There are two themes in this speech. One is obvious, the other is hidden, but once seen it becomes glaring -- a cry and lament, a wailing. One comes up right away. The other threads a weave through everthing. I marked out[*] near words that really -- to Obama's inner persona -- mean something else entirely! All my opinion, for sure -- but read and see if you can pick the second and hidden theme out yourself.
Of course the first theme is the subject of the Long Thread, his citizenship status. Obviously he is putting his own status beyond the law -- this is a time for change after all -- he will be our first world citizen President.
But the second theme. Well, that's very very human.
Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen — a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.I know that I don’t look like the Americans who’ve previously spoken in this great city. The journey that led me here is improbable. My mother was born in the heartland of America, but my father grew up herding goats in Kenya. His father — my grandfather — was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.
At the height of the Cold War, my father decided, like so many others in the forgotten corners of the world, that his yearning — his dream — required the freedom and opportunity promised by the West. And so he wrote letter after letter to universities all across America until somebody, somewhere answered his prayer for a better life.
That is why I’m here. And you are here because you too know that yearning. This city, of all cities, knows the dream of freedom. ... People of the world: now do your duty People of the world, look at Berlin!” ... insist that we never forget our common humanity. ... history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.
That is why we cannot afford to be divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone.
That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another. ... These now are the walls we must tear down.
But the task is never easy. True partnership and true progress requires constant work and sustained sacrifice. They require sharing the burdens ... They require allies who ... most of all, trust each other.
That is why [*] America cannot turn inward. ... Now is the time to join together, through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice, and a global commitment ... all nations — must summon that spirit anew.
This is the moment when ... must have the chance to choose its own tomorrow free from the shadows of yesterday. ... to seek a partnership that extends across this entire continent.
This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where ... [bad things happen] ... Let us resolve that all [*] nation — including my own — will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your [*] nation ... This is the moment to give our children back their future. This is the moment to stand as one.
And this is the moment when we must give hope to those left behind ...
[*] America to seek, with other [*] nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom — indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us — what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America’s shores — is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.
.. We are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. Let us build on our common history, and seize our common destiny, and once again engage in that noble struggle to bring justice and peace to our world.