Perspective.

authors note: for the purposes of this blog post, I have marked with an asterisk any fact or reference that I believe — out of pure conjecture — that Sarah Palin does not know or would not get.

I’m sitting in Florence, Italy as I write this. I came over to Zurich to visit my Mom for her 60th birthday, and as I’ve never been to Italy and with everything being so close here in Europe, I decided to take a couple of days to visit this beautiful country that I’ve wanted to see for so many years.

Florence is an amazing place. According to UNESCO*, this one city contains roughly a third of the important art in the entire world* including Michelangelos David*, Botticellis Venus*, and countless other masterpieces.  Florence, for many years was the center of Western civilization*. The birthplace of the Renaissance,* it is where — literally and figuratively, human beings gained… perspective*.

Literally because this is where Brunelleschi* — in addition to constructing what must be the most beautiful building in the world* — with the help of his mathmetician pals* built on the work of his predecessors and completed the transormation of human figures from flat two-dimensional objects whose only purpose in art — and life — was to serve God in submission into living, breathing, three-dimensional beings. Figuratively because after centuries of living in fear and darkness and illiteracy, this is where we entered an era in which thoughts, intellect, individuality, artistic expression, and the human being as a whole became paramount.

It’s interesting to be here in the cradle of human enlightenment in the midst of our current debacle of a Presidential race, because, to be frank,  it really puts things in… perspective.

So let’s put things in perspective. One of our candidates for the highest office there is doesn’t believe in evolution. She believes that dinosaurs and people coexisted on planet earth 5,000 years ago, which, according to her is just about how old the world is. She believes in Armageddon. She believes that certain thoughts and ideas — in the form of books that go against her particular worldview — should be banned.

According to WikiPedia, “Perspective in theory of cognition is the choice of a context or a reference from which to sense, categorize, measure or codify experience, cohesively forming a coherent belief, typically for comparing with another.”

Simply put, Sarah Palin doesn’t have perspective. She doesn’t have the context that is the very definition of perspective. I’ll go out on a limb and say that she probably doesn’t read that much. She’s never been abroad. She probably wouldn’t care too much for David or Venus because David has a penis and you can see Venuses tits and she would probably think that’s gross and immoral.

Last month, when asked why she didnt get a passport until 2006, Palin replied:

“I’m not one of those who maybe come from a background of, you know, kids who perhaps graduated college and their parents get them a passport and a backpack and say, ‘Go off and travel the world.’ Noooo. I worked all my life. In fact, I  usually had two jobs all my life, until I had kids. … I was not part of, I guess, that culture.”

“That culture.”

“One of those.”

Sarah Palin — and increasingly the Republican Party as a whole –divides this country along the imaginary lines of culture; of who is a real American and who isn’t. Apparently, according to Governor Palin, “real Americans” don’t travel. They don’t care about places like “Europe” and the rest of the world. Well, as a result, guess what – those particular ”real Americans” don’t have… perspective. If we want to summarize along the culture lines that she — not me — has drawn in the sand, America is divided into those who have perspective and those who don’t. She doesn’t. Barack Obama does.

If the Republicans — as is increasingly obvious — want a culture war, then I say bring it on. After the centuries of darkness it took humankind to emerge into the light of rational thought,  I will take those who have perspective over those who don’t, any day of the week. Barack Obama speaks like what he is — an incredibly smart person. He has written two books that — while I may not agree with every single policy choice within them — are incredibly thoughtful and show a man who clearly has… perspective. The choice between fostering and forwarding the values of thought, intellect, and enlightenment or electing “hockey moms” and “plumbers” and “joe six packs” is pretty clear.

The war on intellectualism, worldliness, eloquence, thought, language, and perspective that is being cynically waged by the architects of the Republican Party is extremely dangerous. And not without historical precedent.

In the midst of the total revolution that was the age of enlightenment, another famous Florentine emerged. His name was Savonarola*, and as a religious zealout he was partial to Palinesque activities like fomenting fear and frenzy among the masses and burning books and works of art. Countless masterpieces of Renaissance Art and books containing who knows how many … perspectives… were destroyed.

If Obama and Palin were Florentines, its pretty obvious who would be “palling around” with Brunelleschi and who would be lighting bonfires with Savonarola. Let’s just consider this the most important election of the 15th Century. Fellow Florentines, the choice is pretty clear.

Hope that puts things in… perspective.