Weekly Address: President Obama – Have a Safe and Happy Fourth of July

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 HouseWeekly Address

In this week’s address, the President wished everyone a happy Fourth of July. He honored the individuals who, throughout the history of America, have struggled and sacrificed to make this country a better place, from our Founding Fathers, to the men and women in uniform serving at home and overseas. The President asked that on this most American of holidays we remember the words of our founders, when they declared our independence and that all are created equal, and that we continue to protect that creed and make sure it applies to every single American. And finally, he wished good luck to the U.S. Women’s National Team competing in the World Cup Final this weekend.

Transcript: Remarks of President Barack Obama, Weekly Address, The White House, July 4, 2015

Happy Fourth of July, everybody. Like many of you, Michelle, Sasha, Malia, and I are going to spend the day outdoors, grilling burgers and dogs, and watching the fireworks with our family and friends. It’s also Malia’s birthday, which always makes the Fourth extra fun for us.

As always, we’ve invited some very special guests to our backyard barbecue – several hundred members of our military and their families. On this most American of holidays, we remember that all who serve here at home and overseas, represent what today is all about. And we remember that their families serve, too. We are so grateful for their service and for their sacrifice.

We remember as well that this is the day when, 239 years ago, our founding patriots declared our independence, proclaiming that all of us are created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights including the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

A couple of centuries later, we have made ourselves into a big, bold, dynamic, and diverse country. We are of all races, we come from all places, we practice all faiths, and believe in all sorts of different ideas. But our allegiance to this declaration – this idea – is the creed that binds us together. It’s what, out of many, makes us one.

And it’s been the work of each successive generation to keep this founding creed safe by making sure its words apply to every single American. Folks have fought, marched, protested, even died for that endeavor, proving that as Americans, our destiny is not written for us, but by us.

We honor those heroes today. We honor everyone who continually strives to make this country a better, stronger, more inclusive, and more hopeful place. We, the people, pledge to make their task our own – to secure the promise of our founding words for our own children, and our children’s children.

And finally, what better weekend than this to cheer on Team USA – good luck to the U.S. Women’s National Team in the World Cup Final!

Thanks, everybody. From my family to yours, have a safe and happy Fourth of July.

Bolding added.

~

6 Comments

  1. Interesting … Romney as kingmaker putting together a Christie/Rubio 2016 ticket?

    New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s comeback journey begins here in New Hampshire, so the Republican presidential candidate is paying a visit to the last winner of the state’s first-in-the-nation primary and one of its most famous summertime residents.

    Mitt Romney is hosting Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, at his waterfront compound on picturesque Lake Winnipesaukee on Friday night, people familiar with the plans said.[…]

    On Friday night, though, Romney had the Christies as overnight guests. But they weren’t the only non-family members in the house. Fellow GOP hopeful Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and his wife, Jeanette, also joined the Romneys for Friday night’s slumber party.

  2. Speaking of Women’s World Cup Soccer, it should come as no surprise that the misogynistic Sports Illustrated employs … misogynists!!! One of their contributors Tweeted that “Not [just] women’s soccer……women’s sports in general not worth watching.”

    Actually, millions have tuned into the World Cup (breaking records for the tournament) and millions more will watch today as England plays Germany for the bronze and on Sunday when the U.S. Women play Japan. The record for a single match was in the U.S. versus China World Cup in 1999 with nearly 18 million viewers.

    Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler responded to the SI person’s Tweet in a “Really?” segment:

  3. Good news for cleaner elections … sekrit money baggers have to rephrase things:

    Secret money groups will have to work harder this year to keep their spending hidden.

    That’s because of a legal complication that is sending some Republican operatives back to the drawing board this cycle: Since Hillary Clinton is not a current federal officeholder — like Obama was in 2012 or Clinton was until she left his administration in 2013 — the nonprofit groups need to find more oblique ways to spend the money that they aren’t allowed to dedicate to full-throttle attacks.

    If Clinton were a current official, Republican groups could argue that these ads were merely debating the issues, allowing them to maintain their tax-exempt status while nevertheless dedicating nearly their entire media budgets to ads that slice and dice the Democratic hopeful.

    In 2012, political nonprofit groups’ signature move on television was to implore Americans to “tell President Obama” that they disagreed with him on raising taxes, on capping carbon emissions or on forcing Obamacare.

    Because they weren’t asking voters to actually boot him from the White House that fall — just to “tell” a politician something like they tell their neighbors — the outside spending organizations could consider these advertisements as issue spots, meaning they had more legal wiggle room when they wanted to launch their real broadsides.

    But in 2016, “telling” Hillary Clinton something is equivalent to any other powerful chop.

    Now, let’s elect some honest people who will require full disclosure and shine a light on the dark money.

  4. Latest 2016 polls demonstrate the success of the politics of racial animus … older white Republicans favor Trump over other candidates:

    “among voters age 50 or older, 14% support Bush and 14% back Trump. […] Trump’s competitiveness among those older and more conservative Republicans also helps explain Walker’s and Rubio’s declines. In April, 16% of Republicans age 50 or older backed Rubio, 14% Walker. Now, Rubio has just 6% among this group and Walker has 7%. Trump grew from 2% in May to 14% now.”

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