UM LÍDER: Houve quem dissesse que era de plástico. Que era apenas um sorriso artificial. Mas na hora da verdade, Tony Blair tem-se assumido como o mais clarividente e corajoso líder europeu da última década. Que não se importa com as oscilações de popularidade, quando se trata de defender valores universais como o combate ao terrorismo, a promoção da liberdade ou do comércio livre. Que percebe que a construção europeia ou se faz com a América, ou não se fará contra a América. Que é atacado pelos líderes socialistas continentais por ser um defensor intransigente da superioridade dos valores das democracias liberais.
O discurso de Blair ontem no Congresso americano é uma excelente peça de definição do papel do Ocidente no mundo de hoje (transcrição aqui). De compromisso com os valores universais da democracia e da liberdade. Não partilhamos de grande parte da sua herança ideológica, mas admiramos o seu sentido de missão e a sua determinação. Ficam algumas frases emblemáticas:
(...) And because all nations that are free value that freedom, will defend it absolutely, but have no wish to trample on the freedom of others (...)
(...) In the end, it is not our power alone that will defeat this evil. Our ultimate weapon is not our guns, but our beliefs (...)
(...) Members of Congress, ours are not Western values, they are the universal values of the human spirit. And anywhere... Anywhere, anytime ordinary people are given the chance to choose, the choice is the same: freedom, not tyranny; democracy, not dictatorship; the rule of law, not the rule of the secret police. (...)
(...) We are part of Europe, and we want to be. But we also want to be part of changing Europe. (...)
(...) To be a serious partner, Europe must take on and defeat the anti-Americanism that sometimes passes for its political discourse. And what America must do is show that this is a partnership built on persuasion, not command. (...)
(...) So America must listen as well as lead. But, members of Congress, don't ever apologize for your values. (...)
(...) Tell the world why you're proud of America. Tell them when the Star-Spangled Banner starts, Americans get to their feet, Hispanics, Irish, Italians, Central Europeans, East Europeans, Jews, Muslims, white, Asian, black, those who go back to the early settlers and those whose English is the same as some New York cab driver's I've dealt with ... but whose sons and daughters could run for this Congress.
Tell them why Americans, one and all, stand upright and respectful. Not because some state official told them to, but because whatever race, color, class or creed they are, being American means being free. That's why they're proud. (...)
(...) You are not going to be alone. We will be with you in this fight for liberty. We will be with you in this fight for liberty. And if our spirit is right and our courage firm, the world will be with us. (...)
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