Obama Ipsum

The hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds. But we can only achieve it together.

And fellow Americans, Democrats, Republicans, Independents - I say to you tonight: we have more work to do. But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. Now is the time for Palestinians to focus on what they can build.

And they want that choice. And I think they recognized a part of themselves in me too. It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road. Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.

And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

He was a good-looking kid, six two, six three, clear eyed, with an easy smile. It seems to me that each day, thousands of Americans are going about their lives - dropping the kids off at school, driving to work, shopping at the mall, trying to stay on their diets, trying to kick a cigarette habit - and they're coming to the realization that something is missing. At every opportunity, they've told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their Church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage; school prayer and intelligent design. They have killed in many countries.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.