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1735 Barack Obamaaren%u2019t held hostage to the profits of oil companies or the sabotage of foreign oil fields. John Kerry believes in the constitutional freedoms that have made our country the envy of the world, and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties nor use faith as a wedge to divide us. And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world, war must be an option, but it should never be the first option.A while back, I met a young man named Shamus at the VFW Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid, 6%u20322%u2033 or 6%u20323%u2033, clear eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he%u2019d joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week. As I listened to him explain why he%u2019d enlisted, his absolute faith in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all any of us might hope for in a child. But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he was serving us? I thought of more than 900 service men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who will not be returning to their hometowns. I thought of families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one%u2019s full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or with nerves shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were reservists. When we send our young men and women into harm%u2019s way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they%u2019re going, to care for their families while they%u2019re gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.Now let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued, and they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure. John Kerry believes in America. And he knows it%u2019s not enough for just some of us to prosper. 10For alongside our famous individualism, there%u2019s another ingredient in the American saga.A belief that we are connected as one people. If there%u2019s a child on the south side of Chicago who can%u2019t read, that matters to me, even if it%u2019s not my child. If there%u2019s a senior citizen somewhere who can%u2019t pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it%u2019s not my grandmother. If there%u2019s an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It%u2019s that fundamental belief%u2014I am my brother%u2019s keeper, I am my sister%u2019s keeper%u2014thatmakes this country work. It%u2019s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. %u201cE pluribus unum.%u201d Out of many, one.Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there%u2019s not a liberal America and a conservative America%u2014there%u2019s the United States of America. There%u2019s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there%u2019s the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I%u2019ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don%u2019t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.In the end, that%u2019s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I%u2019m not talking about The phrase %u201cbrother%u2019s keeper%u201d refers to the story of Cain and Abel. What does the phrase mean, as it%u2019s used in paragraph 12? How does it help develop Obama%u2019s argument?44Copyright %u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.