A Romanian Editorial

[Emtmom]

I checked Snopes.Com and this is for real.

A Romanian Editorial
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.

Cornel Nistorescu

[gerry_58]

The complete editoral, as published by the newspaper. (The previous post contains a condensed version.):

Why are Americans so united? They don't resemble one another even if you paint them! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations. Some of them are nearly extinct, others are incompatible with one another, and in matters of religious beliefs, not even God can count how many they are. 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, the secret services that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed on 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 the flag on the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colours of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a minister or the president was passing. On every occasion they started singing their traditional song: "God Bless America!".

Silent as a rock, I watched the charity concert broadcast on Saturday once, twice, three times, on different tv channels. There were Clint Eastwood, Willie Nelson, Robert de Niro, Julia Roberts, Cassius Clay, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Silvester Stalone, James Wood, and many others whom no film or producers could ever bring together. The American's solidarity spirit turned them into a choir. Actually, choir is not the word. What you could hear was the heavy artillery of the American soul. What neither George W. Bush, nor Bill Clinton, nor Colin Powell could say without facing the risk of stumbling over words and sounds, was being heard in a great and unmistakable way in this charity concert. I don't know how it happened that all this obsessive singing of America didn't sound croaky, nationalist, or ostentatious! It made you green with envy because you weren't able to sing for your country without running the risk of being considered chauvinist, ridiculous, or suspected of who-knows-what mean interests. I watched the live broadcast and the rerun of its 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 fought with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that would have killed other hundreds of thousands of people. How on earth were they able to bow before a fellow human? 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 nothing 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 which risk of sounding like commonplaces. I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion.

Only freedom can work such miracles!

[red rider]

That is probley the best post i have ever read. It descibes the "BROTHERHOOD " to the T :) :cool: