[MD] an aside

[X Acto]

 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'.
 
  
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 9/11, 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-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: '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 into collection aimed at 
rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy.  
What on earth can unites 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 but only one conclusion... 
Only freedom can work such miracles. 

Ron:
I saw this, and it hit a chord. It's not freedom it's an intellectual ideal that all
people are created equal. America is united under this Intellectual ideal.
I posted this in response to multi culturalism and ethnic and cultural diversity.
That it is somehow wrong, inhibiting and degenerate. But this shows how
an intellectual ideal can overcome all that. It proves the potential of strength
through diversity. That not all intellectual patterns are evil, that some transcend
cultural values and it's these intellectual values of a social community is what
really makes this country dynamic.
It's the kind of attitude some would call socialist, but it's that social ideal, that intellectual
pattern, what makes this country great despite all it's mistakes.

united we stand, divided .....we fall