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Weekly Address: President Obama – Celebrating Independence Day

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The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

 

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, President Obama commemorated Independence Day by noting the contributions and sacrifices from individuals throughout the history of this country — from our Founding Fathers, to the men and women in our military serving at home and abroad.

Transcript: Celebrating Independence Day

Hi, everybody. I hope you’re all having a great Fourth of July weekend.

I want to begin today by saying a special word to the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team, who represented America so well the past few weeks. We are so proud of you. You’ve got a lot of new believers. And I know there’s actually a petition on the White House website to make Tim Howard the next Secretary of Defense. Chuck Hagel’s got that spot right now, but if there is a vacancy, I’ll think about it.

It was 238 years ago that our founders came together in Philadelphia to launch our American experiment. There were farmers and businessmen, doctors and lawyers, ministers and a kite-flying scientist.

Those early patriots may have come from different backgrounds and different walks of life. But they were united by a belief in a simple truth — that we are all created equal; that we are all endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights; and that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Over the years, that belief has sustained us through war and depression; peace and prosperity. It’s helped us build the strongest democracy, the greatest middle class, and the most powerful military the world has ever known. And today, there isn’t a nation on Earth that wouldn’t gladly trade places with the United States of America.

But our success is only possible because we have never treated those self-evident truths as self-executing. Generations of Americans have marched, organized, petitioned, fought and even died to extend those rights to others; to widen the circle of opportunity for others; and to perfect this union we love so much.

That’s why I want to say a special thanks to the men and women of our armed forces and the families who serve with them — especially those service members who spent this most American of holidays serving your country far from home.

You keep us safe, and you keep the United States of America a shining beacon of hope for the world. And for that, you and your families deserve not only the appreciation of a grateful nation, but our enduring commitment to serve you as well as you’ve served us.

God bless you all. And have a great weekend.

Bolding added.

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Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 9 Comments

9 comments

  1. JanF

    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

  2. JanF

    The Employment Situation in June

    The 1.4 million jobs added in the first half of this year are the most in any first half since 1999. Furthermore, this is the first time since September 1999-January 2000 we have seen total job growth above 200,000 for five straight months. While today’s jobs report is encouraging, many families are still struggling with long-term unemployment and wages that have been stagnant for decades. The President continues to press Congress to take steps to further strengthen the economy, including passing a transportation bill to avoid jeopardizing hundreds of thousands of jobs later this year. But he will also continue to make progress using his own authority to increase economic opportunity, support wage growth, and ensure America’s workplaces are adapting to the 21st century.

    Graph:

    The future looks positive:

    Total job growth in June was the 4th strongest month out of the last 52 months, and a number of industries outperformed recent trends. Looking over the 52 months since March 2010, June was a “top ten” month for the following industries: wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information services, professional and business services, and state and local government. Across the 17 industries shown below, the correlation between the most recent one-month percent change and the average percent change over the last twelve months was 0.57, less than 0.82 last month, reflecting the fact that there was particularly strong job growth in some sectors.

  3. JanF

    Most Americans think the U.S. is great, but fewer say it’s the greatest

    As was the case three years ago, young people are far less likely than older Americans to say that the U.S. stands above all other nations: Just 15% of those under 30 express that view today, down from 27% three years ago.

    Yet the belief that the United States “stands above” other countries has slipped among all age groups since 2011, including among those 65 and older, who remain the most likely to think that the U.S. is superior to all other countries.

    By political party:

    Is the decline among Republicans part of what is fueling ODS? Do they blame Obama? Curious minds want to know …

  6. princesspat

    This is a long video, but the message is important. What we as citizens do and say is important!  

  7. Portlaw

    went back to yesterday’s. Hadn’t read the introduction and went straight to the comments and didn’t realize that yesterday was the last day of the check in series. Am so sorry that I hadn’t posted a huge thank you to JanF and Iriti for those diary check ins during all that time. It must have been a lot of work and a big burden. So, belatedly a very warm and heartfelt thank you for all you’ve done. It was great and I loved it.  Am sad I won’t see everyone every morning but hope all is well with all of you. Again, a big thank you.

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