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I Think There Are A Whole Host Of Things That Are Civil Rights, And Then There Are Other Things - Such As Traditional Marriage - That, I Think, Express A Community's Concern And Regard For A Particular Institution.

-Barack Obama

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I Think There Are

Barack Obama

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I Think There Are A Whole Host Of Things That Are Civil Rights, And Then There Are Other Things - Such As Traditional Marriage - That, I Think, Express A Community's Concern And Regard For A Particular Institution.

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One Faction Of One Party, In One House Of Congress, In One Branch Of Government, Doesn't Get To Shut Down The Entire Government Just To Refight The Results Of An Election.

[our Troops In Iraq And Afganistan] Does Give Us The Ability To Make Sure That We Are Strengthening Those Folk Who Are Interested In Building Up Their Countries Rather Than Destroying Them, And Doing So In A Way That Is Sustainable And Doesn't Put A Constant Burden On The Amazing Men And Women That We've Got In Uniform.

Today We're Seeing That Climate Change Is About More Than A Few Unseasonably Mild Winters Or Hot Summers. It's About The Chain Of Natural Catastrophes And Devastating Weather Patterns That Global Warming Is Beginning To Set Off Around The World.. The Frequency And Intensity Of Which Are Breaking Records Thousands Of Years Old.

Our Enemies Are Also Seeking The Abilities To Sabotage Our Power Grid, Our Financial Institutions, Our Air Traffic Control Systems.

You Have To Exercise, Or At Some Point You'll Just Break Down.

Everybody Knows Politics Is A Contact Sport.

The Small Irritations Or Indignities That We Experience Are Nothing Compared To What A Previous Generation Experienced... It’s One Thing For Me To Be Mistaken For A Waiter At A Gala. It’s Another Thing For My Son To Be Mistaken For A Robber And To Be Handcuffed Or, Worse, If He Happens To Be Walking Down The Street And Is Dressed The Way Teenagers Dress.

The Wort Terrorist Attack In American History Also Brought Out The Best In Our Country...we Are United As Americans.

American History

Now You Have A Choice: We Can Give More Tax Breaks To Corporations That Ship Jobs Overseas, Or We Can Start Rewarding Companies That Open New Plants And Train New Workers And Create New Jobs Here, In The United States Of America.

"undecided," While Running For Re-election To State Senate In 1998, In Response To An Outlines Questionnaire Asking, "do You Favor Legalizing Same-sex Marriage?"

The Peaceful Transition Of Power Is One Of The Hallmarks Of Our Democracy.

You Work With What You Got.

The Private Sector Is Doing Fine.

The Countries Who Out-educate Us Today Will Out-compete Us Tomorrow.

My Only Agenda For The Next Two Years Is The Same As The One I’ve Had Since The Day I Swore An Oath On The Steps Of This Capitol — to Do What I Believe Is Best For America.

It's Very Important That We Have A President Who Is Mindful Of The Cruelty That Is Perpetrated On Animals.

The Spirit's There And That's Not Just My Imagination. I Think If You Look At Surveys And Attitudes Among Young People, You See It.

I Know That Gaps Can Be Closed. And They Can Be Closed Substantially, More Than I Think We Believe.

One Of The Interesting Things About Being In Public Life Is There Are Constantly These Pressures Being Placed On You From Different Sides. To Be Effective, You Have To Be Able To Listen To A Variety Of Points Of View, Synthesize Viewpoints.

I Don't Wanna Preempt An Announcement Next Week. And There's A Lot Of Technical Aspects To It. And If I - Say - That We're Doing One Thing. Then The Markets Might Interpret It Differently From What It Ends Up Being.

It's A Moral Imperative, It's An Economic Imperative, And It Is A Security Imperative. For We've Seen How Spikes In Food Prices Can Plunge Millions Into Poverty, Which, In Turn, Can Spark Riots That Cost Lives, And Can Lead To Instability. And This Danger Will Only Grow If A Surging Global Population Isn't Matched By Surging Food Production. So Reducing Malnutrition And Hunger Around The World Advances International Peace And Security - And That Includes The National Security Of The United States.

If You Want To Get At African American Poverty, The Income Gap, Wealth Gap, Achievement Gap, That The Most Important Thing Is To Make Sure That The Society As A Whole Does Right By People Who Are Poor, Are Working Class, Are Aspiring To A Better Life For Their Kids.

