For a moment, Anti-Americanism be damned.

Today, in her article "Credit Where It's Due", Janet Albrechtsen made me shiver a little bit with her analogy between other countries' anti-Americanism and the classic parent-teenager relationship. Why? A non-American, she isolated several trends in American philanthropy and aid work that go unrecognized by cavilling international critics, citing specifically the catastrophic situation now in Myanmar, where American relief is waiting on the sidelines while the Burmese military regime tries to figure out whether to let the US give its people much-needed help. Meanwhile, these critics are disregarding US aid efforts as "attempts to undermine the UN" and (re: the 2004 tsunami), "consolidate its hegemony." I could go on, but I suggest you read the article.