Looking for history clips...

[dilettante]

So, in prepping to teach early American history this fall, I'm on the lookout for video clips of current political leaders employing history in, shall we say, an "erroneous" manner. Americans like to refer back the "founding era" to justify present day politics and we have a nasty tendency of manipulating the facts about that period. I'd like to find a few short segments that demonstrate why it's worth having at least a basic historical knowledge, if only so you can tell when you're being led astray.

Recently, the most famous gaffs have been Palin's rather unique rendering of Paul Revere's ride and Bachman's (more useful for my purposes) claims about the Founding Fathers and slavery.

Have any of you guys run across similar clips? Optimally, I'd like to use someone from the other end of the political spectrum as well, but that's not crucial.

[drgoodtrips]

That sort of thing always reminds me of this:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-passionate-defender-of-what-he-imagines-c,2849/

I don't know of any off the top of my head, but if I see one I'll come back and post it here. You might see if they have the Daily Show or Colbert on Hulu -- that's right up their alley and maybe you can use that to locate the original clip.

[Americano]

Another Bachmann gem:
The American People Are Concerned About "The Rise Of The Soviet Union"


Source (http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/bachmann-american-people-are-concerned-about-rise-soviet-union)

It has a sound clip so I'd think video must be available.