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

[LordPet]

The point of his ride was to warn the populace that "the Regulars are coming out", meaning the British infantry. He didn't warn people "the British"were coming because on April 14, 1775, we were still British. When he was captured, he did indeed warn his captors that the Regulars were on the way and that they should avoid Lexington because the alarm had been raised and they might be attacked by the militia. So while he did end up telling them about troop movements, that was not the purpose of his mission. Considering he only did that when he was captured, how was his mission to "warn the British?" Was that the point of "one if by land, two if by sea"? It's fine to point out misconceptions but there is a difference between purpose and unintended consequence. As in, the purpose of his secret mission was to notify the militia about the movement of British troops; the unintended consequence was that he was captured and had to divulge his secret to the enemy patrol. Palin looks even worse because she can't admit she flubbed it.

[khard]

Apparently she wasn't smart enough not to say it, and keep to the regular version instead.

[Lev Raphael]

The fact that Revere was captured by the British does not change the fact that he did not set out on his ride to warn the British, no matter how the author of this piece might like to defend Palin and slam the media. Nor does it alter the fact that church bells did not ring. She has mangled the facts and turned the story into an assault on the NRA before its existence. And she persists in calling any question she answers incoherently or resists answering a "gotcha question." She's as thin-skinned as Trump. Here is what she said: "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 he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shot and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and were going to be armed."

[Rich]

If only she was as smart as Obama! Maybe she would visit all 58 states this years, 2008.

[Karen]

The point is not that there might be a kernel of truth in what Palin says, Revere WAS captured and was defiant to the British - it's that she displays a woeful lack of true understanding of this topic and distorts the facts or takes one incident and twists it to suit her two-dimensional and ideologically driven view of history. Revere did not set out to get captured and "warn the British" you know. My husband teaches AP American history, and by that grading rubric (available online), she fails miserably.

[Joel]

Now, who looks stupid? Andrew Malcom.

[rasqual]

LOL

Who cares where Palin goes politically! For this libertarian/conservative, just watching biggov/lefty heads explode -- daily -- is worth whatever comes of it.

It becomes impossible to engage PDS sufferers in a serious way because their reactions are so hysterically FUNNY.

[Maya]

Sounds like the media are the idiots here...same as usual--always looking for their next gotcha moment

[Steve Gary]

From the account I saw. Palin said he rode around telling the British. Not was captured and told them.

[Todd F.]

Here is what Palin actually said:

"He who warned the British that they weren't going to 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 going to be secure and we were going to be free."

Malcom states, "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. "

He goes on to state, "Palin knew this."

However, if you read (or more importantly listen) to her words, you see that is not what she said. Though her statement was a convoluted mess from start to finish, she essentially said that Paul Revere was ringing his bell to warn the British that "they weren't going to take away our arms."

Even by Malcom's correct recounting of the events (Revere warning the British after being captured), Palin was still flat out wrong.

[chipgiii]

Posted by: Ken

Palin's still wrong. All the articles have her quoted as saying Revere was riding to warn the British, when he wasn't at all.

=====================================================
I don't know if she still wrong or not but because someone doesn't elaborate completely as the article here tends to do, doesn't mean she's wrong. Saying he warned British as well without going into the detail of how (as the article does) doesn't mean we can make the quantum leap that she didn't or did know. Though since she said he warned the British, saying she didn't know is a bigger leap it seems to me. You are adding a lot to what Palin was or was not thinking. Regardless of whether Revere was trying to avoid the British or not you are assuming that Palin didn't know that, and therefore her statements are wrong. Hmmmmm....kinda makes the possibility that your statements are wrong.

[Tia]

What funny comments so far! At this stage, it seems that a person who considers Palin stupid is A. stupid himself (evidenced by the text of some of the comments on this article), B. intimidated by her, or C. simply not listening to her speak. Palin is clearly knocking it out of the park in recent interviews and public speeches. Is an occasional gaffe evidence of stupidity? Among the many Obama bloopers: saying he'd been in 57 states, saying he saw "fallen heroes" standing in an audience, embarrassingly mispronouncing Navy Corpsman as “corpse-man”, and recently signing the Westminster Abbey guestbook with the wrong year (2008). You decide.

