I'm not so sure I believe this came from a Romanian newspaper, but maybe so.
At any rate, it's a good read.


-----Original Message-----
From: Richoux, Fred
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2001 2:08 PM
To: Connor, Larry; Heard, Anne
Subject: FW: Romanian newspaper editorial (translated)




-----Original Message-----
From: Broome, Jim
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2001 12:36 PM
To: Lantz, Katherine; Meador, Samantha; Moredock, Sandy; Richoux, Fred;
Vance, George; Wagner, Bob; Warner, John; Wagner, Bob
Subject: FW: Romanian newspaper editorial (translated)




>
> FROM ROMANIA:  RECOGNITION (AND ENVY) OF THE AMERICAN ETHOS AND ?LAN!!
>
> Subject: Editorial from a Romanian newspaper (translated)
>
> An ode to America
>
> 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 colors 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 or 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!
>
>
>
>