The most presidential lorem ipsum in history.
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. 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. 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. Today, America has a dual responsibility: to help Iraq forge a better future - and to leave Iraq to Iraqis. Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust.
God is still speaking. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office. And when innocents in Bosnia and Darfur are slaughtered, that is a stain on our collective conscience. Today, America has a dual responsibility: to help Iraq forge a better future - and to leave Iraq to Iraqis. It will be hard to overcome decades of mistrust, but we will proceed with courage, rectitude and resolve. But we have a responsibility to join together on behalf of the world we seek - a world where extremists no longer threaten our people, and American troops have come home; a world where Israelis and Palestinians are each secure in a state of their own, and nuclear energy is used for peaceful purposes; a world where governments serve their citizens, and the rights of all God's children are respected.
My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. Hope in the face of difficulty. Nor is it beyond the sea.
She had this enormous capacity for wonder, and lived by the Golden Rule. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. Part of this conviction is rooted in my own experience. It is time for these settlements to stop.
But I'm hopeful because I think there's an awakening taking place in America. From Willow Creek to the 'emerging church,' from the Southern Baptist Convention to the National Association of Evangelicals, folks are realizing that the four walls of the church are too small for a big God.God is still speaking. Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. Trade can bring new wealth and opportunities, but also huge disruptions and changing communities.
Thank you, and God bless America.