An Ode to America

[Fritz]

From a Romanian newspaper:

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") on September 24, 2002 in the Romanian newspaper
Evenimentul zilei("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.

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
bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. The
Americans volunteered to donate 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 California 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!
------

snopes says the editorial is real
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/romania.htm

[WSUCougar]

Interesting.

Of course the thing that jumped out to me was the comment about our "galloping history." I'd never really considered it, to I thought I'd put down a few signal events:

* Paul Revere. Everyone knows the tale. Serious, hard-core American galloping at its finest. It's so well-known that they painted his house with Sear's Weatherbeater.

* San Juan Hill - Teddy Roosevelt makes splashy headlines with this supposed gallop, although there is debate now about whether it even happened that way. But still, if you're going to mention American galloping, I think TR gets a respectful nod.

* Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, etc. - What better than the Triple Crown to mark great American galloping?

* Gallop Polls - 'Nuff said.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by WSUCougar
* San Juan Hill - Teddy Roosevelt makes splashy headlines with this supposed gallop, although there is debate now about whether it even happened that way. But still, if you're going to mention American galloping, I think TR gets a respectful nod.

no debate. the units left their horses in the US beacuse there was no shipping. The 1st Vol. Cav. was a foot unit.

[WSUCougar]

So - clearly - it was more "tromping" or "quick stepping" then galloping. Scratch it from the list.

[scooper]

Originally posted by Fritz
no debate. the units left their horses in the US beacuse there was no shipping. The 1st Vol. Cav. was a foot unit.

Fritz, if you're not careful, we're going to starting confusing you with Anhryoiupoeijfeioasldkjgas;dli.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by scooper
Fritz, if you're not careful, we're going to starting confusing you with Anhryoiupoeijfeioasldkjgas;dli.

he can keep the Civil War. I will be happy to take others.

[Fidatelo]

Another ode to America:

Bruce McCulloch, Kids in the Hall (1990)

Some people look at a flag, swaying in the breeze of the White House and say, "That's America." Whenever I see an American flag hung in a window of a basement apartment by guys who have better things to do with their money than buy curtains, I say, "That's America to me."

In America, there are fifty-one states. Or maybe it's eighty by now. Does England count? I'm not quite sure. The one thing I am sure of is, if I'm standing in a warehouse beside a timeclock, and a guy is punching in his best friend who's too hungover to get out of bed, I'm standing in America.

The makeover capital of the world. The place where every young man has to answer in his heart the question: "What do you love more, your girlfriend, or your car?" Where that young man can buy a beat-up car for three hundred dollars, but have to spend a thousand to insure it. The land where even a paperboy can option the film rights to a book.

America. In America, a woman on an assembly line works out her overtime in her head to infinity, and at the exact same moment, her husband gets into a car crash because he was looking at a girl in a tube top.

America. A land where spelling doesn't count, but people's pets do. Where else can you get a job riding a whale at Marine Land? The land where a guy's girlfriend breaks up with him over the phone, so he takes a gun, and kills the principal. Everyone's sad until they get the day off. Next week, another guy, another gal, another, "We can still be friends" phone call. Uh-oh! The assistant principal gets killed. And everyone is sad because they don't get the day off. Because he was only the assistant principal.

America. A land of opportunity. Yes, that great lumbering beast that journeys tirelessly and stops only to eat a clubouse sandwich, pick its teeth with a matchbook cover, and fall asleep with the TV on.

America. A place for Americans.

[Fritz]

I would get mad at that, but it is so easy to remember that Canadians are irrelevant.

[Fidatelo]

It's also written by a comedian, and is therefore meant as a joke. It's much funnier to hear it on his CD then to read, but I still find the words pretty amusing.

Besides, we're not irrelevant, we could always infect you with SARS or Mad Cow or something!

[tucker342]

We may not be perfect, but there is no other country in the world I would rather live!

[Airhog]

I dunno canada looks pretty appealing. but only if you like cold hairy french women

[Blade6119]

your from oklahoma...not one to talk..