posted 02-08-2004 07:06 PM         

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.

posted 02-09-2004 01:56 PM         

I bet you will not see this in many US papers.
We take so much for granted here.

posted 02-09-2004 03:04 PM         

quote:

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Originally posted by Randy Cobb:

We take so much for granted here.

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