{"id":3242,"date":"2011-06-04T00:29:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-04T00:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html"},"modified":"2011-06-04T00:29:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-04T00:29:00","slug":"sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Palin, Paul Revere, and Propaganda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Did you hear?\u00a0 Sarah Palin is an idiot.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t heard that, it means you\u2019ve been stuck on a deserted island for the last three years or so.\u00a0 Across the Internet, across the blogosphere, across the cable news outlets, a story has brewed that rivals Dan Quayle\u2019s infamous potato disaster.\u00a0 Ah yes, I remember that well.\u00a0 Dan Quayle misspelled potato, and for weeks we heard discussion after discussion, joke after joke.\u00a0 Because obviously none of us, nor those making fun of Quayle, have ever, ever made a mistake before.<\/p>\n

So fast forward to today, where obviously people still never say anything wrong.\u00a0 Ever.\u00a0 In our speeches, our talks, our conversations, our off the cuff remarks, we nail it 100% of the time.\u00a0 No doctoral thesis was ever so exact as our most casual dialogue with a friend at a ballgame.\u00a0 I have to assume this, because the premise of the attacks on Palin, versus\u00a0what actually happened, appear to be somewhat different.<\/p>\n

The premise is this: Sarah Palin, who we all know to be a mindless dolt, completely flubbed up the story of Paul Revere.\u00a0 Remember him?\u00a0 If you\u2019ve studied American History in the last couple decades, you could be forgiven for not knowing the story.\u00a0 But despite a deficiency in our historical curriculum, apparently there are legions of Revere scholars out there ready to scoff at Palin\u2019s deplorable mauling of Revere\u2019s famous ride. <\/p>\n

OK, that\u2019s what most headlines and commentaries are saying.\u00a0 But now let\u2019s unpack this.\u00a0 First, watch the video on The Upshot\u2019s<\/em> page here<\/a>, or watch it here<\/a> on Mediaite<\/em>, which shows CNN\u2019s Brooke Baldwin dumbfounded by Palin\u2019s take.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Now, are you finished?\u00a0 Did you watch them?\u00a0 The one on Mediaite <\/em>is best, for its shows that this was not a speech, or a prepared lesson, or a formal dissertation.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t even an interview.\u00a0 It was an off the cuff response to something said or asked that I have yet to see on any of the videos covering this.\u00a0 Was she asked something?\u00a0 Did someone say something?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 But it\u2019s clear that she is simply talking off the top of her head, giving a reason for being there in Boston with her whole express tour.\u00a0 That\u2019s important, because the first attacks<\/strike> stories I saw gave me the impression that this was some formal response to a question in an interview, or something said during a speech.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Second, let\u2019s consider the subtitles.\u00a0 Yes, subtitles.\u00a0 Even though I can understand what she said, just about every attack<\/strike> story has included the subtitles, or text, or transcript (pick your favorite term) of what she said.\u00a0 Here it is, in case you missed it:<\/p>\n

He who warned, uh, the\u2026the British that they weren\u2019t gonna be takin\u2019 away our arms, uh, by ringin\u2019 those bells and um by makin\u2019 sure that as he\u2019s ridin\u2019 his horse through town to send those warnin\u2019 shots and bells that uh we were gonna be secure and we were gonna be free\u2026and we were gonna be armed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A couple of things.\u00a0 First, take any talk or speech other than the most disciplined, well written and well delivered speech (like one of Palin\u2019s prepared speeches), and you can make just about anyone look bad.\u00a0 I spent much of my life as an evangelical pastor preaching extemporaneously.\u00a0 At the time, my messages could be rousing, and were often well received.\u00a0 But when I listened to them, or watched a video, or worse, read a transcript it could be bone chilling.\u00a0 Every pause, hiccup, um, uh, you know, was\u00a0there to see.\u00a0 That\u2019s true with all but the greatest speakers, and in casual conversation, maybe even them.\u00a0 Take the next time President Obama is saying something off the top of his head, include every um and uh, and see how it makes him look. <\/p>\n

Also, there is the big \u2013 BIG \u2013 issue that everyone is ultimately focusing on: that she said Revere came to warn the British.\u00a0 Now, we all know that Revere would never have said \u2018The British are coming!\u201d because the colonists at that time still considered themselves British loyal to the crown of England.\u00a0 Most likely the Regulars, or the Red Coats.\u00a0 But here, Palin seems to say Revere came to warn the British.\u00a0\u00a0 I figure that can go two ways.\u00a0 When George H.W. Bush said, in a speech, that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1981, I saw several news stories and comedians making fun of it.\u00a0 But it was so obviously wrong \u2013 the guy lived then and fought in WWII \u2013 I had a feeling he really didn\u2019t think it was 1981, that he actually knew it was 1941.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Likewise, since the gist of Palin seems to be to use Revere\u2019s ride to make a point about warning against the potential future loss of our freedoms, and since I doubt she thinks that Revere was working for England, and that the Colonials were the baddies, I\u2019m inclined to assume it was a verbal typo, she meant something more like \u2018he warned that the British\u2019, or something of the sort.\u00a0 Of course technically, she would be correct, since we all know that the Colonists were actually British citizens, which is why he would never have said, \u201cThe Britihs are coming!\u201d But that\u2019s probably giving Palin more credit than most will give her.\u00a0 No, I\u2019m willing to assume a mere mistake, one that people make when speaking over and over and over and over again. <\/p>\n

Another thing?\u00a0 Well, the other \u2018problems\u2019 are a bit fuzzy, since there really isn\u2019t anything else to jump on, even if you read that horrible sounding transcript.\u00a0 The most hilariously \u2018Look at me!\u00a0 I\u2019m an idiot trying to prove how dumb Palin is by saying bone headed nonsense!\u2019 account is from Frances Martel over at Mediaite:<\/em><\/p>\n