I Was Able To Excite And Engage People Who Previously Hadn't Been Involved In Politics, And Part Of The Reason That I Was Able To Be Re-elected And Stay Relatively Popular In The United States Was Because Even When The Economy Was Bad Or We Had Problems, People Sensed That I Listened To Them And I Was On Their Side.

I Actually Think, When You're Young, Ambitions Are Somewhat Common - You Want To Prove Yourself. It May Grow Out Of Different Life Experiences. You May Want To Prove That You Are Worthy Of The Admiration Of The Demanding Father. You May Want To Prove That You Are Worthy Of The Love Of An Absent Father.

The Pyramids Are One Of Those Things That Live Up To The Hype. They're Elemental In Ways That Are Hard To Describe.

We Can Rattle Our Sabers All We Want But, Realistically, We Don't Have Troops For An Invasion [iran] And Surgical Strikes Aren't Going To Work.

I've Been To 57 States.

I'm Going To Tell The American People What I Believe Will Make This Country Great.

The Philippines Made A Lawful And Peaceful Effort To Resolve Their Maritime Claims With China Using The Tribunal Established Under The Law Of The Sea Convention (unclos). The Tribunal's Ruling Delivered A Clear And Legally Binding Decision On Maritime Claims In The South China Sea As They Relate To China And The Philippines - And That Ruling Should Be Respected. We Believe This Decision Can And Should Serve As An Opportunity To Renew Efforts To Address Maritime Claims Peacefully.

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The Ultimate Goal Is Two States For Two People: Israel As A Jewish State And The Homeland For The Jewish People And The State Of Palestine As The Homeland For The Palestinian People - Each State In Joined Self-determination, Mutual Recognition, And Peace.

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The United States Of America Has Helped Underwrite The Global Security For More Than Six Decades With The Blood Of Our Citizens And The Strength Of Our Arms. The Service And Sacrifice Of Our Men And Women In Uniform Has Promoted Peace And Prosperity From Germany To Korea And Enabled Democracy To Take Hold In Places Like The Balkans.

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So I Have Known Islam On Three Continents Before Coming To The Region Where It Was First Revealed

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The Soldier 's Courage And Sacrifice Is Full Of Glory , Expressing Devotion To Country , To Cause, To Comrades In Arms. But War Itself Is Never Glorious , And We Must Never Trumpet It As Such.

It Is Time To Do Away With Work Place Policies That Belong In A Mad Men Episode.

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We Reject The Use Of National Security Letters To Spy On Citizens Who Are Not Suspected Of A Crime.

Every Single American - Gay, Straight, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender - Every Single American Deserves To Be Treated Equally In The Eyes Of The Law And In The Eyes Of Our Society. It’s A Pretty Simple Proposition.

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My Liberty Depends On You Being Free, Too.

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One Of The Most Durable And Destructive Legacies Of Discrimination Is The Way We've Internalized A Sense Of Limitation; How So Many In Our Community Have Come To Expect So Little From The World And From Themselves.

A Central Notion In The Affordable Care Act Was We Had An Inefficient System With A Lot Of Waste That Didn't Also Deliver The Kind Of Quality That Was Needed That Often Put Health Care Providers In A Box Where They Wanted To Do Better For Their Patients, But Financial Incentives Were Skewed The Other Way... We Don't Need To Reinvent The Wheel; You're Already Figuring Out What Works To Reduce Infections In Hospitals Or Help Patients With Complicated Needs.

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The Importance Of Making Sure That The Sense Of Accountability When, In Fact, Law Enforcement Is Involved In A Deadly Shooting Is Something That I Think Communities Across The Board Are Going To Need To Consider, We Have A Great Opportunity, Coming Out Of Some Great Conflict And Tragedy, To Really Transform How We Think About Community Law Enforcement Relations So That Everybody Feels Safer And Our Law Enforcement Officers Feel, Rather Than Being Embattled, Feel Fully Supported.

America Is An Unlikely Place - A Country Built On Defiance Of The Odds; On A Belief In The Impossible. And I Remind You Of This Because As You Set Out To Live Your Own Stories Of Success And Achievement, It's Now Your Turn To Help Keep It This Way.

On This Day, We Gather Because We Have Chosen Hope Over Fear, Unity Of Purpose Over Conflict And Discord.

Let's Also Make Sure That A High School Diploma Puts Our Kids On A Path To A Good Job. Right Now, Countries Like Germany Focus On Graduating Their High School Students With The Equivalent Of A Technical Degree From One Of Our Community Colleges, So That They're Ready For A Job. At Schools Like P-tech In Brooklyn ... Students Will Graduate With A High School Diploma And An Associate Degree In Computers Or Engineering. We Need To Give Every American Student Opportunities Like This.