[Pundit]

Why wasn't our President held to this standard when he said he had visited "all 57 states?" Like her or not, at least Sarah doesn't need a teleprompter to speak to grade school students.

[Ken S.]

Palin is correct!

Paul Revere would NOT have warned his follow BRITTISH subjects that “the British are coming”. More likely, the Red Coats are coming, but everyone was considered to be British at that time.

[lilith]

Funniest typo ever:

Journalists gleefully noted the spelling misteak.

Spelling MISTEAK. Hilarious.

[Fel121]

What do you figure, Mr. Andrew Malcolm here hates his job at the Times and figures if he writes this fluff piece he will get Sarah’s attention and she will give him a job on her, “fleece the idiots tour”?

[patricia]

I went on a walking tour in concord 2 years ago and I was told then and there, by the tour guide, that yes, indeed, Revere rode and warned the British - because they were ALL British. In fact, the accurate words of Revere were: "The locals are coming" because, again, they were all British. He was warning the british of the british. all true. Go to concord yourself and find out. Just an FYI.

[David Rauschkolb]

You are both idiots now.

[Kevin]

NEWS FLASH!!! Palin doubles down on stupid! Followers try to alter wiki to match her version of history! Revere's ride was NOT to warn the British of anything. Had the reason for his ride been to do so I would consider him a traitor!

[popseal]

It's not the politicians that are ill informed or stupid. they simply game a public that mistakenly waits for the politician to do the impossible, and that would be to make their lives full and meaningful. Specifically, here in New Orleans the voters do that every few years and always get disappointed, yet they keep voting for leftist, Marxists, and liberals of just about any stripe. The welfare line grows while the job market shrinks. Illiteracy goes up and popculture continues to sink into the mire. Government has only three assignments, anything more is a lie. 1. defend the national borders 2. lock away felons 3. fill pot holes It is an immoral, uneducated, and superstitious people that needs government intrusion. "Righteousness exalts a nation and sin is a reproach to any people!"

[Bunky]

This is an obvious (although pathetic) attempt at damage control, and to "clean up" what Sarah said.
The author Andrew Malcolm, a republican hack, has a history of trying to spin for Sarah.
Even Malcolm couldn't come up with a lame excuse about the ringing bells and firing shots.
I can't think of any reason why the LA Times would print this tripe other than to further discredit and embarrass republicans.

[John H]

I can only hope that the misspelling of 'misteak' was intentional to go with potatoe. Mmmm misteak and potatoes...now I'm hungary.

[Scott H]

Her exact words, "He who warned, uh, the … the British that they weren’t gonna be takin’ away our arms, uh, by ringin’ those bells and, um, by makin’ sure that as he’s ridin’ his horse through town to send those warnin’ shots and bells that, uh, we were gonna be secure and we were gonna be free … and we were gonna be armed."

Let's be clear here, his ride was in stealth. There was no ringing bells, no warning shots, and the purpose of the ride was to avoid, not warn, the British. She expresses NO awareness that he we even captured.

This simplifies to "He warned by ringing." He did not, this wrong, will always be wrong. This article is a pathetic lie for Palin fans to cling to.

[Melesio Ulibari]

Remember when all the learned pundits mocked her about the 1773 tea party? They said it was in 1776. She was right then and she's right again. Just who is the real idiot?

1. The lanterns were not a warning. They were a SIGNAL.
2. At time of the Midnight Ride ALL colonist were British. It would have made no sense for Revere to shout "The British are coming." and finally...

3. This from a history of the time: "In the rider's wake there erupted the peeling of church bells, the beating of drums and the roar of gun shots - all announcing the danger and calling the local militias to action."

These smug wannabe intellectuals mistook Longfellow's romanticized poem for history.

