Following is Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s speech on 7 June on suspending her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination (The New York Times). For 28 minutes, standing alone on a stage in the historic National Building Museum, Mrs Clinton made a truly inspiring and nearly perfect speech in English. She was defeated in the campaign, but this speech made her look like a victor. Watch the full length video on YouTube, listen to her clear voice and the loud applause, and you will feel the spirit.

(APPLAUSE)

And I want to start today by saying how grateful I am to all of you, to everyone who poured your hearts and your hopes into this campaign, who drove for miles and lined the streets waving homemade signs, who scrimped and saved to raise money, who knocked on doors and made calls, who talked, sometimes argued with your friends and neighbors…

(APPLAUSE)

… who e-mailed and contributed online, who invested so much in our common enterprise, to the moms and dads who came to our events, who lifted their little girls and little boys on their shoulders and whispered in their ears, “See, you can be anything you want to be.”

(APPLAUSE)

To the young people…

(APPLAUSE)

… like 13-year-old Anne Riddell (ph) from Mayfield, Ohio, who had been saving for two years to go to Disney World and decided to use her savings instead to travel to Pennsylvania with her mom and volunteer there, as well.

To the veterans, to the childhood friends, to New Yorkers and Arkansans…

(APPLAUSE)

… who traveled across the country, telling anyone who would listen why you supported me. And to all of those women in their 80s and their 90s…

(APPLAUSE)

… born before women could vote, who cast their votes for our campaign. I’ve told you before about Florence Stein (ph) of South Dakota who was 88 years old and insisted that her daughter bring an absentee ballot to her hospice bedside. Her daughter and a friend put an American flag behind her bed and helped her fill out the ballot.

She passed away soon after and, under state law, her ballot didn’t count, but her daughter later told a reporter, “My dad’s an ornery, old cowboy, and he didn’t like it when he heard Mom’s vote wouldn’t be counted. I don’t think he had voted in 20 years, but he voted in place of my mom.”

(APPLAUSE)

So to all those who voted for me and to whom I pledged my utmost, my commitment to you and to the progress we seek is unyielding.

You have inspired and touched me with the stories of the joys and sorrows that make up the fabric of our lives. And you have humbled me with your commitment to our country. Eighteen million of you, from all walks of life…

(APPLAUSE)

… women and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African- American and Caucasian…

(APPLAUSE)

… rich, poor, and middle-class, gay and straight, you have stood with me.

(APPLAUSE)

And I will continue to stand strong with you every time, every place, in every way that I can. The dreams we share are worth fighting for.

Remember, we fought for the single mom with the young daughter, juggling work and school, who told me, “I’m doing it all to better myself for her.”

We fought for the woman who grabbed my hand and asked me, “What are you going to do to make sure I have health care?” and began to cry, because even though she works three jobs, she can’t afford insurance.

We fought for the young man in the Marine Corps t-shirt who waited months for medical care and said, “Take care of my buddies over there, and then will you please take care of me?”

(APPLAUSE)

We fought for all those who’ve lost jobs and health care, who can’t afford gas or groceries or college, who have felt invisible to their president these last seven years.

I entered this race because I have an old-fashioned conviction that public service is about helping people solve their problems and live their dreams. I’ve had every opportunity and blessing in my own life, and I want the same for all Americans.

And until that day comes, you’ll always find me on the front lines of democracy, fighting for the future.

(APPLAUSE)

The way to continue our fight now, to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our strength, and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him.

(APPLAUSE)

And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.

(APPLAUSE)

I have served in the Senate with him for four years. I have been in this campaign with him for 16 months. I have stood on the stage and gone toe-to-toe with him in 22 debates. I’ve had a front-row seat to his candidacy, and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit.

In his own life, Barack Obama has lived the American dream, as a community organizer, in the State Senate, as a United States senator. He has dedicated himself to ensuring the dream is realized. And in this campaign, he has inspired so many to become involved in the democratic process and invested in our common future.

Now, when I started this race, I intended to win back the White House and make sure we have a president who puts our country back on the path to peace, prosperity and progress. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do, by ensuring that Barack Obama walks through the doors of the Oval Office on January 20, 2009.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, I understand — I understand that we all know this has been a tough fight, but the Democratic Party is a family. And now it’s time to restore the ties that bind us together and to come together around the ideals we share, the values we cherish, and the country we love.

We may have started on separate journeys, but today our paths have merged. And we’re all heading toward the same destination, united and more ready than ever to win in November and to turn our country around, because so much is at stake.

