agreement奥巴马2014白宫记者协会晚宴演讲稿中英文全文

2021年1月21日发(作者：tout)
奥巴马
2014
白宫记者协会晚宴演讲稿中英文全
文

20 14
年
5
月
3
日，
美国总统奥巴马在华盛顿希尔
顿 酒店出席一年一度的白宫记者协会晚宴
（
White
House Correspondents Dinner, WHCD
），这是
奥巴马第六次出席白宫记者协会晚宴。
Remarks
by the President at White House
Correspondents' Dinner
10:21 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much,
e
very
body. Have a seat, have a seat. Before I
get started, can we get the new presidential
setup out here?
(Aides bring out two ferns.)
It was worked before. (Laughter and applause.)
That’s more like it.

It is
great
to be back. What a year, huh? I
usually start these dinners with a few
self-deprecating jokes. After my stellar 2013,
what could I possibly talk about? (Laughter.)
I admit it --
last
year was rough.
Sheesh.(Laughter.) At one point things got so
bad, the 47 percent called Mitt Romney to
apologize. (Laughter.)
Of course, we rolled out . That
could have gone better. (Laughter.) In 2008 my
slogan was, “Yes We Can.” In 2013 my slogan
was, “Control
-Alt-
Delete.” (Laughter.) On the
plus side, they did turn the launch of
into
one

of the year’s biggest
movies. (Laughter.)
But rather than d
well
on the past, I would like to
pivot to this dinner. Let’s welcome our headliner
this evening, Joel McHale. (Applause.) On
“Community,” Joel plays a preening,
self-obsessed narcissist. So this dinner must be
a real change of pace for you. (Laughter.)
I want to thank the White House
Correspondents Association for hosting us here
tonight. I am happy to be here, even though I
am a little jet-lagged from my trip to Malaysia.
The lengths we have to go to get CNN coverage
these days. (Laughter and applause.) I think
they’re still searching for their table. (Laughter
and applause.)
MSNBC is here. They’re a little overwhelmed.
(Laughter.) They’ve never seen an audience
this big before. (Laughter.)
But, look, e
very
body is trying to keep up with
this incredibly fast-changing media landscape.
For example, I got a lot of grief on cable news
for promoting Obamacare to young people on
Between Two Ferns. But that’s what young
people like to watch. And to be fair, I am not the
first person on television between two potted
plants. (Laughter and applause.)
Sometimes I do feel disrespected by you
repo
rters. But that’s okay. Seattle Seahawk
cornerback Richard Sherman is here tonight.
(Applause.) And he gave me some
great
tips on
how to handle it. J
ake Tapper, don’t you ever
talk about me like that! (Laughter.) I’m the best
President in the game! (Laughter.)
What do you think, Richard? Was that good? A
little more feeling next time?
While we’re talking sports, just

last
month, a
wonderful story -- an American won the Boston
Marathon for first time in 30 years.
(Applause.)Which was inspiring and only fair,
since a Kenyan has been president for the last
six.(Laughter and applause.)Had to even things
out.(Laughter.)
We have some other athletes here tonight,
including Olympic snowboarding gold medalist
Jamie Anderson is here. We’re proud of her.
(Applause.)Incredibly talented young lady.
Michelle and I watched the Olympics -- we
cannot believe what these folks do --
death-defying feats --
haven’t seen somebody
pull a “180” that fast since Rand Paul disinvited
that Nevada rancher from t
his
dinner. (Laughter.)
As a general rule, things don’t like end

well
if the
sentence starts, “Let me tell you something I
know about the negro.” (Laughter.) You don’t
really need to hear the rest of it. (Laughter and
applause.) Just a tip for you --
don’t start your
sentence that way. (Laughter.)
Speaking of Rand Paul -- (laughter) -- Colorado
legalized marijuana t
his
year, an interesting
social experiment. I do hope it doesn’t

lead
to a
whole lot of paranoid people who think that the
federal government is out to get them and
listening to their ph
one
calls. (Laughter.) That
would be a
problem
. (Laughter.)
And speaking of conservative heroes, the Koch
brothers bought a table here tonight. But as
usual, they used a shadowy right-wing
organization as a front. Hello, Fox News.
(Laughter and applause.)
I’m just kidding. Let’s face it, Fox, you’ll miss me
when I’m gone. (Laughter.) It will be harder to
convince the American people that Hillary was
born in Kenya. (Laughter and applause.)
A lot of us really are concerned about the way
big m
one
y is influencing our politics. I remember
when a Super PAC was just me buying
Marlboro 100s instead of regulars. (Laughter.)
Of course, now that it’s 2014, Washington is
obsessed on the midterms. Folks are saying
that with my sagging poll numbers, my fellow
Democrats don’t really want me campaigning
with them. And I don’t think that’s true
--
although I did notice the other day that Sasha
needed a speaker at career day, and she invited
Bill Clinton. (Laughter.) I was a little hurt by that.
(Laughter.)
Both sides are doing whatever it takes to win the
ruthless game. Republicans -- this is a true story
-- Republicans actually brought in a group of
consultants to teach their candidates how to
speak to women. T
his

