similarity breeds contempt

A story in the Times about the Chinese government's response to the earthquake had a little kernel that says as much about our government as anything could; something like, "If the Chinese government can respond better than ours did at the time of Hurricane Katrina...". How soon we forget, wondering how Burma/Myanmar can refuse offers of aid for their natural disaster. We, the US, also rejected international offers of aid at that time, no doubt feeling it would be a humiliation, as no doubt the Myanmar junta feels. So the similarity between our government and Myanmar's....