I have three candidates so far:

1. The world is changing and we are changing with it.

2. You will be remembered not but what you destroy, but by what you have built. (I have to pay royalties to somebody else for spotting this one)

3. In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. 

Any more ideas?

Sunt curioasa cum au perceput romanii discursului de investitura al lui Obama. Sunt curioasa pentru ca mi se pare ca intreaga ceremonie de azi, de la felul in care s-au prezentat fostii presedinti americani, pana la felul in care Obama si-a rostit discursul contrasteaza frapant cu felul in care am fost educati si, inevitabil, cu felul in care am ajuns sa ne structuram comportamentele. Lejeritate si totusi gravitate aproape poetica, indrazneala in a articula opinii greu de inghitit si totusi curajul de a promite o rezolvare. Caldura, curaj, logica si o atentie pentru detaliu cum rar mi-a fost dat sa vad. Triumfalism, mandrie si in general credinta furibunda ca orice este posibil. In scolile din Romania nu ne-a invatat nimeni ca cele mai importante sunt valorile si credinta, loialitatea si umanitatea. Ca daca vrem, putem. Am fost invatati sa fim seriosi si crispati, sa redam fidel comentariul, sa nu avem opinii personale prea puternice si in general sa nu jucam la mize mari.

Nu stiu exact de ce am facut legatura intre tot ceea ce inseamna America, reflectata pentru mine azi in discursului lui Barack Obama, si educatie. Si de ce am sesizat imediat o prapastie intre spiritul american si ceea ce percep eu a fi romanismul traditional.

Mi-au ramas in minte insa cateva fraze si franturi pe care nu cred ca un roman le va rosti vreodata in public:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. 

[...] the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things [...]

Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

[...] we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.

But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true.

[...] the price and the promise of citizenship [...]

Si iata-l aici pe tanarul de 27 de ani, Jon Favreau, care a scris ceea ce ati vazut mai sus. Via Madalina Ionescu.

PS: Se poate sa fiu usor subiectiva in tot ceea ce scriu despre Obama, pentru ca tocmai citesc “Dreams from my Father” si sunt marcata de fiecare secventa fantastica traita de, deocamdata copilul, Obama.

Saying too much about all this as a Romanian living in Romania is somehow dishonest. Instead, I will dare copy-paste an email that I received today from a girl I worked with in New York, from whom I haven’t heard in two years. It’s touching, beware:

Warm Greetings to all my friends abroad,

I just wanted to share this experience with you all.  I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Vivi (a Romanian settled in New York) is having similar feelings (and his entry is in Romanian), while there are some other interesting entries on the topic I’ve come to read today. I really recommend Vlad Petreanu’s comparison between racism in the US and racism in Romania (his account stemming from the racial connotations of today’s victory), and a very realistic/ pessimistic/ cynical approach by Cristian Sarb.

PS: The image displays this week’s Economist cover. I found it highly prophetical…

I wonder whether this is because Romanians simply don’t care about international politics or because international politics doesn’t affect Romania. On a first glimpse, I’d tend to stick to the first version. However, over the last couple of months it became consistently more obvious to me that Obama’s stand on Europe will not change transatlantic relations in any way, hence won’t impact Romania. I discussed this topic a couple of months ago on Blogactiv, and later on with some American friends and we all concluded Obama won’t change in any fundamental way the current status quo. At least not as rapid as we’d like to see it changed.

In order to fundamentally change America’s position in the world, the President has to be backed by Congress, by a prosperous economy, by interest groups and, of course, by the American people (which is far from being as web 2.0 as we imagined . Surely, he is charismatic, surely I would vote for him, surely I’d never prefer a Republican over a Democrat, but still it takes more than one American president to change the world. Also because the world has dramatically changed:

Whoever wins the US Presidency today will be facing the ultimate challenge: steering a self-destructing Western-based economic growth model through a painful transition towards a new global sustainability. This is a task far beyond any past Apollo project. (Willy de Baecker on Blogactiv)

Overall nonetheless, Go Obama! Anxiously waiting for the victory speech…

Hi Corina,

 Thanks for reaching out to us.

Here’s our statement on this:

Best,
Leon

Inca o data, chapeau bas pentru Google!

Come on Hotnews… don’t disappoint me. You’re supposedly at the forefront of Romanian media… and nothing yet about Obama’s nomination…

Photo: Doug Mills/ The New York Times