Below, FYI, is an inspiring piece of prose from a surprising source.

FROM ROMANIA: RECOGNITION (AND ENVY) OF THE AMERICAN ETHOS AND

ÉLAN!!

Subject: Editorial from a Romanian newspaper

"An Ode to America"

Why are Americans so united? They don't resemble one another even if

you paint them! They speak all the languages of the world and form an

astonishing mixture of civilizations. Some of them are nearly

extinct, others are incompatible with one another, and in matters of

religious beliefs, not even God can count how many they are.

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, the secret services that they are only a bunch of losers.

Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed on 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 the flag on 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 minister

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 de Niro, Julia Roberts, Cassius Clay,

Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Silvester Stalone, 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 of

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 considered chauvinist, ridiculous,

or suspected of who-knows-what mean interests.

I watched the live broadcast and the rerun of its 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 fought with the terrorists and

prevented the plane from hitting a target that would have killed

other hundreds or thousands of people. How on earth were they able to

bow before a fellow human?

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 nothing 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 which

risk of sounding like commonplaces. I thought things over, but I

reached only one conclusion. Only freedom can work such miracles