Quote of the day: "We are all Americans"

A French editorial writer calls Obama's victory the first good worldwide news since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Published November 5, 2008 4:22PM (EST)

"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."

-- Robert Solé, an editorial writer for Le Monde, writing in English in an apology titled "Sorry we can't, par Robert Solé." A French translation follows the English.


By Katharine Mieszkowski

Katharine Mieszkowski is a senior writer for Salon.

MORE FROM Katharine Mieszkowski


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2008 Elections Barack Obama France War Room