DesMoinesRegister.com: "During the election, Republican supporters of George W. Bush talked a lot about the importance of values. But TV executives remain unworried about any backlash to racy dramas in red states. Shows such as the sex-obsessed 'Desperate Housewives' do best in the so-called red states.

Other statistics throw doubt on red-state piety. The states with the three highest divorce rates are all red (Nevada, Arkansas, Wyoming), while Massachusetts has the lowest rate. Top three states for readership of Playboy magazine? Again, all red (Iowa, Wyoming, North Dakota), and they all top heathen New York by 2-to-1 margins. Suicide rate? Once again, all red (New Mexico, Montana, Nevada), with the lowest rates all-blue (New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts). Murder rate? Again, reds in the lead, with two of the three the worst (Mississippi, Maryland, Louisiana).

Blues hold two of the three with lowest murder rates (New Hampshire, Maine, South Dakota). Blue states also lead in percentage of people holding bachelor's degrees or higher.

Perhaps the real culture gap is between people in the blue states who act moral and red staters who talk a lot about morality and read Playboy in the back room.
-Jay Miller,
Hills."