I Believe That If We Stop Talking At One Another And Start Talking With One Another, We Can Get A Lot Done.

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I Can Document This Past Week [of Presidency] We've Put Out Memos From Every Agency Showing What Did We Do. Try To Be As Honest As Possible. There's A Little Hype Involved Obviously. It's Spin Because It's Our Agencies. We Feel Some Pride About It. But Tried To Be Self-critical As Well.

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I Think That America Has To Stand With Democracy.

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If You Look At Libya, I Was Deeply Concerned About What Would Happen After Qaddafi Was Gone.

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Today, More Than Ever Before, Science Holds The Key To Our Survival As A Planet And Our Security And Prosperity As A Nation. It's Time We Once Again Put Science At The Top Of Our Agenda And Work To Restore America's Place As The World Leader In Science And Technology.

My First Job Is To Say Thank You To Those Who Voted Me. Those Who Didn't, I'm Going To Get Your Vote Next Time.

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I Will Begin To Remove Our Troops From Iraq Immediately.

Donald Trump Will Be The Next President, The 45th President Of The United States. And It Will Be Up To Him To Set Up A Team That He Thinks Will Serve Him Well And Reflect His Policies. It Takes A While For People To Reconcile Themselves With That New Reality. Hopefully, It`s A Reminder That Elections Matter. I Think It`s Important For Us To Let Him Make His Decisions, And I Think The American People Will Judge Over The Course Of The Next Couple Of Years Whether They Like What They See.

So While I Will Never Minimize The Costs Involved In Military Action, I Am Convinced That A Failure To Act In Libya Would Have Carried A Far Greater Price For America.

Maybe At The Same Time As I'm More Confident Today, I'm Also More Humble.

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We Need To Teach Our Kids That It's Not Just The Winner Of The Super Bowl Who Deserves To Be Celebrated, But The Winner Of The Science Fair.

Owes Unions Who Endorsed Him; That's Why He's In Politics.

There’s No Black Male My Age, Who’s A Professional, Who Hasn’t Come Out Of A Restaurant And Is Waiting For Their Car And Somebody Didn’t Hand Them Their Car Keys.

Climate Change Constitutes A Serious Threat To Global Security.

I Can Think About What [mahatma] Gandhi Said Or [martin Luther] King Said About Violence Begetting Violence, And Still Be True To My Job By Asking Myself The Question Whenever We're Confronted With A Situation Where Some May Be Arguing For Military Action: Will This Actually Result In America Being Safer, Or The Most Lives Being Saved?

There Are Some Who Might Say That Somebody Named Barack Obama Can't Be Elected Senator In The State Of Illinois. They're Probably The Same Folks Who Said That A Guy Named Rod Blagojevich Couldn't Be Elected Governor Of The State Of Illinois.

I'm Asking You To Believe. Not Just In My Ability To Bring About Real Change In Washington . . . I'm Asking You To Believe In Yours." Keeping Faith With Those Who Serve Must Always Be A Core American Value And A Cornerstone Of American Patriotism. Because America's Commitment To Its Servicemen And Women Begins At Enlistment, And It Must Never End.

We Have Reaffirmed Again And Again That The United States Is Not And Never Will Be At War With Islam. Islam Teaches Peace, And When It Comes To America And Islam, There Is No Us And Them, There's Only Us, Because Millions Of Muslim Americans Are Part Of The Fabric Of Our Country. So, We Reject Any Suggestion Of A Clash Of Civilizations.

The World Is Less Violent Than It Has Ever Been.

Today’s Decision Was A Victory For People All Across This Country Whose Lives Will Be More Secure.

I Think That What Is Always True When You Run Against An Incumbent President Is, Is That You End Up Talking More About That President's Record Than Your Vision For The Future, And I Think That The Democrats Do Have To Present A Proactive Agenda And Vision For The Country And Not Simply Run Against Something If They're Going To Be Successful.

Islam Has Always Been Part Of America

Certainly I've Appreciated Angela Merkel As A Partner.

For Decades, This Great Leader, Often At Dr. King’s Side, Was Denied His Rightful Place In History Because He Was Openly Gay. No Medal Can Change That, But Today, We Honor Bayard Rustin’s Memory By Taking Our Place In His March Towards True Equality, No Matter Who We Are Or Who We Love.

In Iraq And Syria, American Leadership - Including Our Military Power - Is Stopping Isil's Advance, Instead Of Getting Dragged Into Another Ground War In The Middle East, We Are Leading A Broad Coalition, Including Arab Nations, To Degrade And Ultimately Destroy This Terrorist Group.

