[CS-FSLUG] [OT] Second Inaugural Address

[Fred A. Miller]

President George W. Bush’s
 
Second Inaugural Address
 
 January 20, 2005
  

Vice President Cheney, Mr. Chief Justice, President Carter, President Bush, 
President Clinton, reverend clergy, distinguished guests, fellow citizens: 

On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the 
durable wisdom of our Constitution, and recall the deep commitments that 
unite our country. I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of the 
consequential times in which we live, and determined to fulfill the oath that 
I have sworn and you have witnessed. 

At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but 
by the history we have seen together. For a half century, America defended 
our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of 
communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical 
- and then there came a day of fire. 

We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source. For as 
long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny - prone 
to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder - violence will gather, and 
multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise 
a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign 
of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward 
the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom. 

We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of 
liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other 
lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in 
all the world. 

America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of 
our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has 
rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the 
Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the 
imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no 
one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that 
created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is 
the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time. 

So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of 
democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the 
ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world. 

This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and 
our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its nature, must be 
chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the 
protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the 
institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different 
from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on the 
unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain 
their own freedom, and make their own way. 

The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations. 
The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it. America's influence 
is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is 
considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause. 

My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people against further 
attacks and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to test America's 
resolve, and have found it firm. 

We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: 
The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, 
which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents 
prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that 
any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies. 

We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in 
our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people. 
America's belief in human dignity will guide our policies, yet rights must be 
more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free 
dissent and the participation of the governed. In the long run, there is no 
justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human 
liberty. 

Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty - though this time 
in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever 
seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people, should never be 
surprised by the power of our ideals. Eventually, the call of freedom comes 
to every mind and every soul. We do not accept the existence of permanent 
tyranny because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery. 
Liberty will come to those who love it. 

Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world: 

All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not 
ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your 
liberty, we will stand with you. 

Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know: America 
sees you for who you are: the future leaders of your free country. 

The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln 
did: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, 
under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it." 

The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To serve 
your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey of progress 
and justice, and America will walk at your side. 

And all the allies of the United States can know: we honor your friendship, we 
rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help. Division among free nations 
is a primary goal of freedom's enemies. The concerted effort of free nations 
to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies' defeat. 

Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens: 

From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing America, 
which you have granted in good measure. Our country has accepted obligations 
that are difficult to fulfill, and would be dishonorable to abandon. Yet 
because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens 
of millions have achieved their freedom. And as hope kindles hope, millions 
more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the 
minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its 
progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest 
corners of our world. 

A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet 
work of intelligence and diplomacy ... the idealistic work of helping raise 
up free governments ... the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our 
enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored 
their whole lives - and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice. 

All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the first time. I ask 
our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You have seen 
duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You have seen 
that life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs. Make the choice 
to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself - and in 
your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its 
character. 

America has need of idealism and courage, because we have essential work at 
home - the unfinished work of American freedom. In a world moving toward 
liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty. 

In America's ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and security of 
economic independence, instead of laboring on the edge of subsistence. This 
is the broader definition of liberty that motivated the Homestead Act, the 
Social Security Act, and the G.I. Bill of Rights. And now we will extend this 
vision by reforming great institutions to serve the needs of our time. To 
give every American a stake in the promise and future of our country, we will 
bring the highest standards to our schools, and build an ownership society. 
We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and 
health insurance - preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free 
society. By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will 
give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear, and make our 
society more prosperous and just and equal. 


In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private 
character - on integrity, and tolerance toward others, and the rule of 
conscience in our own lives. Self-government relies, in the end, on the 
governing of the self. That edifice of character is built in families, 
supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life 
by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and 
the varied faiths of our people. Americans move forward in every generation 
by reaffirming all that is good and true that came before - ideals of justice 
and conduct that are the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

In America's ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is ennobled by service, 
and mercy, and a heart for the weak. Liberty for all does not mean 
independence from one another. Our nation relies on men and women who look 
after a neighbor and surround the lost with love. Americans, at our best, 
value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the 
unwanted have worth. And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, 
because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at 
the same time. 

From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the 
issues and questions before our country are many. From the viewpoint of 
centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our 
generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit 
to that cause? 

These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every party 
and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in 
the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be healed to move 
forward in great purposes - and I will strive in good faith to heal them. Yet 
those divisions do not define America. We felt the unity and fellowship of 
our nation when freedom came under attack, and our response came like a 
single hand over a single heart. And we can feel that same unity and pride 
whenever America acts for good, and the victims of disaster are given hope, 
and the unjust encounter justice, and the captives are set free. 

We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom. Not 
because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that 
move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and 
chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope 
of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul. When our 
Founders declared a new order of the ages; when soldiers died in wave upon 
wave for a union based on liberty; when citizens marched in peaceful outrage 
under the banner "Freedom Now" - they were acting on an ancient hope that is 
meant to be fulfilled. History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history 
also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty. 

When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the Liberty 
Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, "It rang as if it meant 
something." In our time it means something still. America, in this young 
century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world, and to all the 
inhabitants thereof. Renewed in our strength - tested, but not weary - we are 
ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom. 

May God bless you, and may He watch over the United States of America.

-- 
The only bug free software from MickySoft is still shrink-wrapped
in their warehouse..."