Sarah Palin is in Boston today, meeting with supporters and other curious elements. She is also chatting about how meaningful being in such a historic region is to her on her One Nation tour. Of course, this means Sarah Palin is talking about history, and CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin, who was covering the story this afternoon, could barely contain her contempt as Palin described Paul Revere “sending those warning shots and bells” to tell Americans that “the British weren’t taking away our arms.”
Palin strung together an off-the-cuff explanation of the famed Midnight Ride for those listening that seemed to involve a ton of noise, bells, gunfire, and a warning that the British were out to take away Americans’ as-yet-nonexistent Second Amendment rights, which Baldwin couldn’t help but react to with deer-in-the-headlights confusion. “History lesson from Sarah Palin on the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,” she deadpanned.
It’s hard to imagine why Revere would warn the British of anything, or why he’d do it with bells and gun shots. So that the British wouldn't take away our as-yet-unprotected Second Amendment rights?
You can see the impromptu history lesson as well as the deadpan reaction of CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin:
Best YouTube comment:
Paul Revere went on to become a legendary lumberjack in Minnesota along with his trusty blue ox Babe Ruth. Sadly Babe then died of Mad Cow disease or as it was called back then Lou Gehrigs disease. Revere was never the same, he hit the bottle pretty hard, but on the plus side he then found Jesus, and changed his name to Saul and became a famous saint. He was burned at the state by the British who had sailed to America in Joan's Ark. His place of death is now the Minnesota state capital, St. Paul
Of course, a quick survey of those toying with the GOP presidential field reveals that basic American history is not their strong suit. Tim Pawlenty confused the Iraq war with an Iran war, Hermain Cain confused the Constitution with the Declaration of Independence, and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) confusedMassachusetts with New Hampshire. Bachmann’s particular struggles even earned her a debate invitation with a 10th grader.
But all these candidates would pale in comparison to this figurehead of flubs if Palin pulls the trigger on a presidential run.
UPDATE —
Apparently, Palin's bus tour is as harried as Paul Revere. So harried in fact, that it doesn't have much respect for the law:
SEABROOK, N.H. — Sarah Palin’s bus is plastered with a mockup of the U.S. Constitution. But her entourage — both the three-vehicle motorcade that includes the bus and the smaller, two-SUV version she uses for smaller events — hasn’t been very respectful of the traffic laws.
They speed. They run red lights and stop signs. They make last-second lane changes to get off the highway, sometimes without signaling.
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Journalists in the caravan trailing her One Nation tour bus describe the experience as harrowing, a rolling menace careening up the East Coast in hot pursuit of the former Alaska governor who declined to provide any advance itinerary of her tour over six days on the road.
As they left the clambake she attended Thursday in New Hampshire, Palin’s two-SUV caravan did 52 miles per hour in a 35 zone as it peeled away from the hosts’ neighborhood. Both cars blew through a stop sign about a mile later. They did 70 mph in a 55 mph zone on I-95 — and then, after they got off, without signaling, flew right past a flashing sign informing them they were going 45 mph in a 35 mph zone.