One More Fact Check in Sarah Palin’s New Book
EmailABC's John Berman reports: I am not picking on Sarah Palin for making the kind of misstatement we all make all the time. Sarah Palin clearly knows which Korea is the ally of the United States. No, I found a small historical error when I was reading her new book, “America by Heart,” and I merely wanted to point it out. It’s not because I think it is a grievous error, or because I think it reflects poorly on Palin; no, it is just a tiny bit interesting. A teeny tiny bit. On page 189 of “America by Heart,” Palin is in the midst of a lengthy and thoughtful discussion about the role of religion in America, and American history. Among other things, she spends time praising Mitt Romney for his speeches on this subject. But on page 189, she is writing about the opinions of Founding Father John Adams, including his famous quotation, “we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.” Her mistake is not in her analysis of the importance of faith to John Adams. No, her error came in claiming that he had been a “leading participant at the Constitutional Convention.” John Adams did a lot of stuff. He was President, Vice President, a Massachusetts lawyers, and one of the architects of the Declaration of Independence. But one thing he most decidedly did NOT do, was take part in the Constitutional Convention. He was Ambassador to Great Britain at the time. Thomas Jefferson skipped out too; he was in France. While Adams may have communicated some with the likes of Madison, Gerry, Hamilton and even Washington who were at the Convention, he was not as Palin suggests, “a leading participant” there. He didn’t participate there at all. It changes next to nothing about what Palin writes, and proves nothing one way or the other about her interpretation of Adams or our Founding Fathers. All it really proves is that every once in a while, I read carefully. Please don’t beat me up now.
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Well I don’t believe she wrote the book, and I do believe she misspoke, but the error you point out should have been caught by an Editor in my opinion.
Posted by: mytakeonthis61 | November 29, 2010, 1:46 pm 1:46 pm
Palin’s book is full support for getting our country “back on the right track” with blather big government taking away “God-given rights to make our own decisions.”
For someone who is so family oriented, why is she promoting propaganda from organizations that work on behalf of large food companies to protect their ability to make money off the deteriorating health of our nation’s children? Not exactly patriotic Sarah.
Meanwhile it’s “freedom” for the rest of the country to pick up the social aftermath – an obesity epidemic, a huge increase in Diabetes, insurance and medical care costs, and the weakening of our nation’s future security.
Posted by: missy | November 29, 2010, 2:00 pm 2:00 pm
I’m about 3/4 through Palin’s book, and was going to check some her Adam’s and founding fathers references with the McCullough books.
I haven’t done that yet, but I did take a quick glimpse at a book she refers to – WE STILL HOLD THESE TRUTHS by Matthew Spaulding. While I was thinking that one of Palin’s goals with this book is to she that she really does do some serious reading, I’m starting to think that she read Spaulding’s book and not a whole lot else. She quotes Alexis de Tocqueville a lot, so does he. His web page features “Americans on a journey to reclaim our future” and that’s her intro theme. She tosses in Calvin Coolidge a number of times….he’s rarely discussed but Spaulding quotes him 19 times. And does anyone really think she read the works of John Witherspoon?
BTW – According to Spaulding, that John Adams quote came from his Address to First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts on October 11, 1798 (I can’t find it in the McCullough book), while he was President.
Another BTW – I think Palin confused “Constitutional Convention” with “Continental Congress;” check out the Wikipedia entry for John Adams.
Posted by: Maria F | November 29, 2010, 2:17 pm 2:17 pm
Fact check – I did not have sexual relations with that women. B Clinton
Posted by: jamescbuilder | November 29, 2010, 2:25 pm 2:25 pm
John Adams wrote the Massachusetts Constitution which was copied by Madison. Comrades, Palin is the next president or the wrath of God’s judgment continues.
Posted by: Mary | November 29, 2010, 2:38 pm 2:38 pm
Sam Adams gave John Adams the concept of the three branches of government from Jeremiah 30:20 — Legislative and 21 Judicial and Executive. That has to hurt the Godless liberal mind.
Posted by: melchore | November 29, 2010, 2:47 pm 2:47 pm
good thing biden doesn’t have a book out
Posted by: mchris65 | November 29, 2010, 3:19 pm 3:19 pm
Why do so many conservative commentors believe that all liberals are “Godless”? How would you know? You can’t see into my heart or mind, or into anyone else’s but your own. Gross generalizations and ad hominem attacks, while making you feel better about yourself, do not help your arguements.
Posted by: Mark In Everett | November 29, 2010, 3:33 pm 3:33 pm
@Maria F | Nov 29, 2010 2:17:07 PM
Fact check – I did not have sexual relations with that women. B Clinton
——————-
That womEn?
Posted by: anne | November 29, 2010, 3:50 pm 3:50 pm
Wheter you like her or not..she is making millions with her books..she is crazy like a fox..qualified to be PRESIDENT,,,noooooooooooooooo
Posted by: BSKI | November 29, 2010, 3:51 pm 3:51 pm
@Mark In Everett,
That’s not my post you responded to.
Mine is the one that began “I’, about 3/4 through….”
Posted by: Maria F | November 29, 2010, 4:12 pm 4:12 pm
As Ambassador, did John Adams represent all of the 57 states visited by Obama?
Posted by: Aristotle | November 29, 2010, 4:21 pm 4:21 pm
melchore – You should read Adams’ “Thoughts on Government,” described in the book JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough on pp101-103 (hardcover edition) before you take your theory much further.
