"At this moment — but for how long ? — we can say with far more conviction than on 11 September 2001 : we are all Americans"

In a In a Le Monde piece entitled Sorry we can't — and half-written in English — Robert Solé says he can't write, because he is weeping for joy, all the while:
• informing us that Obama's election is nothing less than the "first worldwide good news since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989"
• basically admitting that the French did not really feel much empathy with America af ther the 9/11 murder of 3,000 citizens, and
• stating that today, because of the election results, "we [truly] are all Americans" but immediately casting doubt onto how long he thinks that will last…

Sorry. No column today. The keyboard is not responding. History is a page being turned. Three words on the screen: "Yes we can." While it is impossible to joke with genocide or disaster, it is equally impossible to joke with an event that makes you weep for joy. The first worldwide good news since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 needs more than a pirouette or an amused wink. At this moment - but for how long ? - we can say with far more conviction than on 11 September 2001 : we are all Americans.

(Désolé. Pas de billet aujourd'hui. Le clavier ne répond pas. L'Histoire est une page qui se tourne. Trois mots sur l'écran : "Oui, nous le pouvons." S'il est impossible de plaisanter avec un génocide ou une catastrophe, il est tout aussi impossible de plaisanter avec un événement qui vous arrache des larmes. La première bonne nouvelle planétaire depuis la chute du mur de Berlin en 1989 appelle autre chose qu'une pirouette ou un clin d'oeil amusé. A cet instant - mais pour combien de temps ? -, nous pouvons dire, avec beaucoup plus de conviction que le 11 septembre 2001 : nous sommes tous américains.)