We all want an economy that sustains the American dream, the opportunity to work hard and have that work rewarded, to save for college, a home and retirement, to afford that gas and those groceries, and still have a little left over at the end of the month, an economy that lifts all of our people and ensures that our prosperity is broadly distributed and shared.

We all want a health care system that is universal, high-quality and affordable…

(APPLAUSE)

… so that parents don’t have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead-end jobs simply to keep their insurance.

This isn’t just an issue for me. It is a passion and a cause, and it is a fight I will continue until every single American is insured, no exceptions and no excuses.

(APPLAUSE)

We all want an America defined by deep and meaningful equality, from civil rights to labor rights, from women’s rights to gay rights…

(APPLAUSE)

… from ending discrimination to promoting unionization, to providing help for the most important job there is: caring for our families.

And we all want to restore America’s standing in the world, to end the war in Iraq, and once again lead by the power of our values…

(APPLAUSE)

… and to join with our allies to confront our shared challenges, from poverty and genocide to terrorism and global warming.

You know, I’ve been involved in politics and public life in one way or another for four decades. And during those…

(APPLAUSE)

During those 40 years, our country has voted 10 times for president. Democrats won only three of those times, and the man who won two of those elections is with us today.

(APPLAUSE)

We made tremendous progress during the ’90s under a Democratic president, with a flourishing economy and our leadership for peace and security respected around the world.

Just think how much more progress we could have made over the past 40 years if we’d had a Democratic president. Think about the lost opportunities of these past seven years on the environment and the economy, on health care and civil rights, on education, foreign policy and the Supreme Court.

Imagine how far…

(APPLAUSE)

… we could have come, how much we could have achieved if we had just had a Democrat in the White House.

(APPLAUSE)

We cannot let this moment slip away. We have come too far and accomplished too much.

Now, the journey ahead will not be easy. Some will say we can’t do it, that it’s too hard, we’re just not up to the task. But for as long as America has existed, it has been the American way to reject can’t-do claims and to choose instead to stretch the boundaries of the possible through hard work, determination, and a pioneering spirit.

It is this belief, this optimism that Senator Obama and I share and that has inspired so many millions of our supporters to make their voices heard. So today I am standing with Senator Obama to say: Yes, we can!

(APPLAUSE)

And that together we will work — we’ll have to work hard to achieve universal health care. But on the day we live in an America where no child, no man, and no woman is without health insurance, we will live in a stronger America. That’s why we need to help elect Barack Obama our president.

(APPLAUSE)

We’ll have to work hard to get back to fiscal responsibility and a strong middle class. But on the day we live in an America whose middle class is thriving and growing again, where all Americans, no matter where they live or where their ancestors came from, can earn a decent living, we will live in a stronger America. And that is why we must help elect Barack Obama our president.

(APPLAUSE)

We’ll have to work hard to foster the innovation that will make us energy independent and lift the threat of global warming from our children’s future. But on the day we live in an America fueled by renewable energy, we will live in a stronger America. And that is why we have to help elect Barack Obama our president.

(APPLAUSE)

We’ll have to work hard to bring our troops home from Iraq and get them the support they’ve earned by their service. But on the day we live in an America that’s as loyal to our troops as they have been to us, we will live in a stronger America. And that is why we must help elect Barack Obama our president.

(APPLAUSE)

This election is a turning-point election. And it is critical that we all understand what our choice really is. Will we go forward together, or will we stall and slip backwards?

Now, think how much progress we’ve already made. When we first started, people everywhere asked the same questions. Could a woman really serve as commander-in-chief? Well, I think we answered that one.

(APPLAUSE)

Could an African-American really be our president? And Senator Obama has answered that one. (APPLAUSE)

Together, Senator Obama and I achieved milestones essential to our progress as a nation, part of our perpetual duty to form a more perfect union.

Now, on a personal note, when I was asked what it means to be a woman running for president, I always gave the same answer, that I was proud to be running as a woman, but I was running because I thought I’d be the best president. But…

(APPLAUSE)

But I am a woman and, like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious, and I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.

(APPLAUSE)

I ran as a daughter who benefited from opportunities my mother never dreamed of. I ran as a mother who worries about my daughter’s future and a mother who wants to leave all children brighter tomorrows.

To build that future I see, we must make sure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their grandmothers and their mothers, and that women enjoy equal opportunities, equal pay, and equal respect.

