It was one of those television moments when millions of viewers across the world exhaled a heartfelt sigh of delight.

The ebb and flow of Maori-Pakeha relations, from guilt- ridden patronage to populist recrimination, is as old as the Waitangi Treaty.

Cantabrians deserved better from the Christchurch City Council.

For Americans, "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" is much more than a slogan.

Why has the Labour Party not voiced its solidarity with the Maritime Unions of New Zealand?

If you have to explain why something's funny, then whatever it is you're explaining, it isn't a joke.

CHRIS TROTTER - © Fairfax NZ News

'T he beloved community" was how Dr Martin Luther King described the American civil rights movement of the early 1960s.

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The address in reply to the speech from the throne presents the leader of the Opposition with a great opportunity.

Unless David Shearer moves swiftly to force changes, his rhetoric about wanting to "listen" to New Zealanders will ring hollow.

John Key's boast that National had achieved its best result since 1951 has proven premature.

Labour's choice is clear: continue on the same losing path, or take a risk.

CHRIS TROTTER - © Fairfax NZ News

'Rout and ruin" was my bleak reply to the email from Glasgow.

OPINION: Those who identify with John Key's anti-political persona do not want to be told it is "a carefully constructed mask" concealing "a ruthless and unforgiving politician".

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The semantic difference between "the most votes" and "a majority of the votes" is about to become extremely important.

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The rush to judgment encouraged by the modern news media serves us very ill. If you doubt this, try the following thought experiment.

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It's easy to forget how little people remember.

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The best that can be said of Labour's "Work and Wages" policy is that it has been universally condemned by the nation's leader writers.

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"Drill, baby, drill!" It's the battle-cry of the believers in "business as usual". Sarah Palin's infamous injunction is also the Populist Right's translation of former American vice-president, Dick Cheney's, much more ominous observation: "The American way of life is non-negotiable."

CHRIS TROTTER - © Fairfax NZ News

With more and more voters regarding a National Party election victory as inevitable, the question arises: "What happens after the ball is over?"

It is one of the most extraordinary sounds you'll ever hear: the sound of the legal profession singing in unison.