The most presidential lorem ipsum in history.
They must be pursued - and they must be defeated. And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. We were born out of revolution against an empire. And we will match promising Muslim students with internships in America; invest in on-line learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a teenager in Kansas can communicate instantly with a teenager in Cairo.
As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. Ironically, this quintessentially American - and yes, conservative - notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's sermons. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. 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. 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 so long as we're not doing everything in our personal and collective power to solve them, we know the conscience of our nation cannot rest. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn't need to feel shame about...memories that all people might study and cherish - and with which we could start to rebuild." And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future.
My father, who I didn't know, returned to Kenya when I was just two. There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich. And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. I can assure you it is not. We are shaped by every culture, drawn from every end of the Earth, and dedicated to a simple concept: E pluribus unum: "Out of many, one." The Arab-Israeli conflict should no longer be used to distract the people of Arab nations from other problems.
They're looking to relieve a chronic loneliness. I can assure you it is not.
Thank you.