Is there anyone left out there wondering of the the rest of this planet sees America in a new light after President-elect Obama’s victory?
This article by the great Christian Merville of Lebanon’s L’Orient Le Jour is particularly eloquent – and ends much more cold-eyed than this paragraph in the beginning might lead one to believe. And demonstrating the incredible change in perceptions, it has the same refrain as the famed Le Monde front page of September 12, 2001:
“A leader was born, an unknown even four years ago, who through the magic of his word has enabled all of us, beyond the borders of his country, to imagine that we are all Americans, in solidarity at last after having been divided for so long … But the words, as exhilarating as they may be, will not suffice. Nor will promises of a better tomorrow if they take too long to come. The disappointment could be as cruel as the great hopes that were raised when everything seemed possible.”
By Christian Merville
Translated By Sandrine Ageorges
November 6, 2008
Democracy is coming to the USA
It’s coming from the sorrow in the street
The holy places where the races meet
(Leonard Cohen: Democracy – The Future)
Lebanon – L’Orient Le Jour – Home Page – (French)
That disconcerting America, which had given us the worst: George W. Bush, has just offered us – we want to believe so badly – the best . Astonishing Americans, who know so well how to bounce back and make us forget the past eight years of disastrous wrongdoing. Unadventurous Europe, which looked like an orphan without a leader yesterday, today appears relieved to see the burden assumed again on the other side of the Atlantic.Was history made this Tuesday, November 4th 2008? Indeed, and one must hope a lot more. Undoubtedly it will take a little longer to realize its importance, with the abolition of racial segregation only forty years ago. The fact that the hero of this historic event comes from Illinois, the home of Abraham Lincoln, confers a particular radiance upon him. For a few brief moments, it was this radiance that was found once again reflected in the eyes of these men, and these women, who awoke to a sunrise over Chicago, and who went to hear this man speak with Churchillian accents, of the arduous path that awaits them.
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated and English-language foreign press coverage of how the world percieves our nation.
Founder and Managing Editor of Worldmeets.US