When looking for articles about the United States in the foreign press, one often finds columnists quoting the founding fathers and preaching to their readers about the glories of America and its legacy.
This article from Romania’s Cotidianul newspaper gives us both a peak into Romania and a sense of the esteem many people abroad hold our nation.
Citing the election of President Obama as proof of a restoration of America ideals, Cristian Pirvulescu, dean of Romania’s National School of Political Studies and Public Administration, writes in part:
“The America I think of with pleasure isn’t that of Ronald Reagan, but of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It’s an America that tries to meet the promise of ‘justice for all’ – and not only for the privileged few. Similarly, I am one of those who think of America as that of Abraham Lincoln rather than Andrew Jackson – who, to oppose the elite, introduced the spoils system – a form of administration that prefers loyalty to the party chief over expertise.
“But beyond the America of politicians, divisiveness, and the clash of philosophies and political choices, America remains the country that gave us Walt Whitman, Tennessee Williams, Louis Armstrong and that other Armstrong, Neil (whose words ‘one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,’ came to pass in July, 40 years ago). It is the country that has known for two centuries that it’s better to awaken interest and hope rather than fear or hatred. It’s the country that tried and sometimes succeeded in guaranteeing its citizens the three inalienable rights, as stated by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ It is a nation that deserves – especially when it has shown the power to return to its old vocation – more appreciation than it gets.”
By Cristian Pirvulescu*
Translated By Helene Grinsted and Mircea Ionescu
July 7, 2009
Romania Cotidianul – Original Article (Romanian)
With the way some [Romanians] have reacted to the 233rd anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which was declared by the 13 colonies at the launch of that revolt against the perfidious Albion, I once again have the feeling that my America is fundamentally different from theirs. [Editor’s Note: Albion is the oldest known name for the island of Great Britain].
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