that she got it right make her look silly.

[D=MORO N]

All you MORONS railing Palin should stop hating on her. She is far smarter than Hillary RUSSIAN RESET BUTTON, DUMB as a BOX of ROCKS GORE, Don’t drive foreign auto, INFITY owner Wasserman-Schultz, Chucky three branches of govt "house, senate, presidency Schumer, and then Mr. I cannot function without a teleprompter community organizer. CLEAN your own house first! TROLLS!

[doc289]

I guess she's trying to refudiate history. She should just go back to Fox News where she belongs, spewing uninformed tripe to idiots who don't care about historical accuracy or the truth.

[MDaniels]

If Palin was asked "What was the goal of NASA's Apollo 11 mission in July 1969?" and she answered "Well, y'know, to land a space ship on planet earth," Andrew Malcolm would defend her for it. "Technically, she's be correct." Yeah, right. Even a broken clock is correct twice per day.

[Kevin in TX]

"Journalists gleefully noted the spelling misteak."

Yeah..."misteak" actually made it into the story. In the LA Times. In a sentence about someone misspelling something.

You really can't make this stuff up.

[Reverend Wright's Other Disciple]

Uh, it just ain’t right that Sarah has outfoxed us, uh, lefties again.

A smart, beautiful woman, uh, isn’t supposed to embarrass liberal girly-men like that.

It’s bad enough that we are stuck in men’s bodies but now she’s inadvertently picking on us...might even be, uh, a hate crime.

Yeah, that’s the ticket; Sarah should, uh, be brought up on hate crimes!

When will she learn, uh, that our exceptional educations entitle (from entitlement) us lefties to the, uh, utmost reverence?

Shame on Sarah, uh, for making us weep!

The chickens, uh, will be coming home to roost and it ain’t funny!

[Martin]

"Palin knew this."

You inferred this how?

[Jon Williams]

Okay, so based off of a technicality she was right. I highly doubt, however, that she knew anything about said capture and was speaking in context to it. If you want to follow her around and prove her right based off of technicalities be my guest, but you have a long road ahead of you my friend...

[Jedidiah Palosaari]

If only this were the end to her errors. Sadly, this very pro-Palin puff piece makes the same error that most of us Americans do- Revere didn't do squat. It was Israel Bissell who was the real hero in warning the colonials that the British were coming.

[Emily]

Still Sarah Palin

[bondservant1958]

I remember some years ago while touring the Battle Road between Lexington and Concord the docents at the Minuteman site told me the same thing about where Revere was captured ( there is a marker) and his warning the British and I agree with the Times this story is not so much about Palin being right as much as it is about how uninformed the mainstream media is!

[Terry Jones]

It was a gaff much like the Dan Quayle potatoe incident, except she is not the Vice President. I also like how the Arthur presumes to know what knowledge is retained in Sarah Palin's head.

[Tena]

This is beyond ridiculous. You, Mr. Malcom, are beyond ridiculous.

Good god.

[zaglossus]

Today's debased culture where the spin is more important than the truth. A pathetic attempt by a blogger to sugarcoat Palin's fundamental incorrectness here.

[Rod]

You spelled 'mistake' wrong.

[Rod]

you spelled mistake wrong

[Samuel]

Palin's exact quote from the video: "He who warned 'uh' the' 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 gonna be secure and were gonna be free."

If you are actually contending that, by this statement, Sarah Palin was referring to Paul Revere's capture by British troops on the night of April 18th, 1775 you are either a buffoon or unable to comprehend basic speech.

"Making sure as he's riding his horse through town" is, by no means, a reference to Revere's capture by British troops or his words of warning to the troops that arrested him. You are lying, and you know it. Pathetic.

[Daryl Taylor-Hazel]

If Revere warned them that the militia was awake after he was captured, that is another event. She said he rode through town firing his gun and telling them they couldn't take our guns by ringing those bells. That never happened. To ay her history was correct is like saying George Washington chopped down the cherry tree and threw a coin across the Potomac while he was crossing the Delaware in a rowboat.

[Jenigma]

Really, Mr. Malcolm? So was she also right about the shooting and bell-ringing? Your article is preposterous, snarky and not living up to your Pulitzer finalist standing. Send her some fan mail, but don't tell us this: "That the Republican non-candidate, in fact, knew more about the actual facts of Revere's midnight ride than all those idiots unknowingly revealing their own ignorance by laughing at her faux faux pas? How secretly embarrassing this must be, to be forced to face that you're dumber than the reputed dummy." Because she did, indeed, say that Revere warned the British that they wouldn't take our guns by SHOOTING and RINGING BELLS.

Much as you'd apparently like to, you can't change facts. Actual Palin quote: "He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms uh 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 going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed." Mr. Malcolm, you should be ashamed of your bad journalism.

[Jenigma]

Palin quote: "He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms uh 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 going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed."

So was she right about the warning shots and bell-ringing? Mr. Malcolm should write for the Enquirer. I'm sick to my back teeth of people (Pope, Palin, Andrew Malcolm, etc.) simply blaming the media for their own mistakes. It's the Blame-Stream media, folks. Don't let them change history!

[mark]

Was Sarah Palin the first child not left behind?? Doesn't speak well for whatever colege gave her a degree. She is a complete idiot. She should get off the bus and stay home and take care of her family, that is if they can still stand to be around her.

[Jenigma]

Nina and Terry Saulsbury: so you're actually telling me that Paul Revere fired warning shots and rang bells from his horse to warn the British that they couldn't take our guns?

Actual Palin quote: "He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms uh 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 going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed."

[Henry Gunther]

57 States! 'nuff said.

[Liann]

With the Anthony Weiner story in her face, $arah Paylin has to suck it up to get any news play, so she grabs onto a bigger whopper and pumps it for all she can get out of it.

