Quote of the Day
Every English poet should master the rules of grammar before he attempts to bend or break them.
Robert Graves
Palin was RIGHT About Revere? WRONG!
I mentioned the Revere kerfuffle in my critical response to Palin's Fox News Sunday appearance in yesterday's lightly-read post. So I'm amused when RealClearPolitics lists a Suffolk University history department chair Robert Allison under an NPR link "Palin Gets Her Revolutionary History Right". There are literally dozens of webpages repeating some variation of the misleading title. The NPR interview was conduced by Melissa Block.
If you read what the professor actually said, though, Sarah Palin got very little right, and the attention-getting headline is misleading. Let us go to the videotape transcript:
Ms. SARAH PALIN (interview statement after visit to Old North Church): 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.
Ms. PALIN ("Fox News Sunday", 6/5/11): 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.
Let us provide some historical context. The colonists had a preexisting militia from the recent French and Indian War. The Parliament decided to impose taxes (stamp, tea, etc.) on the colonists to defray war costs, without the direct representation of the colonists, which the latter felt was a violation of the British Constitution. Among other things, colonial government figures, who had been paid by locally-elected assemblies, were now paid using Parliament-assessed taxes, fundamentally unacceptable to the Whigs (Sons of Liberty). It wasn't an issue of cost; in fact, some imported tea with English duties met or undercut smuggled Dutch tea costs. Some colony protesters convinced approved tea consignees (whom served as duty collectors) to resign or to have the English ships return the taxed tea without unloading. This proved to be more difficult in Boston where Governor Hutchinson had two sons serving as consignees and refused to let the ships return the tea. This resulted in the famous Boston Tea Party where protesters boarded the ships and dumped the controversial tea into the harbor. The outraged British government swiftly responded with a crackdown, closing down the port of Boston and passing related Coercive (Intolerable) Acts.
In May 1774 the Parliament established the Massachusetts Government Act, stripping the ability of the Massachusetts House to elect members of the Massachusetts Governors Council by August 1. Military Governor Thomas Gage effectively canceled the legislative session in October, but the House, led by John Hancock and Samuel Adams, responded by reconstituting itself as a Provincial Congress based out of Concord, empowered to raise a militia (the minutemen) and pay for supplies and sending word to the First Continental Congress already in session. The First Continental Congress in 1774 was not at the point of independence but sought to establish a middle ground whereby the Parliament would back off its controversial taxes and restore more locally accountable governance.
The Provincial militia in December 1774 captured various military hardware and supplies in an attack on British soldiers in New Hampshire and squirreled away the captured supplies in the countryside, undoubtedly some in or near the provincial capital of Concord. General Gage knew that the acquired gunpowder was an open rebellion waiting to happen. Paul Revere was a leader of the Boston Tea Party (1773). By early 1775, Revere organized a resistance intelligence network in eastern Massachusetts monitoring British General Gage's troop movements.
Gage had his own spy network among the Tory sympathizer colonists, and his sources indicated that some military hardware and supplies were in the Concord area. Paul Revere already knew that Gage was going to send Lt. Col. Francis Smith, with roughly 800 troops and had already personally warned the provincial leadership with what turned out to be a 3-day advance notice before his famous April 18 ride, more than enough time for the militia to relocate and hide most of their weapons and supplies away from the Concord area (without the knowledge of Tory sympathizers). The British government wanted Gen. Gage to quash the rebellion by capturing Hancock and Adams, but Gage was really more interested in searching for and destroying militia hardware and supplies. Revere and two others went up to Lexington and briefed Hancock and Adams that Smith's troops were on the way. They correctly inferred that Gage was really aiming at nearby Concord. The three express riders split up leaving Lexington; Revere and one of the other riders were captured, but the third man made it to Concord. Smith eventually did make it to Concord and found some military hardware and supplies, destroying any ammunition and discarding or rendering other military hardware unusable (e.g., in rivers), but they found only a mere fraction of what they expected.
To write the above summary, I probably made reference to a dozen or more sources, beyond all the other sources, including Professor Allison. Let's look at what Allison explicitly did/didn't confirm from Palin's statements:
- Did Revere ring any bells or fire any warning shots (as Palin explicitly alleged)? NO. Allison said that Revere essentially went around knocking on doors. Other people tipped off by Revere may have alerted the populace, e.g., by ringing bells.
