Obama Ipsum

Go into the collar counties around Chicago, and people will tell you they don't want their tax money wasted, by a welfare agency or by the Pentagon. Because it's not who we are. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. troops and civilians. Some suggest that it isn't worth the effort - that we are fated to disagree, and civilizations are doomed to clash.

I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. The same is true for the astonishing progress within Muslim-majority countries from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai.

Go into the collar counties around Chicago, and people will tell you they don't want their tax money wasted, by a welfare agency or by the Pentagon. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President. The enduring faith of over a billion people is so much bigger than the narrow hatred of a few. Rather than remain trapped in the past, I have made it clear to Iran's leaders and people that my country is prepared to move forward. And we will also expand partnerships with Muslim communities to promote child and maternal health.

They saw that I knew the Scriptures and that many of the values I held and that propelled me in my work were values they shared. And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. But it was not violence that won full and equal rights. Too many tears have flowed.

Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam. The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort. Much has been made of the fact that an African-American with the name Barack Hussein Obama could be elected President. When one nation pursues a nuclear weapon, the risk of nuclear attack rises for all nations. And when innocents in Bosnia and Darfur are slaughtered, that is a stain on our collective conscience.

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