> A person who can't even wrap their head around the notion of legal equality can't possibly understand American politics New Zealanders have the Treaty of Waitangi Act where Maori and Pakeha have agreed use of resources and how New Zealand works. New Zealand also has links with the UK including Westminster government and thus, nominally, royalty. Suggest to New Zealanders that they are subjects of the Queen and you will get a blank look. How is the US going with equality matters? Any American Indians on slashdot able to comment? Given that arbitrary distinctions are acceptable: I will accept replies only from American Indians.

In Australia the neocon/fascist party call themselves the Liberals. Orwellian.

Relax about the evidence thing. This is how superpowers do things. If you don't know stuff then just make it up, no-one's going to argue. The USS Maine blew up from a boiler and ammunition explosion and that was enough for the US to start the 1898 Spanish-American War. As for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the UN said to the best of their knowledge there were none, up to the bounds of scientific certainty. Which was interpreted by US decision-makers, for whatever reason, as not meaning 'no'. So carry on, this is business as usual, there's nothing extraordinary here.