I thought this would be nice for everyone to read, just what it reallly means to live in the USA. -----Original Message----- From: Richard A. DeMattia [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 10:16 PM Subject: Fwd: Foreign press > > > We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about > theUSA. > > > > 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") in the Romanian newspaper > Evenimentulzilei > > > > "The Daily Event" or "News of the Day". > ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' > > > > ~An Ode toAmerica~ > > > > 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 > > > > (This deserves to be passed around the internet forever.) > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- ----