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“Over the past five years, our businesses have created more than 11 million new jobs.”



Il Presidente Obama non deve pensare alla campagna elettorale per la rielezione. Ne ha gia' vinte due, come ha detto scherzando durante il suo discorso sullo Stato dell'Unione. L'America e' un Paese polarizzato, diviso. Il Congresso e' ormai nelle mani dei repubblicani. Il discorso di Obama di altissimo livello e' stato letto sul teleprompter e pronunciato con grande abilita' oratoria. I cinici diranno che non ha spostato di un millimetro l'aspra opposizione in cui si trovano ad operare il governo e il parlamento americano. Ma l'America e' una nazione in cui le parole giuste riescono ancora a toccare le corde del sentimento, dell'immaginazione, della voglia di cambiare. La democrazia americana e' costituita da 321 milioni di individui di razze, pelle e culture le piu' diverse. Eppure nei momenti topici della loro vita queste componenti, spesso in contrasto tra loro, ritrovano un comune denominatore e agiscono tenendo conto dell'interesse comune.
Un grande insegnamento per quelle nazioni che assomigliano a un pollaio dove le galline chiocciano, schiamazzano, coccodiano, mentre il gallo sfiancato e depresso ha smesso da tempo di chicchiricchiare e di fare il suo dovere.
(I titoli che seguono sono tratti dall'edizione notturna del Washington Post)
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'I still believe that we are one people'
“Over the past six years, the pundits have pointed out more than once that my presidency hasn’t delivered on this vision.  How ironic, they say, that our politics seems more divided than ever.  It’s held up as proof not just of my own flaws – of which there are many – but also as proof that the vision itself is misguided, and naïve, and that there are too many people in this town who actually benefit from partisanship and gridlock for us to ever do anything about it. I know how tempting such cynicism may be.  But I still think the cynics are wrong. I still believe that we are one people.  I still believe that together, we can do great things, even when the odds are long.”
“You know, just over a decade ago, I gave a speech in Boston where I said there wasn’t a liberal America, or a conservative America; a black America or a white America – but a United States of America.  I said this because I had seen it in my own life, in a nation that gave someone like me a chance,” Obama said, reflecting on the 2004 Democratic National Convention speech that vaulted him to national fame.
View image on TwitterIl piccolo Obama
'We respect human dignity'
As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we’re threatened, which is why I’ve prohibited torture, and worked to make sure our use of new technology like drones is properly constrained.  It’s why we speak out against the deplorable anti-Semitism that has resurfaced in certain parts of the world.  It’s why we continue to reject offensive stereotypes of Muslims – the vast majority of whom share our commitment to peace,” he said, which is why the U.S. defends free speech and condemns “the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.”
Obama on Guantanamo
“As Americans, we have a profound commitment to justice – so it makes no sense to spend three million dollars per prisoner to keep open a prison that the world condemns and terrorists use to recruit.  Since I’ve been President, we’ve worked responsibly to cut the population of GTMO in half.  Now it’s time to finish the job.  And I will not relent in my determination to shut it down.  It’s not who we are.”
Iran veto
Obama warned Congress last week that he would veto proposed bipartisan legislation to impose additional sanctions on Iran, and did so again in the speech.
“I will veto any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress.  The American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom.”
“First, we stand united with people around the world who’ve been targeted by terrorists – from a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris.  We will continue to hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks, and we reserve the right to act unilaterally, as we’ve done relentlessly since I took office to take out terrorists who pose a direct threat to us and our allies.”
President Obama’s State of the Union proposal to make community college free for all is based in part on a program created under a Republican governor.