The most presidential lorem ipsum in history.
And so this will be a difficult debate next week. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper. It's because John McCain doesn't get it. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. The United States has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known.
But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he is serving us? The hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores. The hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta. These are the Americans that I know. Indeed, we can recall the words of Thomas Jefferson, who said: "I hope that our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be." It is easier to blame others than to look inward; to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share.
There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich. And we cannot ignore the very real concerns of Americans who are not worried about illegal immigration because they are racist or xenophobic, but because they fear it will result in lower wages when they're already struggling to raise their families. In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. When one nation pursues a nuclear weapon, the risk of nuclear attack rises for all nations.
More to do for the young woman in East St. You know, a while back, I met a young man named Shamus [Seamus?] in a V.F.W. And nothing will change. We were founded upon the ideal that all are created equal, and we have shed blood and struggled for centuries to give meaning to those words - within our borders, and around the world.
Let's come together - Protestant and Catholic, Muslim and Hindu and Jew, believer and non-believer alike. And I've seen it in this campaign.
God bless you.