Sarah Palin Supporters Attempted To Edit Wikipedia Page On Paul Revere

Last week, Sarah Palin told a local news station in Boston that Paul Revere "warned the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms." As the news media rushed to point out that Revere was, in fact, warning the American colonists, not the British, Palin's supporters apparently attempted to update the Wikipedia entry on Revere in order to make the facts conform to Palin's version of history.

According to the revision history on the Wikipedia page, Palin supporters attempted to add the line in italics below:

Revere did not shout the phrase later attributed to him ("The British are coming!"), largely because the mission depended on secrecy and the countryside was filled with British army patrols; also, most colonial residents at the time considered themselves British as they were all legally British subjects.

That revision was deleted with the explanation "content not backed by a reliable sources [sic] (it was sarah palin interview videos)."

On Sunday, Palin, a paid Fox News contributor, told "Fox News Sunday" that she was correct. She says there were British soldiers in the area for years before Revere's legendary ride, and that he was warning them, as well as his fellow colonists.

"Part of his ride was to warn the British that were already there that 'hey, 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.'"

She blamed her previous answer on the media, saying it was a "gotcha question."

The Paul Revere House's website says that on April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren instructed Revere to ride to Lexington, Mass., to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching to arrest them.

Watch Palin speak about Revere at the Old North Church in Boston:

Comments

[wardropper]

11:10 PM on 06/27/2011

And this person dreams of being one of America's "leaders"...

While the educated people of America cringe...

[frenchchampagne]

03:40 PM on 06/26/2011

Sarah and Beck are very similar. They both have the I.Q. of a very small, empty soap dish!

[tman418]

05:40 PM on 06/09/2011

Wow. This is living proof that conservatives are all in favor of revisionist history.

[mmmmikkimac]

05:18 PM on 06/09/2011

This shows us why she is NOT qualified to lead this country in any position at the federal level.
She seems to forget we were NOT Americans at this time, but British colonists living ON the N. American continent! And Paul Revere did NOT ride to warn the British! He rode to warn the colonists that the British were coming to take away the arms of the colonists. She is the brunette equivalent of a dumb blonde Barbie doll. Why, oh why, won't she go BACK to Alaska and stay there? She can go hunting with the 'former first dud' yes dud, NOT dude, in the 'Palin-O-Copter, then while the moose stew and coyoste steaks are on the barby, she and the dud can tan the hides for fur collars and cuffs of the family winter outerwear and to trim out their mukluks.

[frenchchampagne]

10:27 PM on 06/26/2011

On April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren instructed Revere to ride to Lexington, Mass., to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching to arrest them.

[saber2actual]

04:40 PM on 06/09/2011

Sarah Palin - the joyful celebration of ignorance. In a nation that is just about last in everything now, except bombing people, we need to grow up and stop idolizing the high school cheerleader who thinks it's still cool at 45 to be ignorant of everything taught in the class.

[frenchchampagne]

10:25 PM on 06/26/2011

It's refreshing that she is being seen for what she truly is...a lying, manipulative opportunist in search of a prestigious title without the skills or knowledge required. And NO clue about the history of our country. She's an embarrassment.

[ReformKyCannabis]

04:43 AM on 06/09/2011

Inst this tactic the typical one of Republicans, if you cant beat history then change it? I mean really we have seen it in TX trying to change the history books and in TN telling teachers they cant discuss gay issues, like they are not real or if we forget about them they will go away! Well I wish Sara Would Go Away, along with the rest of the people that are holding this nation back from the future we all want to have, a progressive and prosperous one, that our kids would be proud of!

[Teacher Trish]

11:59 PM on 06/08/2011

LOL! As if the rest of us needed to fact check Paul Revere!

[Qnir]

10:05 PM on 06/08/2011

Sarah Palin says that her bizarre Paul Revere answer was in response to a "gotcha" question. So... Is anyone else wondering what the actual question was? Here it is, in it's entirety:

"What have you seen so far today and what are you going to take away from your visit?"

That's gotcha to her. Just ask her what she saw today.

[SheamusK]

09:39 PM on 06/08/2011

John McCain should be pilloried for inflicting Sarah Palin on the American political scene. The Republican and Conservative Agenda shows an amazing incompetence of being able to assess abilities of people to help America govern herself. This is a sincere and profoundly frightening circumstance.

[SheamusK]

09:33 PM on 06/08/2011

Sarah comments concern me.

I am not certain from the manner of her description events regarding the "early morining ride of Paul Revere" that she understands that Revere and his contemporaries were still British subjects until 1783. I think that "gotcha question" needs to be asked of the Alaskan Diva. I can't wait for the answer.

[Smithn]

08:34 PM on 06/08/2011

While it's long been obvious Palin has no, none, zilch 'Code or Honor' what-so-ever i continue to click her just to get my snark on; so, I guess even a Palin is good for something. Ahhhhh, yes . . I do feel all better now. snarkette.

[J-Bro]

07:27 PM on 06/08/2011

You can just see the blacnk, vacant look on her face while she tries desperately to come up with an answer to something she realizes she knows nothing about.

[trekbette]

07:02 PM on 06/08/2011

It bothers me that some of her supporters are following her so blindly that they would rather rewrite history then admit, if only to themselves, that she may not the best person to put all their hopes on.

Backing someone who knows so little about their native country... who has so little respect for their native country... is just wrong. She was just at the Old North Church. She was asked within minutes... minutes... to relate a historical fact about a place she had just come from... a place famous for that historical fact.

I don't think it is unreasonable to expect people who are in or want to be in power to have some basic grasp of American history.

[ldchian]

02:22 AM on 06/09/2011

this is very well put. rather than admit they may have made a mistake, they continue to support her when it's so obvious she's a vacuous wannabe. a momma grizzly. a barracuda.

by the way, i used to own a plymouth barracuda. i bought it new for a cross country trip but halfway through, it quit on me.

[camelotghost]

05:53 PM on 06/08/2011

Okay, she states that the media fed her a "gotcha question"? Come on Palin, surely you can find a better excuse because I wouldn't classify a history question on Paul Revere - "gotcha". However, I would say that "your people" try to amend documents on Wikipedia a "gotcha" moment.

[Pandora1]

09:23 PM on 06/08/2011

Hell -- it wasn't even a "history question!" She was asked what she and the fam had found interesting that day, for Heaven's sake...what a farce. I think the feeble attempt to prove her right by amending Wikipedia is the most telling, however, as people are so fully committed to her they will lie, cheat and villefy others just to make sure they don't suffer any "cognitive dissonance" for supporting her in the first place. Scary stuff, that.

[Ms NYC]

08:35 AM on 06/09/2011

Are you sure her followers think they are lying? Maybe once they heard their idols explanation they thought wiki had it wrong. Scary stuff is exactly right.

[klstrat]

04:59 PM on 06/08/2011

Perhaps she should have said "that was not meant to be a factual statement"