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On one end of the spectrum, we've heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it's based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. On science and technology, we will launch a new fund to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries, and to help transfer ideas to the marketplace so they can create jobs.
That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned. America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them. We must always examine the ways in which we protect it.
The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today's urban and rural communities. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work. Not with so much work to be done. But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors. Indeed, we can recall the words of Thomas Jefferson, who said: "I hope that our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be."
I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight. The Internet and television can bring knowledge and information, but also offensive sexuality and mindless violence.
That's what compromise is about. These are not whiners. I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. For human history has often been a record of nations and tribes subjugating one another to serve their own interests. Meanwhile, the struggle for women's equality continues in many aspects of American life, and in countries around the world.
God bless you.