If there is anyone out there who still doubts that SALLY’S is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of FREE BEER, FREE BEER is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around Bars and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours for FREE BEER, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better SALLY’S.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this Bar, at this defining moment, FREE BEER has come to SALLY’s
And tonight, I think about all that FREE BEER’s seen throughout the century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can Drink FREE BEER
At a time when Bartender’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, FREE BEER lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the Miller Lite. Yes we can Drink FREE BEER
When there was despair On Campus and depression across the land, FREE BEER saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can Drink FREE BEER
When the bombs fell on our harbor and PROHIBITION threatened the world, FREE BEER was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can Drink FREE BEER
FREE BEER was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can Drink FREE BEER
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, At this Bar, FREE BEER, Pulled the Tap, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, FREE BEER knows how America can change. Yes we can Drink FREE BEER.
Sally’s, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can DRINK FREE BEER. Thank you, God bless you, and God Speed to Free Beer
