Nothing In Life That’s Worth Anything Is

Where We Get Into Problems, Typically, Is When Our Personal Religious Faith, Or The Community Of Faith That We Participate In, Tips Into A Sort Of Fundamentalist Extremism, In Which It's Not Enough For Us To Believe What We Believe, But We Start Feeling Obligated To, You Know, Hit You Over The Head Because You Don't Believe The Same Thing. Or To Treat You As Somebody Who's Less Than I Am.

Occasionally I Would Like The German People To Give Us The Benefit Of The Doubt, Given Our History, As Opposed To Assuming The Worst -- Assuming That We Have Been Consistently Your Strong Partners And That We Share A Common Set Of Values.

Whether Our Forebears Were Strangers Who Crossed The Atlantic Or The Pacific Or The Rio Grande, We Are Here Only Because This Country Welcomed Them In And Taught Them That To Be An American Is About Something More Than What We Look Like, Or What Our Last Names Are, Or How We Worship.

The Absence Of Hope Can Rot A Society From Within.

Our Government Should Work For Us, Not Against Us. It Should Help Us, Not Hurt Us. It Should Ensure Opportunity Not Just For Those With The Most Money And Influence, But For Every American Who's Willing To Work. That's The Promise Of America - The Idea That We Are Responsible For Ourselves, But That We Also Rise Or Fall As One Nation; The Fundamental Belief That I Am My Brother's Keeper; I Am My Sister's Keeper.