Much has been said about the whole Palin/Paul Revere dust-up. I'll keep my opinions to myself. However, the best comments I've read about it, were in an opinion piece on CNN.com today by author, Kenneth Davis. Aside from a great history lesson about what actually happened during Paul Revere's ride, I wish everyone would read AND REMEMBER the end of his article:
"...history is compelling, fascinating & instructive -- if we tell the real story.
But it is also dangerous when people 'cherry pick' pieces of the story to suit their purposes, when the foot is cut to fit the shoe. A sanitized but incomplete, or worse, wildly inaccurate, version of history can be cited to support just about any political stand. Like scripture, the words and deeds of the Founders, mixed with bits and pieces of American mythology, are trumpeted to support positions on every issue from individual rights, states' rights, gun rights, or gun control, to taxes, immigration, public prayer and, most dangerously, taking the nation to war.
When American history is gutted, innocently, ignorantly, or deliberately, the outcome can be deadly. If we are told that there is no separation of church and state in the First Amendment, that the Founders worked tirelessly to end slavery or that the Revolution was all about taxes on tea, we are hearing half-truths or outright fabrications. Our extraordinary history deserves better. The truth shall set you free." -Kenneth Davis
Well said, Mr. Davis, well said. I wish those words were written in big, bold letters on the desks of every politician or future politician. Or maybe embroidered into their underwear.
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