Obama Ipsum

I thought of the 900 men and women - sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who won't be returning to their own hometowns. Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise. But we will support a secure and united Iraq as a partner, and never as a patron.

It's not consistent with our traditions of justice and fairness. And finally, just as America can never tolerate violence by extremists, we must never alter our principles.

Now let me be clear: issues of women's equality are by no means simply an issue for Islam. But we can only achieve it together. Some suggest that it isn't worth the effort - that we are fated to disagree, and civilizations are doomed to clash.

And that it's not enough to just believe this - we have to do our part to make it a reality. Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent. That's not the judgment we need. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality. I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America's story. Six million Jews were killed - more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today.

You know, a while back, I met a young man named Shamus [Seamus?] in a V.F.W. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time. It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed.

Thank you very much everybody.