Barack Obama Victory Speech (2 of 2)

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【Text】
下に日本語訳へのリンクと太字の語句解説があります。

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with
every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you,
especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking
this nation the only way it's been done in America for 221 years - block by block,
brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.
This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change.
And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you,
without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility
where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after
not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything,
it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in 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 pettiness 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 House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance,
individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values that we all share, and
while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure
of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours: "We are not enemies, but friends…
though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection."
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote tonight,
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 the world -
our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of
American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear the world down - we will defeat you.
To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered
if America's beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more
that the true strength of our nation comes not from 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 America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected.
And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations.
But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot
in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice
heard in this election except for one thing - Ann 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 reasons - because she was a woman
and because of the colour of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America - the heartache
and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people
who pressed on with that American creed: Yes, we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, 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 depression across 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 harbour and tyranny threatened the world,
she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness 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 ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century;
if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see?
What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time -
to 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 timeless creed that sums up the spirit of
a people: yes, we can.

Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

毎日新聞社による日本語訳はこちら

【語句】
setback：失敗、挫折
calloused：硬くなった、たこのできた
summon：奮い起こす
pitch in：一生懸命取り掛かる
partisanship：党派心
pettiness：つまらないこと
a measure of ～：適度の～
strain：ひずむ
huddle：身を寄せ合う
singular：個々の、別々の
beacon：かがり火、のろし
enduring, unyielding ：揺るぎない
cast a ballot：投票する
make one's voice heard：意見を述べる
press on with：強力に推進する
creed：信念、モットー
dust bowl ：ダスト・ボウル（1930年代の米国中南部の砂塵嵐の被害のこと）
sense of common purpose：共通の目的意識
tyranny：専制政治
cynicism：皮肉
timeless：永遠の、不朽の

よろしければポチッと応援お願いします。