We Cannot Fight Communism All Over The

I Get Always A Little Uptight When I Hear Politicians Say How Exceptional America Is.

Just The Fact That We Can't Pass Budgets In Our Congress, Just The Fact That We Are Gridlocked In Our Own Democracy, The Fact That Everybody Who Travels Can See That We're Not Investing In Our Airports, In Our Rail, In Our Infrastructure And So Forth, People Are Noticing A United States That Is Not Getting The Job Done In Some Ways.

That Is What Americans Do. We Face A Challenge - No Matter How Great - Because We Know That On The Other Side There Is Always Hope.

But I Can Tell You What I Believe: When Tens Of Thousands Of Innocent Souls Have Perished In Darfur-when 11 Million Children Are Without Health Insurance-when Our Colossal Debt Subjects Our Economic Future To The Whims Of Asian Bankers-no One Can Tell Me That Faith Demands This Senate Spend Its Time Arguing Over A Handful Of Judges. No One With Those Priorities Can Use My Faith To Intimidate Me.

I Know There Are A Lot Of Musicians And A Lot Of Artists, And There Are A Lot Of Writers And Other People Who Inspire Young People, But I'd Like To See Somebody In Political Life Be Able To Connect And Make These Choices That We Need To Make In Washington Real In Terms Of People's Lives.