On Not-So-Subtle Diffferences

I continue in the tradition of my colleague Bellator's demarcation of the gulf between Canadian and American socio-political values.

Today, while Canada's Prime Minister stood in the House of Commons to speak in favour of his government's legislation to expand marriage to gay couples, yet another American state took steps to constitutionally enshrine a statutory prohibition on gay marriage.

While it is likely that the Canadian legislation will get the simple majority it requires to pass third reading in the House, most state lawmakers expect the Tennessee gay marriage ban to win the required support, which would then allow a referendum to be held on the issue.

Though it's (increasingly?) commonplace, it's still intriguing to me how two adjacent countries--sharing so many commonalities--can have such remarkable political disparities.