- Is Palin's Second Amendment read applicable? NO. Allison doesn't phrase these points but I will in reference to other sources: first, much of the military hardware and supplies held by the militia was not American property but acquired British property. (Besides the New Hampshire raid, a lot of existing munitions had been supplied by the British government to ward off Indian attacks.) Second, the militia were not private associations as Palin seems to suggest, but an explicit obligation for the common defense by the colonists at the time and specifically addressed by the Massachusetts Provisional Congress.
- Were the rides intended to warn the British as Palin suggests? NO. At least not in any operational sense that Palin is suggesting. Revere is part of the resistance; he has no intent of giving the British information that could be used to quash the movement.
So what is Allison agreeing with Palin about? Let me respond by saying Allison must be a very generous grader. Allison is confirming two points: the British raid was particularly focused on finding and destroying guns, ammunition and other hardware under the control of the Provisionally-authorized militia; second, Revere's operation had symbolic importance: the British were testing the American colonists' patience by marginalizing colonists' political rights and heavyhanded crackdowns; most Americans at that point (e.g., the First Continental Congress) had not yet come to a decision for seeking independence from Britain but were trying to find a middle ground. All bets were off, however, if the British, instead of being seen as the protectors of Americans, were to spill American blood.
I disagree with Allison's analysis in the following respects. First, Gen. Gage was already aware of the risks of open rebellion; that, in fact, was exactly what the secret raid and the intent to destroy weapons and supplies was all about. Second, Gage knew of an insurgency--as the New Hampshire raid and the Boston Tea Party were all about. Third, I don't think anything Revere did or said had anything material to bear on the situation. I think the Parliament, Gage and others were well-aware of the colonists' grievances, they knew about the raids, the provisional government, etc.; in their minds, they had already reached the limits of their patience with the troublesome colonists and had no intention of ceding what they saw as their legitimate authority.
Let's Dance
Probably the most interesting thing about this video to me is how it ends--showing the Jefferson Memorial behind a fence--as if to keep us away from a symbol of freedom our Founding Fathers fought and died to establish. Quite frankly I think of what the police did--particularly the one whom picked up and body-slammed the silently protesting dancer--was totally unnecessary and an abuse of power. (Now I think if I had volunteered to join the dance, my former girlfriends and my nieces would protest--not the protest itself, but general foot safety and "that's just wrong". I have a lifetime ban from 'Dancing With The Stars'.) Shouldn't federal employees have better things to do than to play grown-up Hall Monitor? If I'm at the Jefferson Memorial, why am I worried about the goofy behavior of other people whom aren't impeding my own activities at the landmark? What's next--arresting Lady Gaga for her eccentric appearance?
Harmon Killebrew's Charity
The late Hall of Fame slugger Harmon Killebrew has a foundation which has contributed to a number of charities and causes, including hospices, scholarships, youth baseball programs, children's hospitals, etc. He has held a number of charity events including golf tournaments and his planned 75th birthday celebration at Target Field later this month (June 29). I hope that all Twins fans (and Killebrew fans everywhere) do something to honor his memory (including, for those in a position to do so, contributions to charities in his memory).
Political Humor
"It’s the anniversary of D-Day. Or, as Sarah Palin calls it, the day that Paul Revere warned the Americans that the Danish were coming." - Jay Leno
[No, Sarah knows her H-History: Col. Revere "who warned, uh, the [Nazis] that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms uh by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his [tank] through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed."]
"A new Republican presidential poll has Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, tied for second with Sarah Palin. Or as Obama put it, 'Do I even need to campaign at this point?'" - Jimmy Fallon
[Herman Cain still can't get used to the competition in the GOP race and the dirty politics. What disrespect: Trump and Palin having a Pizza Summit without including him? He is clearly the most knowledgeable person in the race when it comes to pizza. That slight is bad enough, but they chose Familglia Pizza? Now they're just rubbing his nose in it... How can we trust their judgment for higher office when they clearly don't know pizza. I mean, look at the two of them--eating pizza with forks and knives... Have they ever eaten pizza before?
Herman Cain has a "divide-and-conquer" plan to the White House: He's going to challenge President Obama with his big city Dem constituencies which pizza is better--his hometown Chicago deep dish or New York style pies? As for Obama's job search in early 2013, Herman Cain has connections: is the President's drivers license still valid?]
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
Chicago/Peter Cetera (solo),"Restless Heart". This is the first of an interlude miniseries in my Chicago series focusing on Peter Cetera's solo career after negotiations with the band for a more flexible arrangement failed. (I am unabashedly pro-Cetera on this matter. We tenors have to stick together...)
