Toronto Sun columnist Peter Worthington gives props to the U.S.:

Thank goodness for the Americans. What would this world would be like without the U.S.? Especially in times of natural disasters like the Boxing Day tsunami that killed so many and shocked the world into unprecedented humanitarian generosity…

Gotta quote the ending, too, because you won’t read anything like it on the New York Times op-ed page:

The supposed unpopularity of the U.S. is often propaganda and rhetoric, and not shared by the people of the world who, even after 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan and the war against terror, seek to come to America to live in freedom and prosperity.

Those anxious to get in have no doubts about what America is — the most desirable country on Earth.

Canada views itself as compassionate, and we are. To a point.

But we don’t react with the speed and passion of Americans. Out vaunted Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) is supposed to react quickly, to “bridge the gap” until formal aid arrives at a disaster scene. The tsunami underlines that ours is a not-so-rapid response team, partly because it exists mostly in theory and partly because we have no way of getting it to a disaster zone — insufficient transport aircraft.

The announcement yesterday was that DART would begin leaving tomorrow — 13 days late. Better luck next disaster.

A world without the U.S. would be a sorrier world indeed, especially when leadership in humanitarian causes is needed.

Read the whole thing here.

And send Peter your thanks: editor@tor.sunpub.com