I Don't Think That There's A Hard-and-fast Deadline. . . .what We Have Said All Along Is That This Is Not An Open-ended Process, We Are Not In This Just To Talk For Talk's Sake. . . . We Expect Prompt, Concrete Steps To Be Taken Over The Next Couple Of Weeks.

I'll Go Anywhere And I'll Do Whatever It Takes To Get This Done. It's Too Important For Washington To Screw This Up. Now's The Time For Us To Work On What We All Agree To, Which Is Let's Keep Middle-class Taxes Low. That's What Our Economy Needs. That's What The American People Deserve.

You May Want To Prove That You're Worthy Of Other Kids Or Neighbors Who Were Wealthier Than You And Teased You. You May Want To Prove That You're Worthy Of High Expectations. But I Do Think That There Is A Youthful Ambition That Very Much Has To Do With Making Your Mark In The World. And I Think That Cuts Across The Experiences Of A Lot Of People Who End Up Achieving Something Significant In Their Field.

My Life Story Is Something Obviously That Belongs To Me Very Personally. And The Fact Of The Matter Is That I Had Choices And Chances And Opportunities That Were Provided To Me, Based On The Way I Was Able To Direct My Own Decision-making. And What I'm Working To Fight For Is To Make Sure That All Women Have The Ability To Do That.

As Has Been Well Documented, I Smoked Pot As A Kid, And I View It As A Bad Habit And A Vice, Not Very Different From The Cigarettes That I Smoked As A Young Person Up Through A Big Chunk Of My Adult Life. I Don't Think It Is More Dangerous Than Alcohol.

I Do Not Want Two Classes Of Citizens In This Country. I Want Everybody To Prosper. That's Going To Be A Top Priority.

America Must Always Lead On The World Stage. If We Don't, No One Else Will. The Military That You Have Joined Is, And Always Will Be, The Backbone Of That Leadership. But U.s. Military Action Cannot Be The Only - Or Even Primary - Component Of Our Leadership In Every Instance. Just Because We Have The Best Hammer Does Not Mean That Every Problem Is A Nail.

The People There, The Community, The Lessons That I Learned -- They're All Based Right In This Few Square Miles Where We'll Now Be Able To Give Something Back And Bring The World Back Home After This Incredible Journey.

Generally The Constitution Is A Charter Of Negative Liberties, Says What The States Can't Do To You, Says What The Federal Government Can't Do To You. But It Doesn't Say What The State Or Federal Government Must Do On Your Behalf.

The Fact Is Every Single Day In The Ordinary American People, America's Families Have To Make Decisions About Their Families And That Should Be Made By Them, Not By The Texas Or United States.

I Think That Most Americans Don't Resent People For Getting Rich. They Want To Get Rich Themselves.

That We Are In The Midst Of Crisis Is Now Well Understood. Our Nation Is At War, Against A Far-reaching Network Of Violence And Hatred. Our Economy Is Badly Weakened, A Consequence Of Greed And Irresponsibility On The Part Of Some, But Also Our Collective Failure To Make Hard Choices And Prepare The Nation For A New Age. Homes Have Been Lost; Jobs Shed; Businesses Shuttered. Our Health Care Is Too Costly; Our Schools Fail Too Many; And Each Day Brings Further Evidence That The Ways We Use Energy Strengthen Our Adversaries And Threaten Our Planet.

I Believe We Can Keep The Promise Of Our Founders, The Idea That If You're Willing To Work Hard, It Doesn't Matter Who You Are Or Where You Come From Or What You Look Like Or Who You Love. It Doesn't Matter Whether You're Black Or White Or Hispanic Or Asian Or Native American Or Young Or Old Or Rich Or Poor, Able, Disabled, Gay Or Straight, You Can Make It Here In America If You're Willing To Try.

Native American

Inequality Also Distorts Our Democracy. It Gives An Outsized Voice To The Few Who Can Afford High-priced Lobbyists And Unlimited Campaign Contributions, And Runs The Risk Of Selling Out Our Democracy To The Highest Bidder. And It Leaves Everyone Else Rightly Suspicious That The System In Washington Is Rigged Against Them - That Our Elected Representatives Aren't Looking Out For The Interests Of Most Americans.

Sometimes People Just Feel As If We Want To Try Something To See If We Can Shake Things Up.