BTW – I noticed that there are photos from September and October 2010 in Palin’s book, as well as references to Bristol’s DWTS stint. Didn’t that start in September? I thought it took many months for a book to be finalized, printed and distributed. Was there a super-fast-track to get this out before Christmas?
Posted by: Maria F | November 29, 2010, 4:26 pm 4:26 pm
Minor (perhaps) fact check on John Berman’s comments: John Adams was never Ambassador to GB or any other country, but Minister, just as Jefferson was Minister to France; the US had no Ambassadors till the 1890s.
Posted by: Joe Arbena | November 29, 2010, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm
Melchor, what in your arrogant mind, makes you think that liberals are godless? That was an assinine remark.
Posted by: WakeUpAmerica | November 29, 2010, 4:57 pm 4:57 pm
John Adams 1735-1826 Ambassador to France
Posted by: Diane | November 29, 2010, 5:00 pm 5:00 pm
I don’t care whether she did or didn’t write the book or how many silly gaffes she makes. She’s incredibly arrogant to think she has ANY qualifications to be POTUS, and those who think she has any are truly misled by her snarky charm. She’s mean-spirited, disrespectful, not above character slander, and has done nothing except rake in money. A true leader displays integrity, honesty, responsibility and commitment. Sarah Palin has none of those qualities or any desire to acquire them.
Posted by: Katie | November 29, 2010, 5:43 pm 5:43 pm
Arbena, I realize liberals worship many gods, just not the one true God with a capital letter that does not believe in abortion. You know the abortion that magically appeared in the liberal’s constitution in 1973.
Aristotle, you should read the primary sources where Sam listened to his preacher and wrote to his cousin.
Posted by: melchore | November 29, 2010, 5:48 pm 5:48 pm
my bad that was Maria F not Aristotle
and WakeUpAmerica not Arbena
Posted by: melchore | November 29, 2010, 6:12 pm 6:12 pm
Won’t beat you up, just waiting for the fact checking on Obama’s nursery rhyme book.
Posted by: PhilipJames | November 29, 2010, 6:25 pm 6:25 pm
I don’t have any comment on the merits of this factcheck, just find it interesting that people obsess over Palin’s errors while largely ignoring her overall message.
I think she pointed out pretty clearly the other day that President Obama makes frequent verbal errors but is rarely called “an idiot” by the press. Nor do his gaffes take front and center as hers do.
Just curious … did the Associated Press assign 11 factcheckers to Obama’s Audacity of Hope as they did with Going Rogue?
Why such overreaction to one tiny woman?
Posted by: Nicole Coulter | November 29, 2010, 6:54 pm 6:54 pm
is your ego satisfied now that you found and exposed a small error in her book — get a dog to feel better instead of being snide
Posted by: ss26mar | November 29, 2010, 8:22 pm 8:22 pm
If anyone thinks that most books are written without help, you are wrong…there are editors and fact checkers for most books… few publishers want to be sued and look foolish.
As for abortion…in 1973 the Supreme Court quit sending poor women to the butchers to be killed or maimed and quit making health care professionals criminals. If God did not want abortions he would not have created
miscarriages
Posted by: Phil | November 29, 2010, 10:05 pm 10:05 pm
People — please. None of these comments here make a hoot of difference to the rest of the world and fact checking isn’t the issue. We aren’t out there campaigning for POTUS with a boring and fake reality show, which feels a bit like the “Beverly Hillbillies” and shows an obvious lack of education of any of the Palins — plus an uneducated kid on national TV, as oblivious as her mother, while Sarah gives talks written by someone else, writes stupid books that have no redeeming content, and she takes YOUR money, laughing all the way to the bank. I haven’t heard of any philanthropic efforts by her to needy organizations. She quotes Coolidge, who was a man of integrity and character, something she knows nothing about. She screams at everyone yet offers no concrete evidence that she has a clue how to fix or change the things that bug her about our country. Her handlers won’t let her be interviewed about policy, fearing the numerous gaffes of the ’08 campaign. She simply cannot think or speak on her own two feet. Listen to her on her reality show. How sad, she just can’t talk in complete sentences that make any sense. President? Please. As Barbara Bush recently said, “I hope she stays in Alaska.”
MARY said it right … “She’s mean-spirited, disrespectful, not above character slander … A true leader displays integrity, honesty, responsibility and commitment. Sarah Palin has none of those qualities or any desire to acquire them.”
Posted by: Barbara | November 30, 2010, 8:42 am 8:42 am
Maria F | Nov 29, 2010 2:17:07 PM
Fact check – I did not have sexual relations with that woman. B Clinton
Posted by: Joao | November 30, 2010, 9:37 am 9:37 am
Sorry, I meant to give credit to Diane.
Posted by: Barbara | November 30, 2010, 9:38 am 9:38 am
Maria F | Nov 29, 2010 4:12:22 PM
As Ambassador, did John Adams represent all of the 57 states visited by Obama?
Maria at that time Hawai ,Puerto Rico and other Commonwealth territory weren’t
part of the USA.
Maria fact Check.
Posted by: Joao | November 30, 2010, 9:39 am 9:39 am
@Mary, I am a liberal and attend church on Sundays and have a firm belief in God. How dare you say such a statement as calling all liberals Godless, I think it is you who needs to look in your heart and soul and remember the teachings, that you nor I have the right to judge. I do not assume you are Godless because you lean far to the right, so please stop making these meritless assumptions.
Posted by: wicker walker | November 30, 2010, 11:00 am 11:00 am