[Bruce]

Palin knew Paul Revere got captured by the British and "warned" them? You expect anyone to believe that lame excuse for her idiocy. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. She doesn't know a damn thing about American History, the founding fathers, or our Constitution. She believes Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Paine, Franklin, and Washington were all good "Christian Americans" when it's a historical fact that none of these men even accepted the divinity of Jesus Christ. She is a moron.

[allness]

Why aren't we admitting Palin would have been far better than Obama here, those of you who were led by the Media to think the opposite. History lessons? Really? Remember that Obama is the one that said during his campaign he campaigned in 57 states. It was those 7 extra states why he won over Palin since she only campaigned in 50 but also the fact that voters believed him when he said it but not Sarah Palin with Revere? Huh???

[Willie]

Sarah is pure political porn. She is also a guilty pleasure like Austin Powers movies, and Godzilla. I feel guilty that I cannot look away when she takes the stage.

[Tigerh8r]

Wow. I'm not a huge Palin fan but come on! Nobody has ever made a slip when speaking? I've called my kid by my other kid's name, that doesn't mean I'm stupid, or I don't know the names of my children, or that I don't care. Making a story out of something this silly just makes me want to stop paying any attention to the media at all. This is as bad as the flag on the bus being illegal thing!

By the way, I am a Libertarian and don't especially like Palin; why is the media so obsessed with her?

[Frank]

The real question is: why is the media blatantly trying to influence and make news instead of just reporting facts? The death of a free press is the most damaging aspect of our political system in the last 10 years or so. The relentless partisan propaganda--on both sides--manipulates the entire process, and the gullible and uninformed herd runs around repeating these concocted stories as if they are fact and it makes them look smart. I can't tell you how many times friends have repeated verbatim talking points that I knew (from my own research) were completely false, and when you try to explain, they become defensive and furious, deeply invested in their own beliefs and point of view. The media set out to destroy Palin from Day One, because they see her charismatic power and it threatens their interests, and now they seize on anything and everything to reinforce their manufactured portrait of who she is.

[skippy777]

i've always loved sarah palan.....she is a beath of fresh air on a sea of stuck-in-the mud politicians and a horde of ghastly men and women who call themselves journalists but are not journalists at all....they are publicists who favor the far left and will commit any sin to trample republicans.

i also love that ms. palin is not afraid to blow off american 'journalists'....she is unafraid of the criticism that comes not only from the left but from the right as well....and she knows that the american far left main stram media needs her a lot more than she needs them.....

i admire fox news but there are so many things that they don't see...even fox tries to put sarah palin into a box that can be easily defined...they are obllivious to the fact that sarah palin is doing her part to reinvent american politics....she should be admired because american politics is greatly in need of reinvention.

[p. garcia]

Palin supporters and defenders dont seem to realize that she;s not a political machine. She is a very successful money making machine. not for conservatives but for Sarah Palin. Please dont let the fact that being Governor was too much for her to handle.Back off the idol worship and see what she's become. she is no longer one of the little people and when she speaks to our hardships remember she's probably getting paid to speak on that. By the way , I do know Obama has countless flaws and dont have any problem criticizing his mistakes . why is Palin considered flawless in some peoples eyes ?

[L.L.]

This is what Snookie Palin actually said: “He who warned uh, the British that they weren’t going to 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.”.

No amount of backtracking is going to change that.

[Nic]

Obama, "57 States....."

[jerry]

Now who looks stupid?
The press looks like a bunch of idiots!

Never giving this much coverage to obama's little goof-ups...
which are many....he tends to shove both feet in his big mouth often
and getting a pass from the press..

Palin goofs up and its the end of the world...

The American people see how one sided the press is
and for that reason the press looks stupid now!

[Andy Eppink]

Dang, Malcoln. You're being awfully conciliatory toward the conservatives today. Are you feeling alright? What are your latimes overlords going to think of this? Or did they put you up to this to try to save the sinking latimes? As long as the dems can pander to an electorate as dumb as ours is they'll have continued success with their ongoing lies and distortion. A sad fact, and the nation's sinking because of it.

[clark tierney]

So, Andrew, Sara got one right. To be president, however, you have to get at least three. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[dusty]

She knows how to make the libs look so smug and WRONG. Drill, Baby, Drill!

