http://you.video.sina.com.cn/api/sinawebApi/outplayrefer.php/vid=85023395_2656174421_bU2xTCQ/WjbK+l1lHz2stqkP7KQNt6nnj2+yulWgIQxYQ0/XM5GRZ90F4yrfBdkEqDhATJ0/d/0l3hg/s.swf
以下是中文翻译:
过去的几年来,借由作为第一夫人的非凡殊荣,我几乎游遍了整个美国。
在人们对我和我的家庭,特别是我的女儿们那难以置信的友善和热情中,我看到了它。
在人们在突如其来的紧急召唤下化身英雄,纵身扑向灾害去拯救他人……飞过整个国家去扑灭大火……驱车数小时去援助被淹没的城镇时,我看到了它。
每一天,我所见到的人们都鼓舞着我……每一天,他们都令我骄傲……每一天,他们都在提醒我,能够生活在这地球上最伟大的国度中是多么的幸福。
对我丈夫心中的祖国愿景,我满怀信心……对他将成为一位出色的总统,我也深信不疑……但是就像所有的母亲一样,我也曾担心如果他当选,这对我们的女儿们意味着什么。
当他们被迫离开从小熟悉的家、学校、和朋友时,会有什么感受?
说真话,我爱我们为女儿们所创造的生活……我深爱和我一起创造这生活的男人……而且我不愿意让这一切因为他当了总统而发生变化。
你们瞧,即便当时巴拉克已经是一名参议员兼总统候选人了……对我而言,他仍是那个开着辆锈迹斑斑的破车来接我去约会的男子,我几乎都能透过乘客这侧车门上的破洞看到飞逝而过的路面……他仍是那个把一张从垃圾箱里翻出来的咖啡桌当做自己最了不起的财产的男子,那个仅有的一双体面的鞋子比自己的脚还小了半号的男子。
如你们所知,养育巴拉克和我的两个家庭都没有太多金钱或物质财富,但是,他们却给予了我们更为珍贵的东西——无条件的爱,大无畏的牺牲,以及到达他们自己从未想象过的目标的机会。
即使当时还小,我也知道他常常被病痛折磨……我知道有许多清晨,仅仅连起床对他来说都是一场痛苦挣扎。
然后,当他在漫长的一天工作后,我和哥哥会站在通往我家小公寓的楼梯顶上,耐心地等着迎接他回家……我们注视着他弯下腰,举起一条腿,然后是另一条腿,慢慢地爬上楼梯,迎向我们的怀抱。然而无论多么艰难,我父亲从未请过一天假……他和我母亲决心要让我和哥哥受到他们梦寐以求的教育。
但是我父亲仍不得不自己掏腰包来支付我们学费中的一小部分。
能送自己的子女去上大学,他是如此地骄傲……他从未让我们因为父亲姗姗来迟的支票而错过任何一个报到截止日期。
就和我们中的很多人一样,这就是他衡量生命成功与否的方式——能否靠工作让自己的家庭过上体面的生活。
巴拉克成长在一个单亲家庭里,他的母亲依靠努力工作来维持家庭生活,在她实在无力支持的时候,祖父母也会伸出援手。
数年间,那些不如她有能力的男性员工——事实上,还是她亲手培训的男性员工——都被提升到了比她高的职位,挣的钱越来越多,而与此同时,巴拉克一家只能勉强度日。
而且,她常常这样告诉巴拉克:“只要你的孩子过得好,巴,其他什么都不重要。”
他们并不嫉妒其他人的成功,也不在意其他人是否比他们拥有更多……事实上,他们为此心存感激。
他们就是这样把我们养育成人……并且成为了我们的学习榜样。
我们学会了感激和谦卑——我们的成功依靠许多人的帮助,从启迪我们的老师到保持学校整洁的校工……我们学会珍惜每个人的贡献,并以尊重待人。
我们就是这样的人。
那么,今天,在那么多的艰苦奋斗和胜利,以及我的丈夫所经历过的那么多我从未想象过的考验之后,我亲眼认识到,当总统并不会改变一个人——它只会揭示一个人。
我发现放到总统桌上的问题总是难题——那些无论多少数据或数字都无法得出正确答案的难题……那些风险如此之高的选择,根本容不得一星半点的差错。
但是到最后,需要做出决定的时刻,作为总统,你所拥有的全部指引就是你的价值观,判断力,以及那些对你影响深远的成长经历。
他想到的是一天辛勤工作所带来的自豪感。
这就是为什么他为工作家庭和小型企业削减了税负,并努力让汽车工业重新起步。
至于我们的家庭健康问题,巴拉克拒绝听从所有那些要他暂缓医疗改革,把问题留给下一任总统的人。
他这样做,是因为他坚信在美国,我们的祖父母们应该能够负担自己的医药费用……我们的孩子生病时必须能够去看医生……而且,在这个国家里,没有人应该因为一场意外或疾病而破产。
关于给予我们的孩子应有的教育,巴拉克知道,就像我和你们中的许多人一样,如果没有助学金,他永远也不可能完成大学学业。
我们是那么年轻,那么相爱,又是那样的负债累累。
所以归根结底,对巴拉克来说,这些并非政治问题——而是个人问题。
他知道想要让下一代和下下一代过上更好的生活意味着什么。
而且他认为,当你努力工作,获得成功,并且跨越了那扇机遇的大门之后……你不应该砰地一声关上身后的大门……你应该伸出援助之手,将成功的机会同样给予后来之人。
他仍是那样一个人,会在自己的事业起步期拒绝高薪工作,而走入一个因钢铁厂的倒闭而陷入困境的社区,为社区的重建和人们重获工作而奋斗……因为对巴拉克来说,成功并不等于你挣的钱,而是你给人们的生活带来的改变。
