paul lang photography

I usually don’t get all that worked up about what politicians say, seeing as how they say a lot of things that might cause one to throw shoes and other solid objects at the television. It’s usually best to take comments during a campaign with a grain of salt, but one comment in particular of Sarah Palin’s has gotten really under my skin. When asked why she didn’t get a passport until last year, her response was that she didn’t have parents that bought her a passport and sent her backpacking Europe after college. She was not a part of that culture. What a load of crap.

For her to make a comment like that is total and complete ignorance. I didn’t have parents who could afford to send me backpacking through Europe, but that hasn’t stopped me from traveling. If you have an interest in seeing other places and learning about other people, you find a way to do it. It doesn’t take much money to travel. She has claimed that Alaska’s proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, but has she ever been there? How can someone be expected to be on the world stage of diplomacy when they think that all international travelers are spoiled brats?

A comment like this shows a complete lack of interest in the world outside of the U.S. Not only that, but it helps to spread the belief that traveling is something for the elite only, i.e. something that the everyday Joe on main street simply cannot afford to do. This is a dangerous thing to be saying to a country that is already full of people afraid of the international world. We should be looking up to people who encourage others to see that world and meet people from other countries, not ones that exude ignorance and close-mindedness about the world.