The most presidential lorem ipsum in history.
And yet, I know that, on this night, they look down on me with great pride. Hope in the face of difficulty. That is why I am committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat.
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. When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed. Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq was a war of choice that provoked strong differences in my country and around the world. We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written.
That's not simply a matter of policy or ideology - it's a moral commitment. A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families - a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened.
But she had a healthy skepticism of religion as an institution. I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America's founding.
That is the true genius of America - a faith in simple dreams,, an insistence on small miracles. And they want that choice. The first issue that we have to confront is violent extremism in all of its forms.
God bless you.