Breaking glass ceilings
By romerz.blogspot.com
Barrack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States of America and in so doing broke a glass ceiling that many Americans thought would not happen for a long time to come yet.
President-elect Obama became the 1st American of black ancestry to be elected leader of the world's only super power and the free world. What his presidency will bring to USA and the rest of the world is yet to be seen since he won't be taking office until 20 January 2009. That his task ahead is not made any easier with a global recession, wars on 2 fronts, flash points in North Korea and Iran, will truly test his mettle.
Whether he will end up in history as a good president only time will only tell. But at the moment, he gives to Americans and the rest of the world hope with his mainly centrist position on almost all issues which he has to grapple with soon.
Like many Malaysians and others around the world, I also rejoiced with his success, not so much because I claim to understand his policies and views, but for the hope of a different future for this planet of ours, whom we share with the Americans with their dominant economy and military might.
It is obvious that if everything was hunky-dory in this world, we would not be witnessing the financial meltdown and the ensuing global recession. We would also not hear of suicide bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor posturing and brinkmanship by states who are out to acquire weapons of mass destruction (or already possess them), ethnic cleansing and widespread poverty, etc.
Barrack Obama may not and will in most likelihood not be able to solve all these problems but nonetheless he represents a break from the traditional ways of doing things (which has gotten us to where we are today). He brings a fresh perspective away from traditional methods to solving problems if the speeches he made when campaigning for the presidency is any indication of the man and his beliefs (and the inspirition I found personally from following his campaign).
To quote 2 of his sayings;
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek"
"It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave behind for our children is a little bit better than the one we inhibit today"
Just these 2 quotes alone brought me to realize that it is so applicable in the Malaysian context. In Malaysia, we have our glass ceilings too but unfortunately the ruling UMNO/BN and its predominantly Malay followers uses all means and powers of government to make sure that this ceiling is never breached. Often time quoting a warped interpretation of the federal constitution as its defense.
So what can we ordinary Malaysians do so that this glass ceiling of ours can be breached one day? In my opinion, to educate ourselves and take small little steps and to convince others who dreams of a better Malaysia to take the same small little steps.
Rise and be counted but in our enthusiasm for change, never forget that there are many Malay Malaysians who feel under threat because of UMNO propaganda. It is up to us to debunk these fears of the Malay population not with more propaganda but sincerity in explaining to them that a better future awaits all of us if we can just put race differences behind us.
The truth is non-Malay Malaysians have no wish to 'challenge' the Malays if they can somehow see us as their brothers and comrades-in-arms. We are not the enemy and we also realize our precarious position in this society. Having said that, please be reminded that today, most non-Malay Malaysians are 2nd or 3rd generation born in Tanah Melayu and we are here to stay, for better or worse.
Unless you are prepared to 'drive us to the sea' and commence whole scale ethnic cleansing, isn't it about time to to realize that the more we delve in petty racial differences, the more we expose ourselves to failure as a nation?
I'm reminded of the small little steps that concerned and forward thinking Americans took in the past in order to get them here today where they broke the glass ceiling of race.
Rosa Parks in 1955 in not giving up her bus seat, Martin Luther King Jr in 1963 with 'I have a dream' speech which raised the public consciousness of the civil rights movement, and Reverend Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988 being the black candidate for presidential nominee of the Democratic party. Not to mention the countless small little steps taken by others so that this momentous event today could occur!
Malaysia today could have been so different if we all small citizens had taken our small little steps earlier and not allowed Mahatir and his UMNO cohorts to push us back in time and away from a just and truly democratic Malaysia, where all the pillars of democracy could function independently as is required in a democracy we claim we are.
All is not lost though since many Malaysians took a momentous step on 8 March to declare to the authorities that ordinary Malaysians are tired of race politics. Whilst we did not see the desired changes we sought, these steps we took will only make it easier for the next generation to press forward to break the Malaysian glass ceiling of race and religion.
The glass is within sight, maybe out of reach at the moment, but if we as individual Malaysian take whatever small steps we can today, I'm very sure the UMNO 'ketuanan' glass will be broken one day soon!
Text of Obama’s victory speech in Chicago
OBAMA: Hello, Chicago.
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It’s the answer that led those who’ve been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain.
Obama’s family walks off the stage as he addresses supporters during his election night party at Grant Park in Chicago today.
Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he’s fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they’ve achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton ... and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years ... the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation’s next first lady ... Michelle Obama.
Sasha and Malia ... I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us ...to the new White House.
And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother’s watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you’ve given me. I am grateful to them.
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe ... the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best — the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.
To my chief strategist David Axelrod ... who’s been a partner with me every step of the way.
To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics ... you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.
It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy ... who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.
It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.
This is your victory.
And I know you didn’t do this just to win an election. And I know you didn’t do it for me.
You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage or pay their doctors’ bills or save enough for their child’s college education.
There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.
I promise you, we as a people will get there.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!
OBAMA: There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.
This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can’t happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let’s remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.
Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
To those — to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright:
Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
That’s the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we’ve already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbour and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America. – AP
By romerz.blogspot.com
Barrack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States of America and in so doing broke a glass ceiling that many Americans thought would not happen for a long time to come yet.
President-elect Obama became the 1st American of black ancestry to be elected leader of the world's only super power and the free world. What his presidency will bring to USA and the rest of the world is yet to be seen since he won't be taking office until 20 January 2009. That his task ahead is not made any easier with a global recession, wars on 2 fronts, flash points in North Korea and Iran, will truly test his mettle.
Whether he will end up in history as a good president only time will only tell. But at the moment, he gives to Americans and the rest of the world hope with his mainly centrist position on almost all issues which he has to grapple with soon.
Like many Malaysians and others around the world, I also rejoiced with his success, not so much because I claim to understand his policies and views, but for the hope of a different future for this planet of ours, whom we share with the Americans with their dominant economy and military might.
It is obvious that if everything was hunky-dory in this world, we would not be witnessing the financial meltdown and the ensuing global recession. We would also not hear of suicide bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor posturing and brinkmanship by states who are out to acquire weapons of mass destruction (or already possess them), ethnic cleansing and widespread poverty, etc.
Barrack Obama may not and will in most likelihood not be able to solve all these problems but nonetheless he represents a break from the traditional ways of doing things (which has gotten us to where we are today). He brings a fresh perspective away from traditional methods to solving problems if the speeches he made when campaigning for the presidency is any indication of the man and his beliefs (and the inspirition I found personally from following his campaign).
To quote 2 of his sayings;
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek"
"It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave behind for our children is a little bit better than the one we inhibit today"
Just these 2 quotes alone brought me to realize that it is so applicable in the Malaysian context. In Malaysia, we have our glass ceilings too but unfortunately the ruling UMNO/BN and its predominantly Malay followers uses all means and powers of government to make sure that this ceiling is never breached. Often time quoting a warped interpretation of the federal constitution as its defense.
So what can we ordinary Malaysians do so that this glass ceiling of ours can be breached one day? In my opinion, to educate ourselves and take small little steps and to convince others who dreams of a better Malaysia to take the same small little steps.
Rise and be counted but in our enthusiasm for change, never forget that there are many Malay Malaysians who feel under threat because of UMNO propaganda. It is up to us to debunk these fears of the Malay population not with more propaganda but sincerity in explaining to them that a better future awaits all of us if we can just put race differences behind us.
The truth is non-Malay Malaysians have no wish to 'challenge' the Malays if they can somehow see us as their brothers and comrades-in-arms. We are not the enemy and we also realize our precarious position in this society. Having said that, please be reminded that today, most non-Malay Malaysians are 2nd or 3rd generation born in Tanah Melayu and we are here to stay, for better or worse.
Unless you are prepared to 'drive us to the sea' and commence whole scale ethnic cleansing, isn't it about time to to realize that the more we delve in petty racial differences, the more we expose ourselves to failure as a nation?
I'm reminded of the small little steps that concerned and forward thinking Americans took in the past in order to get them here today where they broke the glass ceiling of race.
Rosa Parks in 1955 in not giving up her bus seat, Martin Luther King Jr in 1963 with 'I have a dream' speech which raised the public consciousness of the civil rights movement, and Reverend Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988 being the black candidate for presidential nominee of the Democratic party. Not to mention the countless small little steps taken by others so that this momentous event today could occur!
Malaysia today could have been so different if we all small citizens had taken our small little steps earlier and not allowed Mahatir and his UMNO cohorts to push us back in time and away from a just and truly democratic Malaysia, where all the pillars of democracy could function independently as is required in a democracy we claim we are.
All is not lost though since many Malaysians took a momentous step on 8 March to declare to the authorities that ordinary Malaysians are tired of race politics. Whilst we did not see the desired changes we sought, these steps we took will only make it easier for the next generation to press forward to break the Malaysian glass ceiling of race and religion.
The glass is within sight, maybe out of reach at the moment, but if we as individual Malaysian take whatever small steps we can today, I'm very sure the UMNO 'ketuanan' glass will be broken one day soon!
Text of Obama’s victory speech in Chicago
OBAMA: Hello, Chicago.
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It’s the answer that led those who’ve been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain.
Obama’s family walks off the stage as he addresses supporters during his election night party at Grant Park in Chicago today.
Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he’s fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they’ve achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton ... and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years ... the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation’s next first lady ... Michelle Obama.
Sasha and Malia ... I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us ...to the new White House.
And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother’s watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you’ve given me. I am grateful to them.
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe ... the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best — the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.
To my chief strategist David Axelrod ... who’s been a partner with me every step of the way.
To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics ... you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.
It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy ... who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.
It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.
This is your victory.
And I know you didn’t do this just to win an election. And I know you didn’t do it for me.
You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage or pay their doctors’ bills or save enough for their child’s college education.
There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.
I promise you, we as a people will get there.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!
OBAMA: There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.
This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can’t happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.
In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
Let’s remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.
Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
To those — to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright:
Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
That’s the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we’ve already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbour and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America. – AP
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