Sarah Palin's Paul Revere Gaffe

The former Alaska governor[Sarah Palin], who may or may not be running for the GOP presidential nomination, thought Revere was warning the British army during the Revolutionary War.
Here's the transcript, from New York magazine, of what she told reporters who were trailing her on her bus tour of historical sites:

He who warned, uh, the … the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away
our
arms, uh, by ringin' those bells and, um, by makin' sure that as he's
ridin' his
horse through town to send those warnin' shots and bells that,
uh, we were gonna
be secure and we were gonna be free … and we were gonna be
armed.

Revere was, in fact, riding from Boston to Lexington to warn John
Hancock and Samuel Adams of the approaching British army.

I feel it is a sad commentary when any current, former, or potential public official makes a gaffe such as this. This was not Palin's first and she is not the only one who has made such a gaffe. For this reason I feel it would be wise to have every political candidate pass a test on U.S. and world history, the Constitution, geography, and currect events before being able to run for office.

I am of the persuasion that it is difficult--if not impossible--to make wise decisions about the present if we don't know history, including history from different perspectives. If we want our Esperanza scholars to become involved in social action we must also be committed to doing whatever it takes for them to learn from history.