Hicks

Yes, we lack universal health care and substantial public funding for higher education. And yes, we're considering amending the constitution to curtail the rights of a significant segment of the population... But who would have predicted that the United States would wind up as the backwoods swamp of the 'civilized' world?

The key passage in the article? Try this on for size (emphasis added):

"...these findings set the United States apart from all other industrialized nations, said Dr. Jon Miller, director of the Center for Biomedical Communications at Northwestern University, who has studied public attitudes toward science. Americans, he said, have been evenly divided for years on the question of evolution, with about 45 percent accepting it, 45 percent rejecting it and the rest undecided.
In other industrialized countries, Dr. Miller said, 80 percent or more typically accept evolution, most of the others say they are not sure and very few people reject the idea outright."

The provincial attitudes toward sex and religion in this country never fail to astonish me. What are people teaching their kids? All that talk about pushing America forward into the 21st century... Apparently the 21st century pushed back, and most of the country fell on their ass somewhere back in 1885.