All Of Us Take Offense To Anyone Who Reaps The Rewards Of Living In America Without Taking On The Responsibilities Of Living In America. And Undocumented Immigrants Who Desperately Want To Embrace Those Responsibilities See Little Option But To Remain In The Shadows, Or Risk Their Families Being Torn Apart.

Keeping Our Military Strong Means Keepin' Our Families Strong.

The Ideas Of Ancient Greece Helped Inspire America's Founding Fathers As They Reached For Democracy. Our Revolutionary Ideas Helped Inspire Greeks As They Sought Their Own Freedom.

What I've Said Is We're Going To Encourage Democracy In Pakistan, Expand Our Nonmilitary Aid To Pakistan So That They Have More Of A Stake In Working With Us, But Insisting That They Go After These Militants.

Moral Values Includes The Immorality Of 45 Million Uninsured Or The Immorality Of Working People Who Are Having Trouble Raising A Family Despite Working Full-time. That Has To Be Part Of The Moral Equation. And If We Are Able To Frame Things In That Fashion, Then I Think We Can Be Successful.

With Respect To The Pledge I Made That If You Like Your Plan You Can Keep It. The Way I Put That Forward Unequivocally Ended Up Not Being Accurate.

So Don't Get Cynical. Cynicism Didn't Put A Man On The Moon. Cynicism Has Never Won A War, Or Cured A Disease, Or Built A Business, Or Fed A Young Mind. Cynicism Is A Choice. And Hope Will Always Be A Better Choice.

We Have To Have Better Intelligence. We Have To Have Better Interdiction Capabilities. And So The Issue Is Not How Much We Spend Or How Hard We Try; The Issue Is Are We Doing It The Right Way? Are We Being Smart About It?

I Started As A Community Organizer. Every One Of My Campaigns Was Premised On Getting New People Involved. And If There's A Theme In My Public Career It's That If Ordinary People Get Involved Then Good Things Happen. So I Want To See The Democratic Party Move In That Direction. And What That Means Is That We Aren't Just Micro-targeting To Eke Out Presidential Victories; It Means That We're Showing Up In Places Where Right Now We're Not Winning A Lot.

Just Like I Described In Health Care, Yeah, Somebody Comes In, They Got New Ideas, Maybe Ideas That Are Completely Opposite Of My Ideas. Maybe Some Of It Goes, Maybe Some Of That Progress Goes Back. Maybe They Think Of Some Things We Didn't Think Of, And So In Some Other Areas - We Can Learn Something.

We Too Often Let The Material Things Serve As Indicators That We're Doing Well, Even Though Something Inside Us Tells Us That Were Not Doing Our Best. That We Are Avoiding That Which Is Hard, But Also Necessary. That We Are Shrinking From Rather Than Rising To The Challenges Of The Age.

I Will Tell You, When 20 6-year-olds Are Gunned Down And Congress Literally Does Nothing, Yeah That's The Closest I Came To Feeling Disgusted.

Learning To Stand In Somebody Else's Shoes, To See Through Their Eyes, That's How Peace Begins. And It's Up To You To Make That Happen. Empathy Is A Quality Of Character That Can Change The World.

What I've Said To [my Team] Is, "look, We Ran Our Leg Of The Race And We Did A Darn Good Job."

[...] We Must Start By Inspiring Our Children With A Sense Of Purpose...by Nurturing Their Imagination So That They May Dream Big And Then Work Hard To Reach Those Dreams. Too Often, Our Children Spend Hours Playing Playstation Without Ever Finding Out How To Build Playstation. They Watch Television But Never Wonder How It's Put Together. They Surf Web Page After Web Page On The Internet, But Are Never Taught How To Design One.

I Believe Marriage Is Between A Man And A Woman. I Am Not In Favor Of Gay Marriage.

The Most Expensive Care We Can Give, We're Giving Those Americans Without Insurance. It's Kind Of Stupid That We're Fighting The Notion That We Want To Quit Paying A Hidden Tax And Be Up Front About Covering People In A Way That Is Cost-effective.

I Am Going To Be Able To Present To The Incoming Administration A Country That Is Stronger. A Federal Government That Is Working Better And More Efficiently. A National Security Apparatus That Is Both More Effective And Truer To Our Values. Energy Policies That Are Resulting In Not Just Less Pollution, But Also More Jobs.

If A Jayvee Team Puts On Lakers Uniforms, That Doesn't Make Them Kobe Bryant.

You Can't Change Washington From The Inside. You Can Only Change It From The Outside.

