A Foriegners View
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From: MOFN, AL, 70 miles from George
A Foriegners View
We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA .
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 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
On 9/ll, the American tragedyturned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart.
Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service 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
Instead 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-shirt s, 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: '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? Impercep tibly, 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 into 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 way?
Their land? Their 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, I reached b ut only one conclusion...
Only freedom can work such miracles.
Cornel Nistorescu
(This deserves to be passed around the internet forever.) It took a person on the outside - looking in - to see what we take for granted !
GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!
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 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
On 9/ll, the American tragedyturned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart.
Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service 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
Instead 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-shirt s, 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: '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? Impercep tibly, 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 into 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 way?
Their land? Their 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, I reached b ut only one conclusion...
Only freedom can work such miracles.
Cornel Nistorescu
(This deserves to be passed around the internet forever.) It took a person on the outside - looking in - to see what we take for granted !
GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!
Verified by Snopes at http://www.snopes.com/rumors/romania.asp
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From: San Francisco, CA
Re: A Foriegners View
In reading that, I am reminded of a book by Soviet dissident Nagtan Sharansky ... I found it to be very compelling and I highly recommend it ...
The Case For Democracy
The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror
The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror
In this book, Sharansky states that freedom is essential for security and prosperity, and every people and nation deserve to live free in a democratic society. He goes on to say that human rights, safety, and stability can only be assured by freeing people from their oppressors and turning them into free societies where each would have the freedom to express his opinion.
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From: St Louis MO
Re: A Foriegners View
Originally Posted by maxcichon
We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA .
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 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
On 9/ll, the American tragedyturned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart.
Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service 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
Instead 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-shirt s, 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: '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? Impercep tibly, 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 into 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 way?
Their land? Their 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, I reached b ut only one conclusion...
Only freedom can work such miracles.
Cornel Nistorescu
(This deserves to be passed around the internet forever.) It took a person on the outside - looking in - to see what we take for granted !
GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!
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 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
On 9/ll, the American tragedyturned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart.
Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service 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
Instead 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-shirt s, 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: '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? Impercep tibly, 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 into 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 way?
Their land? Their 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, I reached b ut only one conclusion...
Only freedom can work such miracles.
Cornel Nistorescu
(This deserves to be passed around the internet forever.) It took a person on the outside - looking in - to see what we take for granted !
GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!
Verified by Snopes at http://www.snopes.com/rumors/romania.asp
franc
Re: A Foriegners View
......and from the Romanians, so long under the thumb of communisim & a petty tyrant named Ceausescu.
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From: MOFN, AL, 70 miles from George
Re: A Foriegners View
We might be!
Once again, this was sent to me by my former boss. I think it is very important to note that most Americans but by no means all, take what we have for granted. This was written by a man on the outside looking in and gazes wonderously at our pride, our strength and our ability to come together when we have, or want to.
I just am a bit saddened that it took an attack of that magnitude to make it show through.
I wonder how well we'll do after the next one. And I am convinced there will be. It may not be a physical attack but economic. An awful lot of folks are happy at our present fiscal difficulties.
JMHO.
Once again, this was sent to me by my former boss. I think it is very important to note that most Americans but by no means all, take what we have for granted. This was written by a man on the outside looking in and gazes wonderously at our pride, our strength and our ability to come together when we have, or want to.
I just am a bit saddened that it took an attack of that magnitude to make it show through.
I wonder how well we'll do after the next one. And I am convinced there will be. It may not be a physical attack but economic. An awful lot of folks are happy at our present fiscal difficulties.
JMHO.
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From: Crystal Lake, IL
Re: A Foriegners View
Great post Max. I've always said that Americans are great people. We are so competitive, and can be very vicious against each other, especially within the government parties, but when it come to any kind of adversity, we always pull together despite our differences. It seems that when we need to pull together we forget about race, religion political affiliation or other divisions in our culture. It becomes about America pulling together. That's the power of unity.
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From: MOFN, AL, 70 miles from George
Re: A Foriegners View
Originally Posted by FP
Great post Max. I've always said that Americans are great people. We are so competitive, and can be very vicious against each other, especially within the government parties, but when it come to any kind of adversity, we always pull together despite our differences. It seems that when we need to pull together we forget about race, religion political affiliation or other divisions in our culture. It becomes about America pulling together. That's the power of unity.
I know that great minds think along similar lines. One question keeps rearing it's ugly head in my idle moments:
I didn't see this happen in the aftermath of Katrina. What the he!! happened? Infighting, finger pointing, power grabbing and that was among our LEADERS! Not to mention how many of our citizens acted. Everything that is ugly in our country came to the surface. Hard for me to understand.
Disasters are disasters. Why was that different?
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From: Crystal Lake, IL
Re: A Foriegners View
Originally Posted by maxcichon
FP,
Everything that is ugly in our country came to the surface. Hard for me to understand.
Disasters are disasters. Why was that different?
Everything that is ugly in our country came to the surface. Hard for me to understand.
Disasters are disasters. Why was that different?
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From: MOFN, AL, 70 miles from George
Re: A Foriegners View
Originally Posted by FP
I think we pulled together from a charity point. But it was clearly mishandled, and it became a political finger pointing exercise on who was at blame. That's the vicious part I was referring to, but when it came to helping out the affected citizens, people were opening up their doors and taking them in.