[jcarob]

So many words for a mea culpa seems, well, inappropriate. Why not just print a simple retraction? All the background chatter does little to distract the discerning reader from his or her belief that the former C students who now wear the mantle of journalist are unfair and lacking objectivity in their "reporting". When will you and your rabid fans realize and accept that Sarah is an intelligent woman who deserves respect? Is the "access" and peer approval you have traded for your integrity so very important to you?

[ccr]

This column is proof positive that Andrew Malcolm is living every writer's dream--working without an editor.

[junyo]

Everyone knows that Paul Revere warned the British just like our current Vice President/human gaff machine knows that "we kicked -- along with France, we kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon" and the current POTUS believes the US has 57 states.

The difference between dangerous ignorance and gravitas seems to be a penis.

[JACK FENNESSY]

If Revere was riding to warn the British, the ride was not needed. Boston was full of lobster backs. All he had to do is tell the sentry on any street corner.

[JoeK]

She is still wrong whatever she says or will say. Those who are wrong to criticize her are right and will be right in all future criticisms of her. This is because she is a stupid right wing Republican made worse by the Tea Party. She better shut-up and stay in the kitchen and stay out of politics. The right politic belongs to the left.

[Tyler]

Unfortunately, she may have known the correct history in her head, somewhere. The plain fact is that she choked over a simply question regarding history and blurted out an answer that was nervous, mis-worded, and easily assumed wrong, as it was full of grammatical, if not factual errors.

Whether it is more worrying that she may not know obscure American history, or the fact that she cannot confidently speak under pressure, is beyond me. Either way, I wouldn't want her running anything pertaining to me.

[terryinlasvegas]

I wonder how many liberals even knew ANY details of Paul Revere's ride until they looked it up after Palin's statement. She knows her American history a lot better than the "journalists" who cover her. Now they are saying she misused the word "ride." When the reporters have to parse every word she says and run to the history books to find fault it is apparent they are biased. When Obama referred to the "Austrian" language or spoke about the 57 states he had visited, it wasn't front page news. But they loudly proclaimed she was an idiot for saying Revere "rode" instead of standing on the ground when he warned the British.

I remember Wolf Blitzer on Jeopardy. He came in LAST. If that doesn't exemplify the MSM and liberal ignorance, nothing will. But we haven't heard much about that have we? I could go on, but don't have the time or space to list all of their "misteaks" here.

[Dmitry]

SLBushway: read the actual letter of Revere. He writes explicitly that he warned the Regulars after warning civilians and after his capture. IMHO, quite a brave and risky behavior, on par with the ride itself at least.

"...I told him; and added, that their troops had catched aground in passing the River, and that There would be five hundred Americans there in a short time, for I had alarmed the Country all the way up."

And it makes sense for her to know it, since she just emerged from the Paul Revere house, and spent some time there listening to guides explanations, looking into the exhibition etc. If all you know about it comes from Longfellow, you should not give grades here. And if you do, you do look stupid.

[Buddy Gripple]

Heh. Nice attempt at a right-slanted recovery piece but this is what she said:

“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.”

And that is NOT what happened. Period.

[Dave Langley]

At least Sarah Palin knows we have 50 states rather than 57.

[Paul Thomas]

Since everyone living in the 13 colonies was still a British citizen, then actually he was riding to warn the British that the British were coming.

[More informed than you...apparently]

So if the Declaration of Independance was signed on July 4th, 1776 and Paul Revere's ride was April 18, 1775...doesn't that make the 13 original colonies British? So infact, Paul Revere WAS warning the british that the "Red Coats" were coming.

[Jordan]

Well, unless all you naysayers are collegiate history professors, I would recommend reading the following:

Boston University history professor Brendan McConville said, “Basically when Paul Revere was stopped by the British, he did say to them, ‘Look, there is a mobilization going on that you’ll be confronting,’ and the British are aware as they’re marching down the countryside, they hear church bells ringing — she was right about that — and warning shots being fired. That’s accurate.”