It Is My View That If Society Was Doing The Right Thing With Respect To You, [and There Were] Programs Targeted At Helping People Rise Into The Middle Class And Have A Good Income And Be Able To Save And Send Their Kids To School, And You've Got A Vigorous Enforcement Of Anti-discrimination Laws, Then I Have Confidence In The Black Community's Capabilities To Then Move Forward.

There's No Doubt That I'm A Better President Now Than When I First Took Office. This Is Not A Job Where There's A Manual, And Over Time You Get A Better Sense Of What's Important, What's Not, How To See Around Corners And Anticipate Problems, As Opposed To Just Managing Problems Once They've Arrived.

Let Us Remember That We Can Do These Things Not Just Because Of Wealth Or Power, But Because Of Who We Are: One Nation Under God, Indivisible, With Liberty And Justice For All.

Justice For All

From Obama's Book, "the Audacity Of Hope:" "i Am Not Willing To Have The State Deny American Citizens A Civil Union That Confers Equivalent Rights On Such Basic Matters As Hospital Visitation Or Health Insurance Coverage Simply Because The People They Love Are Of The Same Sex - Nor Am I Willing To Accept A Reading Of The Bible That Considers An Obscure Line In Romans To Be More Defining Of Christianity Than The Sermon On The Mount."

We Are Willing To Uphold Principles That Have Resulted In Unprecedented Prosperity And Security Throughout Europe And Around The World. With The Threat Of Climate Change Only Becoming More Urgent, Angela [merkel] And I Focused On The Need For American And E.u. Leadership To Advance Global Cooperation.

I Did Not Suggest That Iran Is A Democracy; Just The Opposite. I Talked About It Being A Repressive Theocracy. What I Think Is Indisputable Is That Even Within This Repressive Regime, The Political Leaders There - Including The Supreme Leader - Are Sensitive To The Concerns Of The Population Within Bounds.

And, You Know, I Don’t Want To Have To Worry That She Is Going To Get Sick As The Consequence Of Having, Having Her Lunch.

The Reason We're Governing Right Now Is Because We Defeated Moderate Republicans With Moderate Democrats. And People Need To Be Patient About That And Realize That Compromise Is Not Evil.

Those Of Us In Positions Of Responsibility, We'll Need To Be Less Concerned With The Judgment Of Special Interests And Well-connected Donors, And More Concerned With The Judgment Of Posterity.

The Bottom Line Is This - Whereas Iran Was Steadily Expanding Its Nuclear Program, We Have Now Cut Off Every Single Path That Iran Could Have Used To Build A Bomb.

As For Israel, Our Friendship Is Rooted Deeply In A Shared History And Shared Values. Our Commitment To Israel's Security Is Unshakeable. And We Will Stand Against Attempts To Single It Out For Criticism In International Forums.

I Want To Express Our Grieve And Condolences To The Families Of Two Hostages: One American, Dr. Warren Weinstein And An Italian Giovanni Laporto Who Were Tragically Killed In A U.s. Counterterrorism Operation.

For The Young People Here: Practicality Is A Good Thing. There Are Times Where Compromise Is Necessary. That's Part Of Wisdom. But It's Also Important To Hang On To What You Believe.

Throughout History, Islam Has Demonstrated Through Words And Deeds The Possibilities Of Religious Tolerance And Racial Equality.

You Know, When I Made A Series Of Overtures To The Republicans, Going Over To Meet With Both Republican Caucuses, You Know, Putting Three Republicans In My Cabinet -- Something That Is Unprecedented -- Making Sure That They Were Invited Here To The White House To Talk About The Economic Recovery Plan, All Those Were Not Designed Simply To Get Some Short-term Votes. They Were Designed To Try To Build Up Some Trust Over Time. And I Think That, As I Continue To Make These Overtures, Over Time, Hopefully That Will Be Reciprocated.

I Will Never Forget That The Only Reason I'm Standing Here Today Is Because Somebody, Somewhere Stood Up For Me When It Was Risky. Stood Up When It Was Hard. Stood Up When It Wasn't Popular. And Because That Somebody Stood Up, A Few More Stood Up. And Then A Few Thousand Stood Up. And Then A Few Million Stood Up. And Standing Up, With Courage And Clear Purpose, They Somehow Managed To Change The World.

That Applies, By The Way, Even To Some Of The Folks Who Are Now [donald] Trump Supporters. They're Responding To A Fictional Character Named Barack Obama Who They See On Fox News Or Who They Hear About Through Rush Limbaugh.

