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The President: Hi, everybody.
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On behalf of the Obama
family - Michelle, Malia,
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Sasha, Grandma, Bo, and
Sunny - I want to wish you a
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very happy Thanksgiving.
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Like so many of you, we'll
spend the day with friends
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and family, turkey
and touchdowns.
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We'll give thanks for each
other, and for all that God
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has given us.
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And we'll reflect on what
truly binds us as Americans.
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That's never been
more important.
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As a country, we've just
emerged from a noisy,
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passionate, and sometimes
divisive campaign season.
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After all, elections are
often where we emphasize
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what sets us apart.
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We face off in a contest of
"us" versus "them." We focus
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on the candidate we support
instead of some of the
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ideals we share.
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But a few short weeks later,
Thanksgiving reminds us that
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no matter our differences,
we are still one people,
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part of something
bigger than ourselves.
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We are communities that
move forward together.
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We are neighbors who look
out for one another,
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especially those among
us with the least.
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We are always,
simply, Americans.
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That's why, through the fog
of Civil War, President
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Lincoln saw what mattered
most - the unalienable
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truths for which so many
gave their lives, and which
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made possible "a new
birth of freedom." And so
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precisely when the fate
of the Union hung in the
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balance, he boldly
proclaimed a day of
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Thanksgiving, when the
nation's gifts "should be
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solemnly, reverently, and
gratefully acknowledged, as
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with one heart and one
voice by the whole
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American people."
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Today, we continue to give
thanks for those blessings,
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and to all who ensured
that they would be
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our inheritance.
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We remember the determined
patriots who landed at the
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edge of the world in
search of freedom.
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We give thanks to the brave
men and women who defend
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that freedom in every
corner of the world.
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And we honor all people -
from the First Americans to
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our newest arrivals - who
continue to shape our
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nation's story, enrich our
heritage, and give meaning
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to our founding values,
values we must never take
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for granted.
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That in America, we are
bound not by any one race or
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religion, but rather an
adherence to a common belief
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- that all of us
are created equal.
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That we may think, worship,
and speak, and love
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as we please.
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That the gift of democracy
is ours, and ours alone, to
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nurture and protect.
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Never doubt, that is what
makes us American - not
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where we come from, what we
look like, or what faith we
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practice, but the ideals
to which we pledge
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our allegiance.
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It's about our capacity to
live up to the creed as old
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as our founding: "E Pluribus
Unum" - that out of many, we
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are one.
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And as long as we continue
to welcome the contributions
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of all people, as long as
we stand up for each other,
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speak out for what is right,
and stay true to these
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ideals - not just when it's
easy, but when it's hard -
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then no one can ever
take away our liberty.
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Our best days will
always be ahead.
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And we will keep building
a future where all of our
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children know the
promise of America.
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Happy Thanksgiving,
everybody.
