The Palin Narrative

A few days ago, News sites were making fun of Sarah Palin as being a big dunce for her comments about Paul Revere. Palin stated as reported on NPR,

Ms. SARAH PALIN (Former Governor, Alaska): We saw where Paul Revere hung out as a teenager, which was something new to learn. And you know, 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 is 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 again,

Ms. PALIN: Part of Paul Revere's ride - and it wasn't just one ride; he was a courier, he was a messenger - part of his ride was to warn the British that we're already there, that hey, you're not going to succeed. You're not going to take American arms. You are not going to beat our own well-armed persons, individual, private militia that we have. He did warn the British.

Now I grew up in Massachusetts near Plymouth. A good portion of my historical education incorporated the Mayflower and the year 1620, the shot heard round the world in Lexington and of course, Paul Revere's ride. As I have grown older and been in different places throughout the country, I have found that people who are not from Massachusetts don't learn about Plymouth Rock, at least in the way it was stressed in my own child hood.

For instance, I have a friend from Georgia. When we have spoken about the Civil War, he did not view that war in almost any terms that I have learned. The most obvious ting that I noticed was its name. He referred to it as the War of Northern Aggression. He was the first person to explain to me that the South was not fighting over slavery among other issues. These were things I was completely unaware. Does that mean I was wrong to say the Civil War was fought over slavery? No, of course not. It is however oversimplified to say it was.

Now we could spend time on many other examples, but I think the point is clear. Sarah Palin lives in Alaska. So her perspective is going to be different. However, the Drive-by Media drove up and let loose in an attempt to reinforce the Sarah Palin is stupid narrative. However, if you take the time to listen to NPR's interview between host Melissa Block and Professor Robert Allison, you will find Melissa getting her balloon popped.

BLOCK:Sarah Palin also was saying there that Paul Revere's message to the British in his warning was: You're not going to take American arms - you know, basically a Second Amendment argument, even though the Second Amendment didn't exist then.

Prof. ALLISON: Yeah. She was making a Second Amendment case. But in fact, the British were going out to Concord to seize colonists' arms, the weapons that the Massachusetts Provincial Congress was stockpiling there.

So, yeah, she is right in that. I mean, she may be pushing it too far to say this is a Second Amendment case. Of course, neither the Second Amendment nor the Constitution was in anyone's mind at the time. But the British objective was to get the arms that were stockpiled in Concord.

BLOCK: So you think basically, on the whole, Sarah Palin got her history right.

Prof. ALLISON: Well, yeah, she did. And remember, she is a politician. She's not an historian. And God help us when historians start acting like politicians, and I suppose when politicians start writing history.

So basically, she got her story right. Perhaps oversimplified, perhaps not totally accurate, whatever the case is, it's obvious the real reason for the antagonism against her has nothing to do with her statement. It has to do with the Left's hatred of her and Statist Republicans fear of her.