Although not as ubiquitous up here, North of 45th parallel, canadian agnosticism is quite widespread. And we also score high on every scale of the human development index, have high literacy, low infant mortality... and high taxes. But i can walk into a hospital whenever i need it, at no cost, my kids go to daycare and serious crimes are on a downward spiral.

The US is quite the illustration of everthing great about western civilzation and individual freedoms. Every major scientific, technological, philosophical and cultural innovation either originate from you guys or is so well absorbed by your society and thus refined that you are truly a great nation. Not to mention the individual wealth and entrepreneurial spirit that's rampant, a boon to human and economic development.

You are admired and envied, that's for sure.

But we canucks -- and i would venture to generalize that most non-american westerners feel the same -- often marvel at your apparent inability to emerge from the dark ages.

You know, that era during the crusades where the Earth was flat and bleeding the answer to every medical condition. Heck, you only just stopped burning people at the stake about 5 generations ago. For their colour, not their beliefs, but still, it stopped about 15 generations later than the rest of the Western world. And now, with such fairy tales as creationnism, the belliquose atitude, the refusal to engage in reasonned debates about say sex ed,

Your arts, your sciences, your achievements, almost everything about you inspire awe and force admiration.

But your politics, man, they're a disgrace, fuelled as they are by religious fervour and a discomfort with reason, righteousness and compromise.

You oughtta get out of this. And Obama alone won't make that much of a difference. Everybody needs to do a little bit on it.

cheers,

your neighbor

What else is there to say? Loser.