The most presidential lorem ipsum in history.
When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world. The hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow. Not even close.
This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag.
There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich. That is not how moral authority is claimed; that is how it is surrendered.
But we shouldn't use our humility as an excuse for inaction. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise. For decades, there has been a stalemate: two peoples with legitimate aspirations, each with a painful history that makes compromise elusive.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution - a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk. On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people - Muslims and Christians - have suffered in pursuit of a homeland.
Thank you, and God bless America.