(APPLAUSE)

Let us…

(APPLAUSE)

Let us resolve and work toward achieving very simple propositions: There are no acceptable limits, and there are no acceptable prejudices in the 21st century in our country.

(APPLAUSE)

You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories…

(APPLAUSE)

… unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the president of the United States. And that is truly remarkable, my friends.

(APPLAUSE)

To those who are disappointed that we couldn’t go all of the way, especially the young people who put so much into this campaign, it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours.

Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. And, when you stumble, keep faith. And, when you’re knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.

(APPLAUSE)

As we gather here today in this historic, magnificent building, the 50th woman to leave this Earth is orbiting overhead. If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House.

(APPLAUSE)

Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it…

(APPLAUSE)

… and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time.

That has always been the history of progress in America. Think of the suffragists who gathered at Seneca Falls in 1848 and those who kept fighting until women could cast their votes.

Think of the abolitionists who struggled and died to see the end of slavery. Think of the civil rights heroes and foot soldiers who marched, protested, and risked their lives to bring about the end of segregation and Jim Crow.

(APPLAUSE)

Because of them, I grew up taking for granted that women could vote and, because of them, my daughter grew up taking for granted that children of all colors could go to school together.

Because of them, Barack Obama and I could wage a hard-fought campaign for the Democratic nomination. Because of them and because of you, children today will grow up taking for granted that an African-American or a woman can, yes, become the president of the United States. And so…

(APPLAUSE)

… when that day arrives, and a woman takes the oath of office as our president, we will all stand taller, proud of the values of our nation, proud that every little girl can dream big and that her dreams can come true in America.

And all of you will know that, because of your passion and hard work, you helped pave the way for that day. So I want to say to my supporters: When you hear people saying or think to yourself, “If only, or, “What if,” I say, please, don’t go there. Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward.

(APPLAUSE)

Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been. We have to work together for what still can be. And that is why I will work my heart out to make sure that Senator Obama is our next president.

(APPLAUSE)

And I hope and pray that all of you will join me in that effort.

(APPLAUSE)

To my supporters and colleagues in Congress, to the governors and mayors, elected officials who stood with me in good times and bad, thank you for your strength and leadership.

To my friends in our labor unions who stood strong every step of the way, I thank you and pledge my support to you.

To my friends from every stage of my life, your love and ongoing commitment sustained me every single day.

To my family, especially Bill and Chelsea and my mother, you mean the world to me, and I thank you for all you have done.

(APPLAUSE)

And to my extraordinary staff, volunteers and supporters…

(APPLAUSE)

… thank you for working those long, hard hours. Thank you for dropping everything, leaving work or school, traveling to places that you’ve never been, sometimes for months on end. And thanks to your families, as well, because your sacrifice was theirs, too. All of you were there for me every step of the way.

Now, being human, we are imperfect. That’s why we need each other, to catch each other when we falter, to encourage each other when we lose heart. Some may lead, some may follow, but none of us can go it alone.

The changes we’re working for are changes that we can only accomplish together. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are rights that belong to us as individuals. But our lives, our freedom, our happiness are best enjoyed, best protected, and best advanced when we do work together.

That is what we will do now, as we join forces with Senator Obama and his campaign. We will make history together, as we write the next chapter in America’s story. We will stand united for the values we hold dear, for the vision of progress we share, and for the country we love.

There is nothing more American than that.

And looking out at you today, I have never felt so blessed. The challenges that I have faced in this campaign…

(APPLAUSE)

… are nothing compared to those that millions of Americans face every day in their own lives.

So today I’m going to count my blessings and keep on going. I’m going to keep doing what I was doing long before the cameras ever showed up and what I’ll be doing long after they’re gone: working to give every American the same opportunities I had and working to ensure that every child has the chance to grow up and achieve his or her God- given potential.

I will do it with a heart filled with gratitude, with a deep and abiding love for our country, and with nothing but optimism and confidence for the days ahead.

This is now our time to do all that we can to make sure that, in this election, we add another Democratic president to that very small list of the last 40 years and that we take back our country and once again move with progress and commitment to the future.

Thank you all. And God bless you, and God bless America.