他还是那个几乎每晚都会坐下来陪我和女儿们吃晚餐,耐心地回答她们关于新闻事件的问题,并为中学生间的友谊问题出谋划策的人。
写信来的有努力工作支付账单的父亲……有保险公司拒绝赔付医疗费用而命在旦夕的癌症女病人……有具有无限天赋潜力却得不到机会的年轻人。
我看到人们的这些生活故事——我们所收集的这些奋斗、希望和梦想——我看到这些都是推动巴拉克-奥巴马每一天工作的动力。
我爱他从未忘记自己奋斗的开端。
我爱他不在主观上划分敌我——他才不在意你是民主党人,共和党人,或是别的什么党派……他知道我们都爱我们的国家……而他总是乐意聆听好的建议……他总是乐意在遇见的每个人身上发现优点。
就像他的祖母一样,他只是坚持起床,继续前进……带着耐心和智慧,以及勇气和风度。
但最终,我们会获得胜利,我们一向如此。
在场这么多人今天站在这里,是因为牺牲,渴望,以及坚定的爱……因为一次又一次,他们咽下自己的恐惧和疑虑,去战胜困难。
如果我们的父母和祖父母能为我们艰苦奋斗……如果他们能树立起高耸入云的钢筋大厦,能将人类送上月球,还能轻轻一触按键就连接整个世界……那么,我们当然能继续忘我牺牲,为我们的子女和孙辈建设世界。
如果农民和铁匠们能从一个帝国手中赢得独立……如果移民能放弃他们所熟知的一切,登上我们的海岸,来寻求更好的生活……如果女性们会为争取选举的权利锒铛入狱……如果一代人可以战胜经济衰退,赋予伟大一个永垂不朽的定义……如果一位年轻的牧师能用他正义的理想将我们引导至山顶(注1)……而且如果骄傲的美国人敢于做真正的自己,与自己的所爱之人一起站到神的面前……那么当然,我们当然能够为此国度中的每一个人都提供一个实现伟大的美国梦的公平机会。
这也是造就了我的故事,巴拉克的故事,以及其他众多美国人的故事的来源。
最终,你们会发现,我最重要的头衔仍然是“老妈总司令”。
但是今天,我四年前关于我和巴拉克是否在为女儿们做最正确的事情的疑虑已经烟消云散。
感谢大家,上帝保佑你们,上帝保佑美国。
以下是英语原文:
September 4,2012
Over the past few years as First Lady, I have had the extraordinary privilege of traveling all across this country.
I have seen it in the incredible kindness and warmth that people have shown me and my family, especially our girls.
I've seen it in people who become heroes at a moment's notice, diving into harm's way to save others...flying across the country to put out a fire...driving for hours to bail out a flooded town.
How would we keep them grounded under the glare of the national spotlight?
First lady Michelle Obama addresses the DNC after being introduced by military mom Elaine Brye, from PBS NewsHour.
Our life before moving to Washington was filled with simple joys...Saturdays at soccer games, Sundays at grandma's house...and a date night for Barack and me was either dinner or a movie, because as an exhausted mom, I couldn't stay awake for both.
I loved Barack just the way he was.
But when Barack started telling me about his family – that's when I knew I had found a kindred spirit, someone whose values and upbringing were so much like mine.
My father was a pump operator at the city water plant, and he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when my brother and I were young.
