Obama Ipsum

Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. In all nations - including my own - this change can bring fear.

I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.

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. A belief that we're all connected as one people. A belief in things not seen. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred. That is why I ordered the removal of our combat brigades by next August. The obligations that the parties have agreed to under the Road Map are clear.

I was not raised in a particularly religious household. Instead, it must be a cause for action to help the Palestinian people develop the institutions that will sustain their state; to recognize Israel's legitimacy; and to choose progress over a self-defeating focus on the past.

And I've found that no matter where I am, or who I'm talking to, there's a common theme that emerges. And I found that I recognized in these folks a part of myself. Our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons, and our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity - men and women - to reach their full potential.

Thank you, and God bless America.