奧巴馬:年7月7日"無畏的希望"

John Kerry believes in an America where hard work is rewarded. So instead of offering tax breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas, he'll offer them to companies creating jobs here at home. John Kerry believes in an America where all Americans can afford the same health coverage our politicians in Washington have for themselves. John Kerry believes in energy independence, so we aren't held hostage to the profits of oil companies or the sabotage of foreign oil fields. John Kerry believes in the constitutional freedoms that have made our country the envy of the world, and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties nor use faith as a wedge to divide us. And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world, war must be an option, but it should never he the first option.
約翰·凱利堅信，在美國，付出就會有回報，因此，對於那些在本土創造就業機會的公司，他會在稅收上給與優惠，而將工作機會輸送到海外的公司則不會享受到如此待遇。他堅信，美國應該實現標準的醫療保險，對普通百姓和華盛頓的政治家都一視同仁。他堅信能源自主的重要性，因此我們不會再因石油公司對利潤的追求，或對國外油田的破壞而遭致威脅。他堅信美國應該成爲世人豔羨的國度，因爲國民的自由受到憲法的保護。他永遠都不會讓大家的基本自由受到影響，更不會以信仰爲藉口，來製造分裂。他還堅信當今世界的確存在危險因素，戰爭在所難免，但戰爭永遠不會成爲解決爭端的首選。
A while back, I met a young man named Shamus at the VFW Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid, six-two or six-three, clear-eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he'd joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week. As I listened to him explain why he'd enlisted, his absolute faith in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all any of us might hope for in a child. But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he was serving us? I thought of more than 900 service men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who will not be returning to their hometowns. I thought of families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one's full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or with nerves shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were reservists. When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.
前不久，在伊利諾伊州東莫林市的外戰老兵俱樂部裏，我偶遇一個年輕人，他叫沙莫斯，身高足有2米，相貌英俊，目光清澈，笑容可掬。他說自己加入了海軍陸戰隊, 一週後就將進駐伊拉克。當我聽他講述入伍的原因時，他講到了對我們國家和領導人的絕對信賴，對軍隊的無上忠誠以及自身強烈的責任感，這讓我感受到他身上具備的優良品質正是我們對子女的所有期待。然而，當我捫心自問：我們爲他所做的一切，是否能與他的付出相當呢? 我想到這次戰爭中已有900多名軍人戰死沙場，他們也有自己的家人和鄰友，也許已是爲人父母，還有年邁的雙親，卻再也無法回到這些關愛他們的人身邊。我想到自己遇到的那些家庭，他們或是要應對親人陣亡，收入銳減所來的經濟窘境，或是要面對肢體殘缺的家人復原歸來，甚至精神崩潰，卻因其預備役軍人的身份而無法享受長期的健康補貼，生活變得舉步維艱。當這些可愛的年輕人捨身踏上征程，我們責無旁貸地要確認做出出兵決定的所有數據和理由確鑿無誤；我們責無旁貸地要替他們照顧好家人，而當他們榮歸故里時，要關照他們的生活；當決定要介入戰爭、保衛和平和贏得世界的尊重之時，我們責無旁貸地要派駐足夠數量的軍隊，以確保戰士能凱旋而歸。
Now let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure. John Kerry believes in America. And he knows it's not enough for just some of us to prosper. For alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga.
請允許我闡明下述觀點：在世界上，確實有人與我們爲敵，我們必須找到他們，並予以堅決打擊，獲取勝利。約翰?凱利深知這一點，正如身爲上尉的他在越南戰場上出生入死，保護自己的下屬一樣，若他身爲總統，也同樣會義無反顧地運用軍隊的力量確保國家的安全。他對美國充滿信心，而且深知僅有部分公民實現生活的富足還遠遠不夠，而這要仰仗與我們聞名於世的個人主義相伴的另一種元素，正是因爲它們，美國史冊才熠熠生輝。
A belief that we are connected as one people. If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandmother. If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It's that fundamental belief - I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper - that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.
