Republicans and Historical Revisionism - We shouldn't be surprised that Palin and her minions tried to twist history to suit her view

Robert Schlesinger at U.S. News & World Report has written something interesting about Republicans' tendency to alter history to suit their own views. Schlesinger begins:

Listen my children, and you won't be failin' basic American history like Sarah Palin. Hardly a man is alive who is not aware of the former vice presidential candidate's recent quote, uttered with little care. The great patriot, she rambled, "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 that we were gonna be secure and we were gonna be free."

Thus was ignited the second battle of Lexington and Concord, with Palin and her partisans exchanging volley after ridiculous volley with not only the press but history itself. She insists that she knows her history better than those fusty, liberal old lamestream historians. (Joel J. Miller, author of The Revolutionary Paul Revere, wrote in the certifiably conservative National Review Online that "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," adding, "In short, Palin basically got the whole story wrong.") [Vote now: Is Palin making a mistake by standing by her Paul Revere statements?]

Palin's minutemen made their stand on Wikipedia, editing Revere's entry there to fit Palin's view of reality. The whole squabble perfectly reflects a political culture where such absurdist rejection of reality has become endemic—especially on the right. It used to be said of conservatism that it stood athwart history and yelled "stop." Increasingly it seems to stand beside reality while hitting the "edit" button. [Check out political cartoons about Palin.] ...

Schlesinger goes on to describe Republicans' editing impulse on medicare, economic history and tax cuts, and the debt ceiling. Schlesinger's description of the tax cuts and budget deficits really illustrates best how out of touch with the reality of their own policies the Republicans actually are.

Schlesinger's article is "Republicans Edit History on Paul Revere, Taxes, Debt:
Rejection of reality has become endemic to politics—especially on the right."

Palin Family Circus News - Monday, June 6, 2011

This morning there was a package of sliced, smoked salmon on the tabloid racks. Underneath the salmon was Globe, featuring a story about the Palins on the cover -- divorce.


You may have heard or read of the Wikipedia edit war as Palin's fans attempt to re-write the history of Paul Revere's ride. Historical revisionism is very reminiscent of what went on in the Soviet Union.

The usually apolitical Computerworld has published "Sarah Palin fans try to rewrite history on Wikipedia." This tendency of Palin's fans to re-write history necessitates a thorough review of all their claims about her, because, if they can't refrain from historical revisionism in a matter that might have blown over with time, how can they be trusted to accurately portray her record as governor and mayor?


"Only 23 percent of voters surveyed say Palin is qualified to serve as president. Sixty-three percent say Palin is unqualified." -- Poll: Mitt Romney qualified, Sarah Palin not


How Are Critics Liking the Hot New Sarah Palin Documentary? Gawker's Jim Newell writes, in part: "The documentary about herself that Sarah Palin secretly commissioned, The Undefeated — a.k.a. Triumph of the Grift — will debut in Iowa at some point later this month. And some lucky film connoisseurs, mostly all for conservative publications, have already viewed advance copies! So does it give Errol Morris a run for his money, or is it undiluted shite? Critics are torn."


Bill Dedman of msnbc.com writes, concerning the 24,199 pages of e-mails about to be released by the state of Alaska:

... Soon after the emails are released, msnbc.com plans to scan them in and put them online in a public archive, restoring the electronic records to electronic form. This archive will be co-sponsored by Mother Jones magazine, which also requested the documents back in 2008, and with Pro Publica, the nonprofit investigative newsroom, just as msnbc.com did with a batch of Todd Palin emails last year. Those emails showed the vigorous role the "First Dude" played in the operation of state government. Here is that archive.

Not all the e-mails are being released. The state had said that it it is withholding thousands of pages because of privacy concerns or the executive or deliberative exemptions in the state public records law, as it withheld documents in the previous release of Todd Palin emails to msnbc.com. ...

Fox News seems to be tuned-in to the Sarah-Palin-is-a-wannabe-comedian meme, but can't seem to distinguish Palin from Tina Fey.


factcheck.org's "Palin's Twist on Paul Revere" isn't helping her.


This post's "painting" of Paul Revere's reaction to Sarah Palin's revisionist history was found here. It is derived from a portrait of Revere by John Singleton Copley, here.

Sarah Palin: Campaign Rodeo Clown - UPDATED

In Boston, during her Rolling Menace Tour, Sarah Palin was asked who Paul Revere was.



The Los Angeles Times wrote, 'Instead of saying, "Come on, everyone knows who Paul Revere, the silversmith and patriot is,"' Palin made up a story about him. She said:

“He who warned, uh, 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, uh, we were gonna be secure and we were gonna be free.”

Greg Sargent wrote:

Everyone has already had a grand old time mocking this video of Sarah Palin bungling her Paul Revere history, but I actually think it amounts to quite an eloquent statement. It’s as eloquent an argument as anyone could make that this woman really should not be treated by any of us as anything resembling a presidential candidate until it’s absolutely necessary — which is to say, until she actually runs for president.

Sarah Palin should be treated as a comedian -- campaign comic relief, like a rodeo clown -- even if she actually runs. She'll be a huge success and will enjoy the role if she can get into self-deprecating humor.

Update: Forbes' E.D. Kain suggests, "All this leads me to believe that instead of presidential debates, what the GOP race needs is a series of Jeopardy contests, all focused on politics, economics, and American history. That would tell us much more, I’m afraid, about the candidates, than any debate ever could."

Update: Forbes' Rick Ungar strikes back at the palin-bots' feeble attempt to spin Palin's answer. Face it, 'bots: She's not only wrong, but doesn't know what most -- if not all -- American school-children know, most of whom -- if not all -- can express themselves more coherently than she can.

Update: Forbes' E.D. Kain weighs in, again, with "The Sad Defense of Sarah Palin’s Botched History."