"Please return to your homes, a curfew is in effect." - I, Robot (2004, Director Alex Proyas, Screenwriters Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman).Transcript of speech by Robot Obama, March 21, 2013:
Good evening fellow citizens. Tonight, our country is in turmoil and chaos. Riots and terrorist attacks in cities across America have poisoned our collective emotions, strained the resources of our states, and misdirected the energies of our brave men and women in uniform. If these riots are allowed to continue, more innocent people will be injured and killed.
Failure to act on my part in this state of emergency is inexcusable and criminal. I will not stand by and watch armed gangs and rioters push America into the abyss of instability and sedition. My administration will not tolerate acts of terrorism and violence by thugs who deliberately target citizens, police officers, businesses, and government buildings. The main instigators and leaders who are responsible for this anarchy will be punished with the full force of the law.
Earlier today, I ordered the Commanders of our honourable Armed Forces and my Defense Secretary to enforce Martial Law until this crisis is over and our citizens and businesses are secure again.
I have also asked Congress to give me the power to fulfill my duties as Commander and Chief during this critical transition in the history of our country. Specifically, I have demanded that they assist me in enforcing the laws of the land with greater speed and efficiency. The terrorists behind today's violence against government officials, homes, and businesses do not deserve second chances. Justice demands that they be put in prison as fast as legally possible.
But what members of Congress, military commanders, and police officers do to restore order and peace in our streets has no meaning and no consequence if you at home do not do your part. Your cooperation and help in our mission to save this great country from the scourge of terrorism is urgently needed.
I ask you to please return to your homes. A curfew is in effect as of this moment. Individuals who remain on the streets will be in violation of the law and subject to legal punishment. Those who join the rioters and terrorists in their attempt to destroy our civic institutions and our laws will be send to detention centers, where they will be processed by officials of Homeland Security and our Armed Forces.
Mistakes will be made. The members of our security forces are not perfect judges of men. In some cases, the wrong people will be arrested and it will take days, maybe even weeks, before their record is cleared. But consider the price of doing nothing. We cannot allow the wolves of terror intimidate shopkeepers, our neighbours, and our fellow citizens without facing retribution.
In this country, there is a legitimate way to protest. But what we witnessed today was terror, not dissent. Rioters and terrorists are not welcome in the United States. Their actions cannot be defended. They are engaging in anarchy, not democracy. They are not exercising their rights, but breaking our laws. The threat they pose to our society and our way of life is as dangerous and real as the threat posed by Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups around the world.
Our commitment to our country and our faith in our democratic system of government is being tested as never before. As this crisis continues to unfold by the minute, let us reflect on the immediate hours after the planes struck the towers on 9/11. We did not surrender in fear to the terrorists, or shrivel up inside. We made a choice to come together as one people in one nation under God.
We met that critical test because we remembered who we are deep down. We are not cowards. We do not bend at the first sight of discord. We are not shocked by random violence, nor do we try to understand it and explain it because we know there is no sense in applying logic to terror.
Terrorists reign supreme in the realm outside the boundaries of logic and reason. Once they cross the line that separates civilization from chaos, we must take the necessary action to save civilization and prevent its destruction by terrorists and nihilists.
Our country proved to the world that we are capable of rescuing civilization after the terror attacks against our most prized buildings in 2001. But, tonight, a new emergency is at our door, and a new enemy is attacking our unity. We are being challenged again by terrorism. But this time the enemy is closer to home. The enemy is not a face or an ideology or a religion, but an idea. It is the idea that violence is the answer to the problems that we face as a country and as a world community.
If we let the terrorists and rioters have the final say about our fate then our world will be ruined before tomorrow morning. As President, I will not let that happen. America will not submit to terrorism on my watch. Not tonight, and not on any night to come while I serve as your Commander and Chief.
But I am only one man. I am not your Superman. I am your president. This is not my country, this is our country. This is not my office, this is our office. This is not my crisis, this is our crisis.
We must solve this crisis together. We can either give into the terrorists, or we can take back control of our destiny and our country. Who we are will be defined by what we do at this critical moment. We must make the same courageous choice that we made on that beautiful morning on September 11 because this country is too good to collapse in on itself. This country is too strong to fall and give up now, not after what we have been through. We must free ourselves from the traps of terror and find our way out of the alleys of despair.
Our journey does not end tonight. Our faith will not be broken. Our future will not be dictated by the terror of tonight, but by the hope of tomorrow. Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.