(APPLAUSE)

莎朗・斯通到底说了什麽？
2008年 6月 2日 星期一 17:26 （北京时间）
路透社包立德(Alexander Brenner)专栏

上周二下午，一位中国朋友给我转发了莎朗・斯通的一段视频。一听到她说出karma(因果报应)这个词，我就惊呆了。我的第一反应是：这肯定会引起众怒，而且这怒火来得有理。

我的第二个反应就是困惑。莎朗・斯通在好莱坞本来名声不错：她积极投身人道主义工作，并且宣扬和平，反对战争。今年早些时候，她曾公开批评美国媒体的伊战报导，说：“当人们聚焦于4,000名美国士兵的死亡时，我感到巨大痛苦，因为60万伊拉克人的死亡根本没人理睬……战争不是电影，那是死尸、遇难者、残疾孤儿、寡妇和流离失所人群的悲剧。”

让我困惑的是，同样一个莎朗・斯通，难道真的能对中国8万多名地震遇难者表现得无动于衷，发表“冷血”言论？她是不是失言，或是被误解了？

按她自己的说法，两者兼而有之。5月29日，她在接受《纽约时报》采访时承认，看过自己那段视频後，她感到自己当时听起来“就像个彻头彻尾的傻瓜。”但她同时坚称，自己的言论被部分误解了。一方面，她对迪奥公司用自己名义道歉的方式表示不满，另一方面，她也对中国地震遇难者与幸存者表示同情，并强调自己 “希望能够为中国人民服务。”

假如她希望赢得更多中国民众的理解和谅解，还需要做更多的工作。目前，暂且让我们认可她的说法，即她的言论未能真正反映她的真实内心世界。但我们仍有必要讨论，她的言论反映的究竟是什麽。我们可以把“莎朗・斯通失言事件”与2001年发生的一件事做个对比：

在2001年9月11日的早上，一组中国记者恰好在美国官员的陪同下访问美国国务院。当第一架飞机撞上纽约世贸大楼的消息传开後，他们与国务院的导游和几位美国记者一道聚集在电视机前。当第二架飞机撞上大楼时，这些中国记者爆发出欢呼，并热烈鼓掌。

我是从一位很可靠的来源听说了这一故事。其实，我不认为这是非常意外的事。我们都知道，世界上很多人，包括中国人甚至一些美国人，都认为9.11事件在某种程度上是美国自作自受；这不意味着这些人对无辜者的死亡感到开心。如果那些中国记者当天是站在世贸双塔前，看着人们在绝望中纷纷跳出窗口，我想他们就不会欢呼了。但当时，站在电视前，即使他们意识到这是全人类的悲剧，他们还是在自己世界观的基础上作出反应。

但是，假设你是在场的一位美国人，看到这些中国人鼓掌欢呼，你是否也会想：”这真是一群冷血动物！”？

这可能取决于你对这群人的了解，譬如，你是否知道他们对美国政府不信任到了什麽程度。当时，中美海南撞机事件刚刚过去几个月，多数中国人确信该事件过错在于傲慢的美国间谍飞机。而且，这些中国记者有几位同行在两年前刚刚死于美国对中国驻贝尔格莱德大使馆的轰炸。此外，美国不间断地向台湾军售，更是屡次激起中国人的怒火。

越是往他们思想深处挖掘，你越能理解他们的世界观，那可能要追溯到他们参加的党小组会议；高中时的历史课本；谴责”美帝”的电台广播等等。在某个时候，你会意识到，在第二架飞机撞上大楼的时候，你自己也许也同样在欢呼鼓掌。

现在，让我们把视线转向宾夕法尼亚州的一个小镇，体验一下莎朗・斯通的人生轨迹。你的爸爸在工厂工作，妈妈照顾四个孩子；这时新闻报导说，美国士兵将前往越南打击共产党；你上高中时，在麦当劳打工；家人聚集在电视前，观看尼克松”敲开了”红色中国的国门。

你在赢得一次地方选美後，评委建议你去纽约开始模特生涯。几年之後你改行，开始演电影，搬到洛杉矶。你的演员生涯经过两次重大飞跃後，发现已经成为了大明星。你又改信佛教，在国内外大量参与慈善事业，认识了达赖喇嘛。你了解到中国很多负面的东西，而正面的印象寥寥无几。你对中国政府的不信任感越来越强，但随着时光飞逝，你对本国政府的不信任感同样加剧。2008年2月，你在阿联酋迪拜的一个电影节上，对阿拉伯世界最具影响的《生活》报表示，“战争不是对 9.11事件的恰当回应。”

所以，在5月的戛纳电影节中，有人把麦克风伸到你的面前，问你有关四川地震的问题。你的第一反应就是，在你佛教理念指引下形成的所有对中国的不良印象。事实上，你对中国所知并不多。譬如，你似乎甚至不知道四川地震重灾区住着很多藏族人。但作为一个佛教徒，你似乎真的相信因果轮回的概念，你在想这次地震是否某种程度上与此有关。当洛杉矶下次遭遇大地震时，你无疑同样会思考，这究竟是什麽报应呢？

