FW: Romanian newspaper editorial (translated)

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!
<
<
<
<