We rarely get a chance to
see another country's
editorial about the USA.
Read this excerpt from a
Romanian Newspaper. The
article was
written by Mr. Cornel
Nistorescu and published
under the title "C"ntarea
Americii meaning "Ode To
America") on September 24,
2002 in the Romanian
newspaper Evenimentulzilei
("The Daily Event" or
"News of the Day").
~An Ode to America~
Why are Americans so
united? They would not
resemble one another even if you painted them
all one color! They speak
all the languages of the world and form an
astonishing mixture of
civilizations and
religious
beliefs. Still, the
American tragedy turned
three hundred million
people into a hand put on
the heart. Nobody rushed
to accuse the White House,
the army,
and the secret services
that they are only a bunch
of losers. Nobody
rushed to empty their bank
accounts. Nobody rushed
out onto the streets
nearby to gape about. The
Americans volunteered to
donate blood and to give a
helping hand.
After the first moments of
panic, they raised their
flag over the
smoking ruins, putting on
T-shirts, caps and ties in
the colors of the national
flag.
They placed flags on
buildings and cars as if
in every place and on
every car a government
official or the president
was passing.
On every occasion, they
started singing their
traditional song:
"God Bless America!" I
watched the live broadcast
and rerun after rerun
for hours listening to the
story of the guy who went
down one hundred
floors with a woman in a
wheelchair without knowing
who she was, or of
the Californian hockey
player, who gave his life
fighting with the
terrorists and prevented
the plane from hitting a
target that could have
killed
other hundreds or
thousands of people.
How on earth were they
able to respond united as
one human being?
Imperceptibly, with every
word and musical note, the
memory of
some turned into a modern
myth of tragic heroes. And
with every phone
call, millions and
millions of dollars were
put in a collection aimed
at
rewarding not a man or a
family, but a spirit,
which no money can buy.
What on earth can unite
the Americans in such a
way? Their land?
Their galloping history?
Their economic Power?
Money? I tried for hours to find an answer,
humming songs and
murmuring phrases with
the risk of sounding
commonplace.
I thought things over, but
I reached only one
conclusion...Only
freedom can work such
miracles.
[This deserves to be
passed around the Internet
forever.]
Old Age