[Tracey]

ATTENTION Andrew Malcolm........YOU are the idiot. Try actually listening to what Palin said before writing an il-informed article like this. She said He warned the British with his "shots and bells" that they weren't going to take our arms away. How exactly was Revere shooting off gun shots and ringing bells while he was captured???

[James]

"As everyone now knows, such a splashy gaffe can effectively doom any chance a candidate has of winning two terms in the White House."

...but George W Bush did win two terms in the White House. I had to re-read it to make sure you didn't mean George H.W. Bush.

for an article about being a stickler for accuracy, I am not sure what your point is in the end.

[Jakester Jabawoky]

OK! STOP THE PRESSES!!! We must revise our history books before one more page is printed. We will no longer remember Paul Revere as a Patriot who rode in darkness and secrecy to warn his fellow countrymen that British Regulars were en-route. From now on and henceforth Paul Revere will be known as the bell ringing, warning shot firing horseman who taunted the British.

[Ivan]

I am sure those educated people who lough at Palin's ignorance do believe that Muslims invented the compass, as Obama said in his Cairo speech. Neither they nor Obama can't be wrong by definition. They are sooooo educated, you see!

Indoctrinated l1btards

[Howz That WorkN4ya]

When Paul Revere set off on his famous ride, it was to the home of the Rev. Clark in Lexington that he rode. Patriot leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams were lodging (as they often did) with the Rev. Clark. After learning of the approaching British forces, Hancock and Adams turned to Pastor Clark and inquired of him whether the people were ready to fight.

[Michael Sexton]

When do we get to see her in playboy?

[Bob]

I do not understand how any republican can hear the crap that comes out of her mouth and not be embarrassed to be in the same party. You have candidates worth defending and supporting. You loose a lot of credibility attempting to explain things for her. I mean, ringing those bells and shooting those shots??? That's who you want representing our country? I'd rather have G-Dub back.

[americanism]

louis anthony said this "Warned the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms" is what she said, which is true because Paul Revere did warn the British once they captured him."

yes, but thats not what she said. she said that paul was riding through town ringing bells and firing shots to warn the british they werent taking our arms. you cant use 2 different parts of a story to make a new one because of ignorance.

[Wisco]

Who looks stupid? Still her -- and now her defenders. Paul Revere rode around ringing bells to let the British know the colonists had arms? Because that's what she said.

Geez, you guys are literally willing to rewrite history to cover for this brainless waste. Thank God you won't succeed.

[Guam Rabbi]

There’s a comely old gal named Palin
Whose presidential ambitions are sailin’
But when she opens her mouth
The truth - it heads south
And at history she’s definitely failin’

[McGehee]

How dare she know something her detractors don't know! That is so stupid of her!

[Klatu]

Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Nuff said.

[JP]

Actually, all of us "idiots" who revealed our own INTELLIGENCE & ABILITY TO READ as well as LISTEN TO WHAT the woman ACTUALLY SAID are pretty much laughing at what an incredible jackass the author is, because he clearly began writing his commentary & clicked "send" before doing so himself. How "secretly embarrassing this must be to be forced to face that you're dumber than the reputed dummy."

[Tim]

Revere is known for warning that the British is coming. He's not known for warning the British that the Americans were coming.

When you state "He who is known for ..." what usually follows is THE THING THEY ARE KNOWN FOR. You would not say, "Michael Jordan, he who is known for hitting .196 in minor league baseball."

Even if she -- by accident -- got a fact right, it's clear she either didn't know she was right about being wrong or is just completely and utterly incapable of communicating even the simplest thought in a clear, precise manner.

p.s. Not buying the Quayle mistake. All it proves is that he blindly will read anything put in front of him. Again, context matters. It was clear he didn't know how to spell potato either and was following what was written on the placard. (A "misteak," as this writer spelled it.)

[MartinP.]

All of you people who keep writing that liberals are railing against Sarah Palin, please tell me why a huge percentage of your own Republican party does not think she'd be worthy of being President, either?

I like that term I read today--Palinists. Or Palinistas.

[Seriously]

She didnt state that he warned them after capture, she made the allusion that the "bells" and "shots" were the warnings. No matter if he did infact warn them after capture, her words painted the image that he was riding around loudly ringing bells and shooting warning shots to activly warn the British. That is not the case. She was wrong.

And FFS, Obama saying 57 meaning 47 and directly after admitted the gaff, Joan of Arkansas doubles down and lets the "Lame-Stream" media fillin the holes and find out how shes right.

[EdRu52]

Well, good for Sarah Palin for that factual account of our American history, although, she could have quoted the accepted version of Paul Revere's warning of the coming of the British. Instead, she knowingly used a hardly known account of his warning the British. The question is, did you know? In all sincerity, how many Americans know that he did? Also true is the fact that if John McCain had not selected her as his running mate, she would have not enjoyed the popularity, good, bad, or indifferent, that she now possesses. Also a true statement is that she quit her job as the Governor of Alaska. Can she be trustworthy not to do the same if by some out of this world chance that she is elected? Hope that day never comes.

[Melissa]

You can't be serious. Let's see what the Paul Revere House historians have to say...

http://www.paulreverehouse.org/index.html

Hmm...not a word about "warning" the British, just running from them.

[Ruth Walker]

Did Mr. Malcolm not view the clip of Sarah describing Paul Revere telling the Briish with "by ringing those bells" and "warning shots" (highly unlikely after being captured)?

http://preview.tinyurl.com/6hxdchd

[EC]

So...during this interrogation by the British, Paul Revere was riding around ringing a bell? Because otherwise, that's not what she was talking about, and she was just lucky there was something factual that could remotely be conceived to back up her blather.