The most presidential lorem ipsum in history.
It got hijacked. What's remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith. It is easy to point fingers - for Palestinians to point to the displacement brought by Israel's founding, and for Israelis to point to the constant hostility and attacks throughout its history from within its borders as well as beyond.
He was a good-looking kid, six two, six three, clear eyed, with an easy smile. We have to do what we can, knowing it's hard and not swinging from a naive idealism to a bitter defeatism - but rather, accepting the fact that we're not going to solve every problem overnight, but we can still make a difference. God is still speaking. That's why we're partnering with a coalition of forty-six countries. Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.
But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. What's remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them. And today I am announcing a new global effort with the Organization of the Islamic Conference to eradicate polio.
And I found that I recognized in these folks a part of myself. And then another one. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits.
We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work. It is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true. And I am hopeful that all countries in the region can share in this goal.
God bless you.