We've Taken Bold Action At Home By Making Historic Investments In Renewable Energy, By Putting Our People To Work Increasing Efficiency In Our Homes And Buildings, And By Pursuing Comprehensive Legislation To Transform To A Clean Energy Economy.

If The Critics Are Right That I've Made All My Decisions Based On Polls, Then I Must Not Be Very Good At Reading Them.

My Staff Was Very Excited For Brisvegas. When I Arrived, They Advised I Needed Some Xxxx.

People Take Pride In Being Irish-american And Italian-american. They Have A Particular Culture That Infuses The Whole Culture And Makes It Richer And More Interesting. I Think If We Can Expand That Attitude To Embrace African-americans And Latino-americans And Asian-americans, Then We Will Be In A Position Where All Our Kids Can Feel Comfortable With The Worlds They Are Coming Out Of, Knowing They Are Part Of Something Larger.

Torture Is How You Create Enemies, Not How You Defeat Them.

It Was Young People Who Stubbornly Insisted On Justice, Stubbornly Refused To Accept The World As It Is That Transformed Not Just The Country But Transformed The World.

Your Voice Can Change The World.

Most People Who Meet My Wife Quickly Conclude That She Is Remarkable. They Are Right About This. She Is Smart, Funny And Thoroughly Charming... Often, After Hearing Her Speak At Some Function Or Working With Her On A Project, People Will Approach Me And Say Something To The Effect Of "you Know, I Think The World Of You, Barack, But Your Wife... Wow!"

Today, On This Day Of Possibility, We Stand In The Shadow Of A Lanky, Raw-boned Man With Little Formal Education Who Once Took The Stage At Old Main And Told The Nation That If Anyone Did Not Believe The American Principles Of Freedom And Equality, That Those Principles Were Timeless And All-inclusive, They Should Go Rip That Page Out Of The Declaration Of Independence.

A Good Compromise, A Good Piece Of Legislation, Is Like A Good Sentence; Or A Good Piece Of Music. Everybody Can Recognize It. They Say, 'huh. It Works. It Makes Sense.'

I Know That The Politics Around Trade Can Be Very Difficult - Especially In An Election Year.

I've Said Very Clearly, Including In A State Of The Union Address, That I'm Against 'don't Ask, Don't Tell' And That We're Going To End This Policy.

Where The Stakes Are The Highest, In The War On Terror, We Cannot Possibly Succeed Without Extraordinary International Cooperation. Effective International Police Actions Require The Highest Degree Of Intelligence Sharing, Planning And Collaborative Enforcement.

If You Want A Model For What Is Possible, If You Want To See How To Build A Peaceful And Prosperous And Dynamic Society, Then Look At Berlin And Look At Germany.

Iran Is The Latest Expression Of A Deep, Ancient, Powerful Culture That's Different Than Ours. And We Don't Know How It's Going To Play Itself Out.

I Believe When Women Succeed America Succeeds!

There Are Always Things That I Think I Wish I Could Have Done Better.

If In Fact The Republicans Make Some Modifications [of Obamacare], Some Of Which I May Have Been Seeking Previously, But They Wouldn't Cooperate Because They Didn't Wanna Make The System Work, And Re-label It As Trumpcare, I'm Fine With That.

He [barack Obama] Talked About A Crisises And He Was Blaming The Republicans On This Crisises. It's Like Me Blaming My Wife For My Drinking. I Don't Se How This Is The Republicans Fault.

And To All Those Who Have Wondered If Americas Beacon Still Burns As Bright - Tonight We Proved Once More That The True Strength Of Our Nation Comes Not From Our The Might Of Our Arms Or The Scale Of Our Wealth, But From The Enduring Power Of Our Ideals: Democracy, Liberty, Opportunity, And Unyielding Hope. For That Is The True Genius Of America - That America Can Change. Our Union Can Be Perfected. And What We Have Already Achieved Gives Us Hope For What We Can And Must Achieve Tomorrow.

Hope -- Hope In The Face Of Difficulty. Hope In The Face Of Uncertainty. The Audacity Of Hope! In The End, That Is God’s Greatest Gift To Us...a Belief In Things Not Seen. A Belief That There Are Better Days Ahead.

I Think We Can Provide Common-sense Approaches To The Issue Of Illegal Guns That Are Ending Up On The Streets. We Can Make Sure That Criminals Don't Have Guns In Their Hands. We Can Make Certain That Those Who Are Mentally Deranged Are Not Getting A Hold Of Handguns. We Can Trace Guns That Have Been Used In Crimes To Unscrupulous Gun Dealers That May Be Selling To Straw Purchasers And Dumping Them On The Streets.

