When President Obama took the stage here Wednesday to address a community — and a nation — traumatized by Saturday’s shootings rampage in Tucson, Arizona, it invited comparisons to President George W. Bush’s speech to the nation after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the memorial service President Bill Clinton led after the bombing of a federal office building killed 168 people in Oklahoma City in 1995.

本周三，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)登臺(tái)演講，就上周六亞利桑那州圖森市所發(fā)生的槍擊慘案向飽受心靈創(chuàng)傷的公眾及全國(guó)發(fā)表演講，人們不禁聯(lián)想到，布什總統(tǒng)在2001年911襲擊之后的演講、以及1995年克林頓總統(tǒng)為俄克拉荷馬州聯(lián)邦政府大樓爆炸中的168名遇害者舉行的追悼會(huì)。

But Osama’s appearance presented a deeper challenge, reflecting the tenor of his times. Unlike those tragedies---which, at least initially, united a mournful country and quieted partisan divisions---this one has, in the days since the killings, had the opposite effect, inflaming the divide.

然而，奧巴馬的公開(kāi)露面展現(xiàn)了一個(gè)更大的挑戰(zhàn)，也映射出他所處時(shí)代的要旨。以往那些慘案使整個(gè)國(guó)家在哀悼中團(tuán)結(jié)一致，黨派分歧也銷(xiāo)聲匿跡——至少慘案發(fā)生初期是這樣的。而本次的槍擊慘案卻恰恰相反，激化了黨派間的分歧。

It was a political reality Mr. Obama seemed to recognize the moment he took the stage. He directly confronted the political debate that erupted after the rampage, asking people of all beliefs not to use the tragedy to turn on one another. He called for an end to partisan recriminations, and for a unity that has seemed increasingly elusive as each day has brought more harsh condemnations from the left and the right. It was one of the most powerful addresses that Mr. Obama has delivered as president, harnessing the emotion generated by the shock and loss from Saturday’s shootings to urge Americans “to remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together”.

奧巴馬登臺(tái)不久，便意識(shí)到了這一政治現(xiàn)實(shí)。他直接針對(duì)槍擊慘案發(fā)生后引發(fā)的政治辯論，呼吁所有持不同宗教信仰的人們不要借機(jī)針?shù)h相對(duì)。他呼吁各黨派停止相互指責(zé)，同時(shí)呼吁各黨派團(tuán)結(jié)起來(lái)。因各黨派之間的指責(zé)日益嚴(yán)厲且鋒芒畢露，團(tuán)結(jié)已經(jīng)漸行漸遠(yuǎn)。本次演說(shuō)是奧巴馬擔(dān)任總統(tǒng)以來(lái)發(fā)表的最具號(hào)召力的一次，他在演講中巧妙利用了美國(guó)人因槍殺事件而產(chǎn)生的震驚與悲痛，敦促美國(guó)人“時(shí)刻提醒自己，我們因希望和夢(mèng)想而團(tuán)結(jié)在一起”。