Paul Revere Controversy

OK, I have to chime in on the Sarah Palin Paul Revere controversy because the truth is that everyone is taking away the wrong lesson from this. I would be willing to bet that 99% of the US population doesn’t know the real story of Paul Revere. What we know comes from movies, the famous poem, mythology, and maybe Schoolhouse Rock. We are not War of Independence scholars. So I don’t blame Sarah Palin for being wrong.

But, I am still really bothered by this and her previous gaffes. She seems way too willing to talk about things she doesn’t know about. It’s OK to do this in bars with your friends, but a qualified president (or governor) should have two responses when they aren’t sure of the correct answer in public. They should either keep their mouths shut, or they should consult with experts and their advisers and confirm what the right answer is. It would scare me to have a president who blurts out incorrect things to the press or to foreign dignitaries or even to Congress. This could really hurt our standing in the world and degrade our ability to exert influence around the world. It is this that scares me the most about her and why I would cringe if she ever again held a position of power.