If You Want To Know Who We Are, Who America Is, How We Respond To Evil-that's It: Selflessly, Compassionately, Unafraid.

I Can Guarantee That Not Because I Give Attorney General [loretta] Lynch A Directive. That Is Institutionally How We Have Always Operated. I Do Not Talk To The Attorney General About Pending Investigations [on Hillary Clinton].

Guarantees That

I Think Every Case Is Different. Every Situation Is Different. People Come On The F.b.i.'s Radar Screen For A Variety Of Reasons At A Variety Of Times.

I Think That One Of The Things That We All Agree To Is That The Touchstone For Economic Policy Is, Does It Allow The Average American To Find Good Employment And See Their Incomes Rise; That We Can't Just Look At Things In The Aggregate, We Do Want To Grow The Pie, But We Want To Make Sure That Prosperity Is Spread Across The Spectrum Of Regions And Occupations And Genders And Races; And That Economic Policy Should Focus On Growing The Pie, But It Also Has To Make Sure That Everybody Has Got Opportunity In That System.

I Have Got To Figure Out A System Because I Have Bad Filing, Sorting, And Organizing Habits.

[white House] Feels Even More Like Home Now Because You Have All These Memories That Were Formed Watching Your Kids Grow Up.

You Always Hear About Waste And Abuse In Washington. And Usually It Doesn't Mean Much, Because Nobody Ever Finds Where That Waste And Abuse Is.

In Order To Make Reforms Sustainable, The Greek Economy Needs The Space To Return To Growth And Start Creating Jobs Again.

Leadership Isn't Just Legislation, That It's A Matter Of Persuading People And Giving Them Confidence, And Bringing Them Together And Setting A Tone.

That Is The American Story. People, Just Like You, Following Their Passions, Determined To Meet The Times On Their Own Terms. They Weren't Doing It For The Money. Their Titles Weren't Fancy. But They Changed The Course Of History And So Can You.

When I Talked To [donald Trump] About - Our Intelligence Agencies, What I've Said To Him Is - Is That There Are Gonna Be Times Where You've Got Raw Intelligence That Comes In And In My Experience, Over Eight Years, The Intelligence Community Is Pretty Good About Saying, "look, We Can't Say For Certain What This Means." But There Are Gonna Be Times Where The Only Way You Can Make A Good Decision Is If You Have Confidence That The Process Is Working, And The People That You Put In Charge Are Giving You Their Very Best Assessments.

I Wouldn't Consider Them Acts Of War, But I Would Consider Them Acts Of Property Damage, Commercial Theft That Are Serious.

It's The Idea Held By Generations Of Citizens Who Believed That America Is A Constant Work In Progress; Who Believed That Loving This Country Requires More Than Singing Its Praises Or Avoiding Uncomfortable Truths. It Requires The Occasional Disruption, The Willingness To Speak Out For What's Right, And Shake Up The Status Quo.

The Senators Know It's Important To Win Statewide To Have Hispanics And Other Immigrant Populations Supporting Them.

Palestinians Will Never Realize Their Independence By Denying The Right Of Israel To Exist.

Some People In D.c. Talk About Me Like A Dog.

We Are A Nation Of Laws.

What I Want To Communicate Is The Fact That In All My Travels Throughout The Muslim World, What I've Come To Understand Is That Regardless Of Your Faith - And America Is A Country Of Muslims, Jews, Christians, Non-believers - Regardless Of Your Faith, People All Have Certain Common Hopes And Common Dreams.

I Think It's Fair To Say That My Temperament Is Steady - And On The Buoyant Side.

I Don't Want To Be Invited To The Family Hunting Party.

We Live In A Moment When The Dream Of Equal Opportunity Is Within Reach.

With Patient And Firm Determination, I Am Going To Press On For Jobs. I'm Going To Press On For Equality. I'm Going To Press On For The Sake Of Our Children. I'm Going To Press On For The Sake Of All Those Families Who Are Struggling Right Now. I Don't Have Time To Feel Sorry For Myself. I Don't Have Time To Complain. I Am Going To Press On.

And Whether I Earned Your Vote Or Not, I Have Listened To You. I Have Learned From You. And You’ve Made Me A Better President. And With Your Stories And Your Struggles, I Return To The White House More Determined And More Inspired Than Ever About The Work There Is To Do And The Future That Lies Ahead.

I Think It's Useful To Keep In Mind I've Been Now President For Over Seven Years And Gun Sales Don't Seem To Have Suffered During That Time.

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