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Tuesday, 20 January 2009 02:04 |
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It is here... Inauguration day.
In a letter to congress a month before the emancipation proclamation President Lincoln wrote:
"The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.
Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation."
We certainly cannot escape history. Today our nation stands at a crossroad, as history unfolds before our eyes. Today will certainly be remembered through the ages. And I am hopeful that it will be remembered not just as the day the first African American Man became the 44th president of the United States. I am hopeful that today will be remembered as the day that brought real change to Washington, a day that lit the flame of a brighter future not just for our nation, but for all the world.
In his "We are one" speech on Sunday President-elect Obama said: "...despite the enormity of the task that lies ahead -- I stand here today as hopeful as ever that the United States of America will endure, that the dream of our founders will live on in our time. What gives me that hope is what I see when I look out across this mall. For in these monuments are chiseled those unlikely stories that affirm our unyielding faith -- a faith that anything is possible in America...
And yet, as I stand here tonight, what gives me the greatest hope of all is not the stone and marble that surrounds us today, but what fills the spaces in between. It is you -- Americans of every race and region and station who came here because you believe in what this country can be and because you want to help us get there...
And as I prepare to assume the presidency, yours are the voices I will take with me every day I walk into that Oval Office -- the voices of men and women who have different stories but hold common hopes, who ask only for what was promised us as Americans -- that we might make of our lives what we will and see our children climb higher than we did."
So to you President Obama I pose a challenge. Today on your inauguration I challenge you to not give in to the temptations that seem to cripple the political process. Today I challenge you to always remember your promise to take our voices with you every day.
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