Money talks - Sound and fury signifying nothing

Two obscenities stained yesterday's presidential election in the United States. Over $6 billion was squandered by the two parties on the campaign; and negative "advertising" (hyperbole, obfuscation, innuendo, outright lies) far outweighed objective presentation of facts and political platforms. Romney, the losing Republican, repeatedly shifted his position on key issues, leaving the impression with me at any rate that he was prepared to say anything to his audience to advance his electoral prospects. Obama was at least consistent in his political position. But the status of the two parties in Congress is virtually unchanged so the dysfunctional state of affairs that prevailed before the election is unlikely to change.  The Democrat president has an agenda; the Republican House of Representatives is intransigently opposed to it no matter what that agenda is. A third obscenity is the intransigence of the Republican party.  The great mystery to me is why almost half of all those who voted gave their support to the Republicans.  It seems to be based on inability to separate politics from religion: restricting reproductive freedom for women - indeed, women's position in society - is an integral part of religious faith for a far higher proportion of Americans than people in other advanced, literate societies. This accounts for widespread bizarre beliefs such as the Genesis myth of human origins rather than the scientific facts of evolutionary biology.  The sickness of the body politic in the USA is serious for the whole world however we view the world, and after the USA itself, it is probably more serious and more of a problem for Canada than for any other country. Unless the Republicans show some flexibility, willingness to compromise, and magnanimity, the future looks bleak.  I am profoundly thankful that Wendy and I decided in 1964 that we would rather raise our children in Edinburgh, Scotland, than in Baltimore, USA. That decision shaped the subsequent course of our children's lives as well as Wendy's and mine. Of the several life altering decisions we made, this one was the most important.