Obama Ipsum

Back home, my grandmother raised their baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. No, the word is very near. 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."

That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be counted at least, most of the time. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for their prescription drugs, and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandparent. They stood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, as the blows of billy clubs rained down. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class. I have made it clear to the Iraqi people that we pursue no bases, and no claim on their territory or resources. And we will also expand partnerships with Muslim communities to promote child and maternal health.

But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he is serving us? And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure. That does not lessen my commitment, however, to governments that reflect the will of the people. And while America in the past has focused on oil and gas in this part of the world, we now seek a broader engagement.

It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own.

This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and our commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers, and the promise of future generations. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington.

Thank you, and God bless America.