Barack Obama Inauguration Speech Page #4

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we seek a new way forward,

based on mutual interest

and mutual respect.

To those leaders around

the globe who seek to sow conflict,

or blame their society's

ills on the West,

know that your people will

judge you on what you can build,

not what you destroy.

To those...

To those who cling to power

through corruption and deceit

and the silencing of dissent,

know that you are

on the wrong side of history,

but that we will extend a hand

if you are willing

to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations,

we pledge to work alongside you

to make your farms flourish

and let clean waters flow,

to nourish starved bodies

and feed hungry minds.

And to those nations like

ours that enjoy relative plenty,

we say we can

no longer afford indifference

to suffering outside our borders,

nor can we consume the world's

resources without regard to effect.

For the world has changed,

and we must change with it.

As we consider

the road that unfolds before us,

we remember with humble gratitude

those brave Americans who,

at this very hour,

patrol far-off deserts

and distant mountains.

They have something to tell us,

this is the fallen heroes who lie

in Arlington whisper through the ages.

We honor them not only because

they are guardians of our liberty,

but because they embody

the spirit of service;

a willingness to find meaning

in something greater than themselves.

And yet, at this moment,

a moment that will

define a generation,

it is precisely this spirit

that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government

can do and must do,

it is ultimately the faith

and determination of the American people

upon which this nation relies.

It is the kindness to take

in a stranger when the levees break,

the selflessness of workers

who would rather cut their hours

than see a friend lose their job

which sees us through our darkest hours.

It is the firefighter's courage

to storm a stairway

filled with smoke,

but also a parent's

willingness to nurture a child,

that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new.

The instruments with

which we meet them may be new.

But those values upon

which our success depends:

honesty and hard work,

courage and fair play,

tolerance and curiosity,

loyalty and patriotism;

these things are old,

these things are true.

They have been the quiet force

of progress throughout our history.

What is demanded then

is a return to these truths.

What is required of us now

is a new era of responsibility,

a recognition

on the part of every American

that we have duties to ourselves,

our nation, and the world.

Duties that we do not grudgingly

accept, but rather seize gladly

firm in the knowledge that there

is nothing so satisfying to the spirit

so defining of our character

than giving our all

to a difficult task.

This is the price

and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence,

the knowledge that God calls

on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning

of our liberty and our creed,

why men and women and children

of every race and every faith

can join in celebration

across this magnificent mall,

and why a man whose father

less than sixty years ago

might not have been

served at a local restaurant

can now stand before you,

to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this

day with remembrance,

of who we are,

and how far we have traveled.

In the year of America's birth,

in the coldest of months,

a small band of patriots huddled by

dying campfires

on the shores of an icy river.

The capital was abandoned.

The enemy was advancing.

The snow was stained with blood.

At a moment when the outcome

of our revolution was most in doubt,

the father of our nation ordered

these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told

to the future world...

that in the depth of winter,

when nothing but hope

and virtue could survive...

that the city and the country,

Alarmed at one common danger

came forth to meet it."

America.

In the face of our common dangers,

in this winter of our hardship,

let us remember these timeless words.

With hope and virtue,

let us brave once

more the icy currents

and endure what storms may come.

Let it be said by

our children's children

that when we were tested,

we refused to let this journey end.

That we did not turn

back nor did we falter.

And with eyes fixed on the horizon,

and God's grace upon us,

we carried forth

that great gift of freedom

and delivered it safely

future generations.

Thank you. God bless you.

And God bless

the United States of America.

The enhanced crowd

so leads to applause

the 44th President,

Barack Obama,

at the inaugural address

on the West front

of the Capitol.

Of course,

it was full of the souring arches

that you expected from this man,

but I think most crushly

sure he'd struck

an enormous business-like tone.

This is a man who takes office,

has taken office,

who'd be sitting in the Oval Office

tomorrow morning

with an enormous entry of problems,

and I think what he wants to do,

what he's trying to do first,

is to get away from this impression

that he's just

very very good with words,

he also has to be very very good

at vending this country,

and what he basically told us here

is that we'd take this crisis

and turn it into an opportunity,

all the time all the wild remindingless

that 60 years ago,

someone like him wouldn't

have been served in a restaurant,

in many states of this country,

how many said that in their speech

he got the biggest front of applause,

of the day so far.

The ceremony is not over;

after he's greeted

his vice-president, and

all the members there,

there would be

the traditionnal poetry reading,

after which the ceremony

would draw to close.

...of introducing an American poet,

Elizabeth Alexander.

Praise song for the day.

Each day we go about our business,

walking past each other,

catching each others' eyes or not,

about to speak or speaking

All about us is noise.

All about us is noise and bramble,

thorn and din,

each one of our ancestors

on our tongues.

Someone is stitching up a hem,

darning a hole in a uniform,

patching a tire,

repairing the things

in need of repair.

Someone is trying

to make music somewhere

with a pair of wooden

spoons on an oil drum

with cello, boom box,

harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son

wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky;

A teacher says:

"Take out your pencils.

Begin."

We encounter each other in words,

words spiny or smooth,

whispered or declaimed;

words to consider,

reconsider.

We cross dirt roads

and highways that mark

the will of someone

and then others who said,

"I need to see

what's on the other side;

I know there's something

better down the road."

We need to find a place

where we are safe;

We walk into that

which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain,

that many have died for this day.

Sing the names of the dead

who brought us here,

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