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Re: A Foriegners View
Originally Posted by maxcichon
FP,
I know that great minds think along similar lines. One question keeps rearing it's ugly head in my idle moments:
I didn't see this happen in the aftermath of Katrina. What the he!! happened? Infighting, finger pointing, power grabbing and that was among our LEADERS! Not to mention how many of our citizens acted. Everything that is ugly in our country came to the surface. Hard for me to understand.
Disasters are disasters. Why was that different?
I know that great minds think along similar lines. One question keeps rearing it's ugly head in my idle moments:
I didn't see this happen in the aftermath of Katrina. What the he!! happened? Infighting, finger pointing, power grabbing and that was among our LEADERS! Not to mention how many of our citizens acted. Everything that is ugly in our country came to the surface. Hard for me to understand.
Disasters are disasters. Why was that different?
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 13,396
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From: Crystal Lake, IL
Re: A Foriegners View
Originally Posted by Mike-in-Orange
Interestingly, we did NOT see this same level of finger pointing in the aftermath of hurricane Ike last year in the Houston/Galveston area. The level of destruction there was pretty catastrophic as well.
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Re: A Foriegners View
Originally Posted by FP
I think by that time lessons were learned from Katrina.
No, there was something unique about Katrina; the collapse of the levees, the failure to evacuate, and local, state and federal organizations pointing fingers back and forth. That whole situation was botched at every level before, during and after the storm. It also doesn't help that the whole area is below sea level and actually sinking.
Re: A Foriegners View
My heart goes out to the Romanian people. It has been 5 years since we last visited there, and 8 years since we brought home our beautiful daughter from a small and poor village in the western part of that country. We found them to be warm and caring people and very much friends of the U.S.
They are struggling, though, after several generations of domination and forced collectivism. They can see the results of freedom but I fear they do not understand (as most of the rest of the world doesn't) the philosophical foundation that gave birth to the United States. The fact that man has a right to his own life. That he has a right to take the actions necessary to sustain that life. that he has a right to the product of those actions he has taken. That no man has the right to sacrifice another man, and no man is dutybound to become a sacrifice for others.
Capitalism is the only economic system that enshrines these principles, puts them into practice, and unleashes man's creative potential.
Government's sole purpose is the protection of these rights. Any actions beyond that result in the steady destruction of those rights. We can see the result in our own country over the past century.
These next 4 years will show whether Americans remember the philosophy on which we were founded, or if we will follow our new parasites in office and take the path of mooching, looting, and handouts.
The Romanians are surely watching.
They are struggling, though, after several generations of domination and forced collectivism. They can see the results of freedom but I fear they do not understand (as most of the rest of the world doesn't) the philosophical foundation that gave birth to the United States. The fact that man has a right to his own life. That he has a right to take the actions necessary to sustain that life. that he has a right to the product of those actions he has taken. That no man has the right to sacrifice another man, and no man is dutybound to become a sacrifice for others.
Capitalism is the only economic system that enshrines these principles, puts them into practice, and unleashes man's creative potential.
Government's sole purpose is the protection of these rights. Any actions beyond that result in the steady destruction of those rights. We can see the result in our own country over the past century.
These next 4 years will show whether Americans remember the philosophy on which we were founded, or if we will follow our new parasites in office and take the path of mooching, looting, and handouts.
The Romanians are surely watching.
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From: MOFN, AL, 70 miles from George
Re: A Foriegners View
Originally Posted by fastfunfor2
My heart goes out to the Romanian people. It has been 5 years since we last visited there, and 8 years since we brought home our beautiful daughter from a small and poor village in the western part of that country. We found them to be warm and caring people and very much friends of the U.S.
They are struggling, though, after several generations of domination and forced collectivism. They can see the results of freedom but I fear they do not understand (as most of the rest of the world doesn't) the philosophical foundation that gave birth to the United States. The fact that man has a right to his own life. That he has a right to take the actions necessary to sustain that life. that he has a right to the product of those actions he has taken. That no man has the right to sacrifice another man, and no man is dutybound to become a sacrifice for others.
Capitalism is the only economic system that enshrines these principles, puts them into practice, and unleashes man's creative potential.
Government's sole purpose is the protection of these rights. Any actions beyond that result in the steady destruction of those rights. We can see the result in our own country over the past century.
These next 4 years will show whether Americans remember the philosophy on which we were founded, or if we will follow our new parasites in office and take the path of mooching, looting, and handouts.
The Romanians are surely watching.
They are struggling, though, after several generations of domination and forced collectivism. They can see the results of freedom but I fear they do not understand (as most of the rest of the world doesn't) the philosophical foundation that gave birth to the United States. The fact that man has a right to his own life. That he has a right to take the actions necessary to sustain that life. that he has a right to the product of those actions he has taken. That no man has the right to sacrifice another man, and no man is dutybound to become a sacrifice for others.
Capitalism is the only economic system that enshrines these principles, puts them into practice, and unleashes man's creative potential.
Government's sole purpose is the protection of these rights. Any actions beyond that result in the steady destruction of those rights. We can see the result in our own country over the past century.
These next 4 years will show whether Americans remember the philosophy on which we were founded, or if we will follow our new parasites in office and take the path of mooching, looting, and handouts.
The Romanians are surely watching.
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