President Obama spoke today of America as an unfinished journey, one that will not be complete “until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.”
The text of the president’s speech
Newtown was one of several iconic places used by the president in his second inaugural address. He also referred to “Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall,” each a touchstone for women’s rights, civil rights and gay rights.
“We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.”