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Palin Fans Deface Paul Revere Wikipedia Page
An anonymous reader writes "Fans of Sarah Palin were found to be changing the article on Paul Revere to make it fit their idol's view that Paul Revere was not warning the American colonists that the British were coming, but rather warning the British were not 'going to taking away our [guns]'."
Unfortunately those fans don't seem to read books. The 1984 parallel of editing the past to fit the political 'truth' of the moment is lost on them.
I'm guessing you're a fan...In fact, you may actually be her, judging by your meticulous grammar and extraordinary vocabulary.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
Or perhaps Paul Revere himself will change to conform to Wikireality.
Who among us hasn't heard the story of his famous Midnight Ride, where he rode up to the British screaming "You're coming! You're coming!"?
From reading, it appears that based on the edit history, the same people trying to edit the Revere page are frequent (positive) contributors to the Palin page.
today is spelling optional day.
Why do people pay so much attention to her? Her coverage is way out of proportion to her actual influence. Ignore Sarah Palin. If she polls highly, then go and cover her, but look:
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/rudy-giuliani-leads-republican-field-cnn-poll/
Giuliani, Romney, Palin, Paul, Cain... 16%-10%
How much coverage is Giuliani or Romney getting? Paul or Cain? In proportion to Palin? Why is this also-ran attracting the same media attention as if Queen Elizabeth and the reanimated corpse of Michael Jackson and Xenu toured East Coast tourist spots?
It's bizarre. Palin is an also-ran. Please try to ignore this media virus.
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
"In fact, Revere’s own account of the ride in a 1798 letter seems to back up Palin’s claim. Revere describes how after his capture by British officers, he warned them “there would be five hundred Americans there in a short time for I had alarmed the Country all the way up."
Boston Herald
But Palin's quote was that he was "ringin' the bells and firin' the guns" when he warned them. It seems unlikely that after Paul Revere's capture by the British they still allowed him access to bells and guns during his interrogation.
You do realize that Paul Revere was captured on his ride and did warn the British that they would not be able to take away the colonists' guns?
False. After his capture Revere told the British that the country was raised against them. Not one word about taking away the colonist's guns.
And while it is true that "you can't take their guns" is a reasonable inference from "they are ready and waiting for you", it is also a reasonable inference that "you can't take their trousers" or "you can't quarter soldiers in their homes", but for some reason you don't mention either of those, nor the dozens of other things you could reasonably infer from what Revere reported telling them, which was not "you can't take their guns" but "the country is raised against you."
Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
You're not allowed to bring researched facts into a Palin discussion!
He just said the same people who contribute to Palin pages positively are the same ones editing the Paul Revere page. This rules out people trying to screw her reputation, this rules out trolls. This does not rule out supporters and random lunatics, though.
It goes a bit beyond that. The changes to Paul Revere's article are based on direct quotes from Sarah Palin and the editions to Paul Revere's article are being discussed in Sarah Palin's talk page. Among the people committing the changes we find this guy, who on his user page includes the following quote:
So, it's pretty obvious that there is more at play than mere correlation.
Slashdot, fix your code or at least hire someone who is competent at it to do it for you.
Paul Revere was not warning the American colonists that the British were coming, but rather warning the British were not 'going to taking away our [guns]'."
In AD 1775 War was Beginning.
John Hancock: What Happen?
Paul Revere: Somebody set us up the cannon!
British: All of your forts are belong to us! Ha ha ha ha!
Samuel Adams: Take off every HORSE!
Paul Revere: For great justice!
In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
I presume you must know that Palin was rightly mocked for her actual quote as well. The "I can see Russia from my house!" bit was a hyperbole meant to ridicule the actual statement for its stupidity.
Her actual statement was trying to lend legitimacy to herself. As if being close to Russia meant she was somehow an expert on it. She was conflating seeing it with being informed and knowledgeable about it.
And that's logically asinine. I live next door to a physician. That in no way qualifies me to treat anyone medically and gives me no expertise in the medical field. And if I were trying to claim medical expertise by mentioning proximity to a doctor, I'd rightly be thought a fool for it.
What Palin said:
"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."
What Revere said:
"I observed a wood at a small distance, and made for that. When I got there, out started six officers on horseback, and ordered me to dismount. One of them, who appeared to have the command, examined me where I came from and what my name was: I told him. He asked if I was an express: I answered in the affirmative. He demanded what time I left Boston: I told him; and added that their troops had catched aground in passing the river, and that there would be five hundred Americans there in a short time for I had alarmed the country all the way up."
Really, does anyone recognize Palin's account as being remotely based on Revere's?
Palin: Revere was riding his horse through town ringing bells and firing guns to (somehow) announce to the British that Americans were going to be free and armed.
Revere: after being captured on his stealth mission to raise American troops he informs the British that they are facing a prepared countryside.
What exactly do these accounts have in common? Palin doesn't mention Revere's capture. She does mention him firing guns and ringing bells, which there is no documentary evidence for and which would be weird for someone on a clandestine mission to do. Palin seems to be aware that Revere rode a horse, so there is one point of factual agreement at least.
Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
Er, correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the British missions to Lexington and Concord in fact *specifically* to seize supplies in those towns, in particular military supplies?
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/338392/Battles-of-Lexington-and-Concord
So I don't know what stupid edits were done 'reinterpreting' what he said on wiki - Paul Revere was most definitely just announcing their method of advance - but the POINT that he was announcing the approach of the British "to take away privately-owned guns" is entirely reasonable.
-Styopa
LOL, he didn't "Warn" them. He made up a bogus story to try to scare them. By claiming that there was a 500+ man strong militia defending Lexington, it forced the smaller forward units to double back to the main army and warn them (and slowing them down) and allowed Revere to go free and bought time for the rebels to assemble. The brits were walking a ~700 man army into the region, expecting little resistance. To find out that there was a 500+ strong militia defending their target would be a significant set back.
Paul Revere was playing poker, he bluffed, and his captors bought it. But to call that "warning" is just rediculous.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
That's kinda more accurate than what really happened actually. Paul Revere warned almost no Americans. Dude got picked up by the Brits almost before he left.
If by "almost no Americans" you meant "The militia at Charleston, Lexington and Concord who went on to fight the battles of Lexington and Concord" and by "almost before he left" you meant "three hours later, after doing what he set out to do" and that "picked up by the British" means "picked up and then released", and you ignore all the other guys who were doing the same thing and weren't stopped then... yeah, you're absolutely right.
And if you interpret "Seeing the signal lights up in the church tower then quietly passing on the message to Samuel Adams and John Hancock in person that an attack was coming and that they had best be ready for it" as "Warning the British that they weren’t gonna be takin’ away our arms by ringing bells firing warning shots", then Palin was spot on.
But many years later, his name fit well into a song, and so everyone now knows about his midnight ride.
It was about eightyfive years later, in the poem "Paul Revere's Ride". It was a fictionalized account and got quite a few details wrong, such as leaving out the other riders like William Dawes, but was still more accurate than that embarrassing sound-bite was.
I will freely admit that Palin has demonstrated that she attended history class in High School at least once, but I am still unconvinced that she was awake at the time.
The whole thing is silly. Paul Revere never actually said, "The British are coming!" because that makes no sense......they were all British. He more likely would have said, "The regulars are coming."
There are so many misconceptions about Paul Revere's ride because of that romanticized Longfellow poem. Paul Revere was a good enough guy, but he didn't even make it all the way. He got detained by the British, and his riding partners were the ones who rode the rest of the way.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."