Don't Know Much About History

Some background music for reading this blog entry:

Yes, Simple Sarah. The Half-Term Governor of Alaska. The Twitter Quitter. She who "don't know much about history."  Or anything else for that matter. But let's concentrate on history.

The Statue of Liberty

Did you know it was meant to remind us not to make the mistakes other countries made?  Or that it was so we don't go gettin' all Socialist and stuff?  Well, according to Sarah Palin at a rally in September 2010, “This Statue of Liberty was gifted to us by foreign leaders, really as a warning to us, it was a warning to us to stay unique and to stay exceptional from other countries. Certainly not to go down the path of other countries that adopted socialist policies." 

And then a couple of days ago it became, "It is, of course, the symbol for Americans to be reminded of other countries -- because this was gifted to us, of course, by the French -- other countries...warning us to never make the mistakes that some of them had made. This is a symbol, a reminder, of what it is that we can do right in the name of freedom."

No, Sarah. You get an F.  It's actually a welcome to immigrants!  You know, those foreigners the rightwingers can't stand! No wonder poor Sarah couldn't keep that thought in that head!

Here's what it actually says:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

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Paul Revere

Then, just a few days later, we learned the true story of Paul Revere:

"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."



No, Sarah.  You get another F.

As any elementary school student can probably tell you, Paul Revere was not attempting to warn the British when he rode around crying, "The British are coming." Nor was he ringing bells and trying to protect gun rights. 

 Wow.  Just wow.

And to make matters worse, some of Palin's brainless followers tried to cover her ignorance of American history by rewriting it! -- changing the entry on Paul Revere in Wikipedia (the online encyclopedia that anyone can edit) to reflect the nonsense she blathered on the subject.