這就是我們作爲一個民族榮辱與共的信仰。假如，芝加哥南部的一個孩子無法讀書識字，即便他與我非親非故，我也會心懷忐忑。如果有位老人因無法支付高昂的醫療費用，不得不在治病和租房之間痛苦抉擇，即便她與我素未謀面，我也會如坐鍼氈，。假如，一個阿拉伯裔的美國家庭未經律師辯護，或訴訟程序就遭受不公正待遇，同樣會讓我寢食難安。正是這個基本信仰讓這個國家發展到今天：我們都是一家人，我們都是兄弟姐妹。只有這樣我們才能實現個人的夢想，才能成爲一個美利堅大家庭。獨木不成林，單絃不成音。
Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.
當我們在這裏聚會的時候，也有人正準備分裂我們，那些操縱輿論的人和製作負面宣傳的人，他們投身沒有原則和不擇手段的政治。今晚，我需要對這些人講得是，美國人沒有所謂自由和保守之分，世間只存在一個美利堅合衆國。更沒有所謂美國白人黑人之分，拉丁裔和亞裔之分，有的只是美利堅合衆國一國的國民。有博學家願意將我們的國家分成紅藍兩色，紅色代表共和黨，藍色代表民主黨。但我想說得是即便在民主黨中，我們也都信奉萬能的主，我們不喜歡聯邦的機構在共和黨中間對我們的藏書指指點點，我們在民主黨中也有人執教少年棒球聯盟，在共和黨中也有同性戀朋友，有愛國人士支持伊拉克戰爭，也有愛國人士反對就伊出兵。我們都是一國之民，都效忠於偉大的星條旗，所有的人都熱愛我們的祖國——美利堅合衆國。
In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism here - the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. The audacity of hope!
說到底，這纔是本次選舉的意義所在：我們所參與的政治應該是憤世嫉俗還是充滿希望? 約翰?凱利號召我們要對未來滿懷希望。這並不是說要盲目樂觀。以爲只要不談論失業問題，這個問題就會自行消失；認爲只要無視醫療危機的存在，它也會煙消雲散。我所談的是更爲根本的問題。是因爲存在希望，奴隸們圍坐在火堆邊，纔會吟唱自由之歌；是因爲存在希望才使得人們願意遠涉重洋，移民他鄉；是因爲希望，年輕的海軍上尉纔會在湄公河三角州勇敢的巡邏放哨，是因爲希望，出身工人家庭的孩子纔會敢於挑戰自己的命運；是因爲希望，我這個名字怪怪的瘦小子才相信美國這片熱土上也有自己的容身之地。這就是無畏的希望。
In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation; the belief in things not seen; the belief that there are better days ahead. I believe we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity. I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair. I believe that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us. America!
最後，感謝上蒼賜予我們最好的禮物，也就是這個國家賴以生存的基石，因爲我們相信最好的東西尚未出現，更好的日子就在明天，我相信我們可以爲中產階級減負，讓工人家庭走上希望之路，我相信我們可以爲無業者創造就業機會，爲無家可歸者帶來可以遮風擋雨的屋頂，讓美國城市中年輕人從暴力和絕望的陰影中走出來。我相信今天的我們就站在歷史的十字街頭，我們可以做出正確的選擇，迎接面臨的挑戰。
Tonight, if you feel the same energy I do, the same urgency I do, the same passion I do, the same hopefulness I do - if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine, the people will rise up in November, and John Kerry will be sworn in as president, and John Edwards will be sworn in as vice president, and this country will reclaim its promise, and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come. Thank you and God bless you.
今晚，如果你我感同身受，有同樣的力量、同樣的急迫感、同樣的衝動和同樣的希望；如果我們都能行動起來，那麼我相信，從佛羅里達到俄勒岡，從華盛頓到緬因州，全國人民將會在11月積極行動起來，使得約翰?凱利、約翰?愛德華茲分別宣誓就任總統、副總統之職，而國家也將就此走出低谷、重振旗鼓。暗夜即將過去，黎明即將到來。謝謝大家，願上帝保佑你們。