is true. And I don’t know if
it will work with women, but I understand that
America’s teenage boys are signing up to run
for the Senate in droves. (Laughter.)
Anyway, while you guys focus on the horserace,
I’m going to do what I do
--
I’m going to be
focused on e
very
day Americans. Just yesterday,
I read a heartbreaking letter -- you know I get
letters from folks from around the country; every
day I get 10 that I read -- t
his

one
got to me. A
Virginia man who’s been stuck in the same
part-time job for years; no respect from his boss;
no chance to get ahead. I really wish Eric
Cantor would stop writing me. (Laughter.) You
can just pick up the phone, Eric. (Laughter.)
And I’m feeling sorry
-- believe it or not -- for the
Speaker of the House, as
well
. These days, the
House Republicans actually give John Boehner
a harder time than they give me, which means
orange really is the new black. (Laughter and
applause.)
But I have not given up the idea of working with
Congress. In fact, two weeks ago, Senator Ted
Cruz and I, we got a bill d
one
together. And I
have to say, the signing ceremony was
something special. We’ve got a pictur
e of it I
think. (Laughter.)
Look, I know, Washington seems more
dysfunctional than ever. Gridlock has gotten so
bad in t
his
town you have to wonder: What did
we do to piss off Chris Christie so bad?
(Laughter and applause.)
One issue, for example, we haven’t been able to
agree on is unemployment insurance.
Republicans continue to refuse to extend it. And
you know what, I am beginning to think they’ve
got a point. If you want to get paid while not
working, you should have to run for Congress
just like e
very
body else. (Laughter and
applause.)
Of course, there is
one
thing that keeps
Republicans busy. They have tried more than
50 times to repeal Obamacare. Despite that, 8
million people signed up for health care in the
first open enrollment. (Applause.) Which
does
lead
one to ask, how
well
does
Obamacare have to work befo
re you don’t want
to repeal it? What if e
very
body’s cholesterol
drops to 120? (Laughter.) What if your yearly
checkup came with tickets to a Clippers game?
(Laughter.) Not the old, Donald Sterling Clippers
-- the new Oprah Clippers. Would that be good
enough? (Laughter.) What if they gave Mitch
McConnell a pulse? (Laughter.) What is it going
to take? (Laughter.)
Anyway, this year, I’ve promised to use mo
re
executive actions to get things d
one
without
Congress. My critics call t
his

the “imperial
presidency.” The truth is, I just show up
e
very

day in my office and do my job. I’ve got a
picture of this I think. (Laughter and applause.)
You would think they’d appreciate a more
assertive approach, considering that the new
conservative darling is none other than Vladimir
Putin. (Laughter.) Last year, Pat Buchanan said
Putin is “headed straight for the Nobel
Peace
Prize.” He said t
his
. Now I know it sounds crazy
but to be fair, they give those to just about
anybody these days. (Laughter.) So it could
happen.
But it’s not just Pat
-- Rudy Giuliani said Putin is
“what you call a

lead
er.” Mike Huckabee and
Sean Hannity keep talking about his bare chest,
which is kind of weird. (Laughter.) Look it up --
they talk about it a lot. (Laughter.)
It is strange to think that I have just two and a
half years left in t
his
office. E
very
where I look,
there are reminders that I only hold this job
temporarily. (Laughter.)
But it’s a long time between now and 2016, and
anything can happen. You may have heard the
other day, Hillary had to dodge a flying shoe at a
press conference. (Laughter and applause.) I
love that picture. (Laughter.)
Regardless of what happens, I’ve run
my
last

campaign and I’m beginning to think
about my legacy. Some of you know -- Mayor
Rahm Emanuel recently announced he is
naming a high school in Chicago after me,
which is extremely humbling. I was even more
flattered to hear Rick Perry, who is here tonigh,
is doing the same thing in Texas. Take a look.
(Laughter.) Thank you, Rick. It means a lot to
me. (Laughter and applause.)
And I intend to enjoy all the free time that I will
have. George W. Bush took up painting after he
left office, which inspired me to take up my own
artistic side. (Laughter.) I’m sure we’ve got a
shot of t
his
. (Laughter.)Maybe not. The joke
doesn’t work without the slide. (Laughter.)
Oh
well
. Assume that it was funny. (Laughter.)
Does this happen to you, Joel? It does? Okay.
On a more serious note, tonight reminds us that
we really are lucky to live in a country where
reporters get to give a head of state a hard time
on a daily basis -- and then, once a year, give
him or her the chance, at least, to try to return
the favor.
But we also know that not every journalist, or
photographer, or crewmember is so fortunate,
because even as we celebrate the free press
tonight, our thoughts are with those in places
around the globe like Ukraine, and Afghanistan,
and Syria, and Egypt, who risk everything -- in
some cases, even give their lives -- to report the
news.