你继续向外界澄清，和你有瓜葛的藏人组织其实是支持中国地震救援行动的，而且你同意参予其中(几乎没有任何中国评论人士提到这一点)。尽管作出这些正面表态，但由于你此前的言论甚至没有表示最基本的同情心，表达对数万无故罹难者的关切，你使得自己成为中国人最痛恨的一个女人。你後来意识到这一处境後，你发表了向中国人民的致歉声明……。

这是出自真心吗？我认为是的。首先，英文水平欠佳的记者和读者的确是误读了斯通的言论和口气。比如，很多人把她“Well you know it’s interesting” (“你知道，这真有意思”)这句话，解读为“地震本身很有意思。”

这是大错特错了。英文里，这实际是一句司空见惯的口头语，当一个人开口阐述自己的观点时，往往会先顺出这麽一句。其实，没有切实理由相信，她会如此关心伊拉克平民，而对中国灾民的苦难无动于衷；就好像我们没有切实理由相信，鼓掌的那些中国记者对美国无辜者的死亡感到幸灾乐祸一样。

我认为，在两件事例中，问题在于我们都本能地按照自己的世界观来衡量轻重缓急，结果给那些与自己持不同世界观的人留下的印象是，我们对对方的灾难轻描淡写甚至幸灾乐祸。但是，这根本不是什麽“冷血”的问题；这种行为完全是人类的本能，我们一直受到这种本能的掌控。

过去几天，新浪网首页上一直在重磅推介评论莎朗・斯通问题的博客。譬如一位作者表示，这是莎朗?斯通为了重振电影事业的蓄意炒作。很抱歉，我无论如何看不出这一点。她的事业并非在走下坡路：她在未来两年将推出四部影片；相反，她失言招致的负面效果对她的演艺生涯则具有很大杀伤力。

另一篇博客大作则写道：”莎朗・斯通居然会拿这件全体人类悲剧来发泄她的政治仇恨，拿六万多无辜亡灵作为她嘲讽侮辱的对象，这是像我这样自以为理解西方文化的人无法理解和接受的。”

我再次表达对这种愤怒的理解；不过我认为没有证据说明莎朗・斯通是蓄意嘲讽侮辱地震死难者，就像我看不出中国记者有意嘲讽侮辱9.11罹难者一样。

这里很多误解实际上来源于我们没能很好分清“政府”与“国家”和“国民”的界限。作为一个生活在中国的美国人，我不停地听到人们说，他们痛恨布什总统，因为他好战。实际上，我也不喜欢他，而且我早已认识到，批评布什不等于侮辱全体美国人。同样道理，中国人也需要意识到，国际上一些负面言论往往是具有特定政治背景，而不是对全体中国人甚至是整个中华民族的攻击。

四川地震後，中国总理温家宝领导救灾工作的正面形象在国际媒体上得到充分展现，我也希望世界能够借这个机会对中国领导人有更加全面、人性化的了解。其实我们都需要对对方有更加全面、深度的理解。这样一来，即使在存在冲突的情况下，我们也不那麽容易发出夸张、愚昧的言论或举动。

好莱坞的这些明星可能有些招人烦，但莎朗・斯通的种种作为显示，她希望做善事。她也许存在其他缺点，譬如缺乏政治、文化敏感，对中国缺乏了解而妄下结论，但“反人性、反人类”这样的评语绝对是言过其实的。

另一位中国博客建议：“把莎朗・斯通的卑污形象彻底洗出中国。”广为散播这样的言论似乎让人感到自己正义在握，但实际上并不具有任何建设性意义。既然她已经表示准备直接提供帮助，为什麽不给她一次机会？

中国完全有理由展现大度，邀请莎朗・斯通到四川灾区了解实际情况，并为援助与重建工作出力。其实，这是一次绝佳的机会：她会看到汉族人、藏族人和其他少数民族互救互助，重建生活，更加了解真实的中国。

翻译：王燕焜 审校：包立德/王丰

包立德(Alexander Brenner)自耶鲁大学毕业後来华，曾在广州中山大学任雅礼协会教师，并在南京大学-霍普金斯大学中美文化研究中心、霍普金斯大学高级国际问题研究院攻读硕士学位。他还曾任当代国际事务研究所的研究员，在中国和国际媒体发表多篇文章及评论。