奥巴马就职演说
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are poible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It\'s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It\'s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabledyou made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you\'ve sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs toit began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause.It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation\'s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and le sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth.This is your victory.
I know you didn\'t do this just to win an election and I know you didn\'t do it for me.You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead.For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetimeI have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.I promise youblock by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night.This victory alone is not the change we seekin this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettine and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White HouseI may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our worldwe will defeat you.To those who seek peace and securitytonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of AmericaAnn Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn\'t vote for two reasonsthe heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progre; the times we were told that we can\'t, and the people who preed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women\'s voices were silenced and their hopes dismied, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot.Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depreion acro the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose.Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witne a generation rise to greatne and a democracy was saved.Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that \"We Shall Overcome.\" Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.Yes we can. America, we have come so far.We have seen so much.But there is so much more to do.So tonight, let us ask ourselvesto put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can\'t, we will respond with that timele creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