But every morning, I watched my father wake up with a smile, grab his walker, prop himself up against the bathroom sink, and slowly shave and button his uniform.
But despite these challenges, my dad hardly ever missed a day of work...he and my mom were determined to give me and my brother the kind of education they could only dream of.
But my dad still had to pay a tiny portion of that tuition himself.
He was so proud to be sending his kids to college...and he made sure we never missed a registration deadline because his check was late.
Like so many of us, that was the measure of his success in life – being able to earn a decent living that allowed him to support his family.
Barack was raised by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills, and by grandparents who stepped in when she needed help.
And for years, men no more qualified than she was – men she had actually trained – were promoted up the ladder ahead of her, earning more and more money while Barack's family continued to scrape by.
And she would often tell Barack, "So long as you kids do well, Bar, that's all that really matters."
They didn't begrudge anyone else's success or care that others had much more than they did...in fact, they admired it.
That's how they raised us...that's what we learned from their example.
We learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters...that you don't take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules...and success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square.
Those are the values Barack and I – and so many of you – are trying to pass on to our own children.
And standing before you four years ago, I knew that I didn't want any of that to change if Barack became President.
You see, I've gotten to see up close and personal what being president really looks like.
And as President, you can get all kinds of advice from all kinds of people.
So when it comes to rebuilding our economy, Barack is thinking about folks like my dad and like his grandmother.
That's why he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to help women get equal pay for equal work.
That's how he brought our economy from the brink of collapse to creating jobs again – jobs you can raise a family on, good jobs right here in the United States of America.
He didn't care whether it was the easy thing to do politically – that's not how he was raised – he cared that it was the right thing to do.
And he believes that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care...that's what my husband stands for.
And believe it or not, when we were first married, our combined monthly student loan bills were actually higher than our mortgage.
That's why Barack has fought so hard to increase student aid and keep interest rates down, because he wants every young person to fulfill their promise and be able to attend college without a mountain of debt.
Because Barack knows what it means when a family struggles.
Barack knows the American Dream because he's lived it...and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we're from, or what we look like, or who we love.
So when people ask me whether being in the White House has changed my husband, I can honestly say that when it comes to his character, and his convictions, and his heart, Barack Obama is still the same man I fell in love with all those years ago.
He's the same man who, when our girls were first born, would anxiously check their cribs every few minutes to ensure they were still breathing, proudly showing them off to everyone we knew.
That's the man I see in those quiet moments late at night, hunched over his desk, poring over the letters people have sent him.
I see the concern in his eyes...and I hear the determination in his voice as he tells me, "You won't believe what these folks are going through, Michelle...it's not right. We've got to keep working to fix this. We've got so much more to do."
And I didn't think it was possible, but today, I love my husband even more than I did four years ago...even more than I did 23 years ago, when we first met.
I love that we can trust Barack to do what he says he's going to do, even when it's hard – especially when it's hard.
And I love that even in the toughest moments, when we're all sweating it – when we're worried that the bill won't pass, and it seems like all is lost – Barack never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and the noise.
And he reminds me that we are playing a long game here...and that change is hard, and change is slow, and it never happens all at once.
We get there because of folks like my Dad...folks like Barack's grandmother...men and women who said to themselves, "I may not have a chance to fulfill my dreams, but maybe my children will...maybe my grandchildren will."
So today, when the challenges we face start to seem overwhelming – or even impossible – let us never forget that doing the impossible is the history of this nation...it's who we are as Americans...it's how this country was built.
And if so many brave men and women could wear our country's uniform and sacrifice their lives for our most fundamental rights...then surely we can do our part as citizens of this great democracy to exercise those rights...surely, we can get to the polls and make our voices heard on Election Day.
Because in the end, more than anything else, that is the story of this country – the story of unwavering hope grounded in unyielding struggle.
And I say all of this tonight not just as First Lady...and not just as a wife.
My daughters are still the heart of my heart and the center of my world.
Because today, I know from experience that if I truly want to leave a better world for my daughters, and all our sons and daughters...if we want to give all our children a foundation for their dreams and opportunities worthy of their promise...if we want to give them that sense of limitless possibility – that belief that here in America, there is always something better out there if you're willing to work for it...then we must work like never before...and we must once again come together and stand together for the man we can trust to keep moving this great country forward...my husband, our President, President Barack Obama.
演讲视频观看:http://www.56.com/u15/v_NzIzNTAzNDg.html
[ 本帖最后由 微风轻拂 于 2012-9-7 14:14 编辑 ] |