I found this just a couple of days ago in the back pocket of a long-forgotten briefcase: the December 19th, 2000 issue of the Belgian "Metro", a free commuter newspaper, distributed in railway and metro stations. The front page shows Hillary Clinton hand-in-hand with Laura Bush on the front-steps of the White House - 8 years ago. Laura Bush was about to move in, Hillary to move out ("Bush klaar voor verhuis" - Bush ready to move).
If it weren't for Obama, would we have had a re-edition of this picture, I wondered? It's a totally irrelevant question now, as Obama wrote history yesterday with an overwhelming victory. What a glorious day!
On France Inter, today, I heard a French newspaper vendor getting interviewed. Newspaper vendors, here like anywhere else, have been doing good business the last two days. The person interviewed added, people frantically check their newspaper/ magazine to make sure there're no dog-ears, no pages missing, and, they have been asking for plastic bags to protect it from humidity outside... Some people maybe hope their newspaper will be worth money one day, others just want a memory of this historical event.
As for me, I was too busy watching news reports on TV and reading online newspapers, so I completely forgot about getting a newspaper. So, I guess, I'll just have to safely tuck away my free "Metro", "20 Minutes" and "Direct Soir" in one or the other briefcase and then maybe in 8 years ...
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