Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech

3日ほど前の話になりますが、Barack Obamaが民主党大会で大統領候補者の指名を受諾したときのスピーチです。

Transcript - Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech - Text - NYTimes.com

この数日前からCNNは民主党大会一色で、Obamaがこのスピーチをした8月28日は、かつてキング牧師が"I have a dream."スピーチをした日であることもあって、another historical speechになるんじゃないかという期待

You know, this country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit, that American promise, that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night and a promise that you make to yours, a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west, a promise that led workers to picket lines and women to reach for the ballot.

America, we cannot turn back...

(APPLAUSE)

... not with so much work to be done; not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for; not with an economy to fix, and cities to rebuild, and farms to save; not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend.

America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone.

CNNのサイトでビデオも見れますが、Obamaの英語はちょっと聞き取りづらいので(少なくとも僕的には。逆にすっごく聞き取りやすいのがHillary Clinton)、このTranscriptがおすすめです。文章ですが、すごい臨場感です。

もちろんアメリカの政治には色々と大きな問題があるわけですが、少なくともこうして国民にダイレクトにメッセージをぶつけられる人がいるということは、とてもすばらしいことだと思います。

翻って我が国、今テレビでは福田総理が辞任会見をしています。どうなるのか...。