Obama Ipsum

And it's a testament to what we can achieve when good people with strong convictions stand up for their beliefs. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy. They have killed people of different faiths - more than any other, they have killed Muslims. It is time for these settlements to stop. The issues that I have described will not be easy to address.

I'm hearing from progressives who understand that if we want to communicate our hopes and values to Americans, we can't abandon the field of religious discourse. As the Holy Koran tells us, "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth." That is what I will try to do - to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart. The third source of tension is our shared interest in the rights and responsibilities of nations on nuclear weapons. I understand those who protest that some countries have weapons that others do not.

But somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. Last time we took up immigration reform, it failed. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. And fault lines must be closed among Muslims as well, as the divisions between Sunni and Shia have led to tragic violence, particularly in Iraq.

A belief in things not seen. This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to. And you know what - it's worked before.

I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works. But it also means binding our particular grievances - for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans - the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. We also know that military power alone is not going to solve the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This bond is unbreakable.

Thank you.