Palin\u2019s version wasn\u2019t exactly the official History Channel rendition of the tale, and she delivered it in a somewhat stumbling fashion, but the thing about the Midnight Ride is that it is precisely the sort of historic event where everyone seems to have it wrong. For one, Revere didn\u2019t warn the British were out to take anyone\u2019s arms, as he didn\u2019t yell out \u201cthe British are coming!\u201d, as the myth goes. He had to be quiet to not let the British know that he<\/em> knew (sorry, but no bells either) they were coming\u2013 to seize weapons stores, actually\u2013 and history notes that his warning was likely something far less epic-sounding, like \u201cthe Regulars are coming<\/span><\/strong><\/a>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wow, where to begin.\u00a0 First, that Martel uses the History Channel as a standard of historical accuracy alone speaks volumes.\u00a0 Second, we\u2019ve already covered that Palin probably didn\u2019t mean Revere was warning the British.\u00a0 Though if you notice, Martel doesn\u2019t take that interpretation, but seems to think Palin is falling back on the old \u2018The British are coming\u201d version.\u00a0 Uh oh.\u00a0 Over at Outlook<\/em>, they make it clear that Palin is saying he was warning the British!\u00a0 Oh no.\u00a0 Looks like we have a classic case of \u2018We know she\u2019s stupid so she must have said something stupid.\u00a0 Now let\u2019s figure out what it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he says Revere would have been quiet.\u00a0 Well yeah, to a point.\u00a0 Perhaps, just maybe, Palin was using figurative language when she spoke of ringing bells and firing shots into the air.\u00a0 Maybe she was just hoping to inspire more psychotic killers to go on rampages.\u00a0 You never know.\u00a0 I\u2019m surprised someone hasn\u2019t come up with that spin.\u00a0 No, there\u2019s just not much to see here.\u00a0 She stumbled some, and bu
\nmbled a little.\u00a0 They all do that.\u00a0 We all do that.\u00a0 Who hasn\u2019t, once or twice in their lives, gotten their tongues tied trying to say something?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Could she have thought it?\u00a0 Could she think that Paul Revere was really going out and literally ringing bells and firing shots in order to warn the British that the British were coming (meaning all the wrong things about the British in the process) to take away their First Amendment Rights?\u00a0 Sure.\u00a0 But unless she confirms that is what she meant, I\u2019m going with she was trying to use colorful speech to apply the lesson of Revere\u2019s ride to our modern situation as she sees it.\u00a0 She got a little tongue tied in the process, used common verbal tics that people who aren\u2019t trained in public speaking often use (and those who are sometimes use in casual conversation), and she misspoke about who Revere was trying to warn. <\/p>\n

All in all, nothing more than Obama\u2019s um and uhs, Bush\u2019s 1981, or Dan Quayle\u2019s potato.\u00a0 Maybe not the most eloquent speakers, but hardly a basis for dismissing their intelligence. Of course, if you already don\u2019t like them, it\u2019s all you need to justify your dislike.\u00a0 If you like them, or try to be real about things, you see them as the simple mistakes and imperfections that they are.\u00a0\u00a0And like most things, how you react to this probably speaks volumes for what you think about the subject in the first place.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Did you hear?\u00a0 Sarah Palin is an idiot.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t heard that, it means you\u2019ve been stuck on a deserted island for the last three years or so.\u00a0 Across the Internet, across the blogosphere, across the cable news outlets, a story has brewed that rivals Dan Quayle\u2019s infamous potato disaster.\u00a0 Ah yes, I remember […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSarah Palin, Paul Revere, and Propaganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Did you hear?  Sarah Palin is an idiot.  If you haven't heard that, it means you've been stuck on a deserted island for the last three years or\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sarah Palin, Paul Revere, and Propaganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Did you hear?  Sarah Palin is an idiot.  If you haven't heard that, it means you've been stuck on a deserted island for the last three years or\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daffey Thoughts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-04T00:29:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html\",\"name\":\"Sarah Palin, Paul Revere, and Propaganda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-04T00:29:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-06-04T00:29:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\"},\"description\":\"Did you hear?  Sarah Palin is an idiot.  If you haven't heard that, it means you've been stuck on a deserted island for the last three years or\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sarah Palin, Paul Revere, and Propaganda\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/\",\"name\":\"Daffey Thoughts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\",\"name\":\"Dave Griffey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Griffey\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sarah Palin, Paul Revere, and Propaganda","description":"Did you hear?  Sarah Palin is an idiot.  If you haven't heard that, it means you've been stuck on a deserted island for the last three years or","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sarah Palin, Paul Revere, and Propaganda","og_description":"Did you hear?  Sarah Palin is an idiot.  If you haven't heard that, it means you've been stuck on a deserted island for the last three years or","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html","og_site_name":"Daffey Thoughts","article_published_time":"2011-06-04T00:29:00+00:00","author":"Dave Griffey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Griffey","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html","name":"Sarah Palin, Paul Revere, and Propaganda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-06-04T00:29:00+00:00","dateModified":"2011-06-04T00:29:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7"},"description":"Did you hear?  Sarah Palin is an idiot.  If you haven't heard that, it means you've been stuck on a deserted island for the last three years or","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2011\/06\/sarah-palin-paul-revere-and-propaganda.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sarah Palin, Paul Revere, and Propaganda"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/","name":"Daffey Thoughts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7","name":"Dave Griffey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Dave Griffey"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2805"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}