Rarely, do we get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA.
The following excerpt is from a Romanian Newspaper.
The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title "Cintarea Americii" meaning "An Ode to America." It was first published on September 24, 2002, in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentul zilei "The Daily Event" with no expectation that it would end up in the United States.
Since September 24, 2002, Nistorescu's article has been spreading worldwide. Today, it has been retransmitted to hundreds of thousands of readers on the Internet.
In addition, this "Ode to America" is also being distributed by the US Forces Command Public Affairs Office.
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!"
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 deNiro, Julia Roberts, Cassius Clay, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Sylvester Stallone, 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 for 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 read chauvinist, ridiculous, or suspected of who-knows-what mean interests.
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 manor 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!
Feel free to comment here, or you are welcome to send Cornel Nistorescu your comments directly at corneln@expres.ro
fresh content posted
