[Bumped as a reminder for all our Obama-supporting friends who may have missed it the first time.]
Yesterday during the speech he gave before signing the bill repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell into law, President Obama said this:
That is why I say to all Americans, gay or straight, who want nothing more than to defend this country in uniform: Your country needs you, your country wants you, and we will be honored to welcome you into the ranks of the finest military the world has ever known.Some of you remembered I visited Afghanistan just a few weeks ago. And while I was walking along the rope line — it was a big crowd, about 3,000 — a young woman in uniform was shaking my hand and other people were grabbing and taking pictures. And she pulled me into a hug and she whispered in my ear, “Get ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ done.”
And I said to her, “I promise you I will.”
For we are not a nation that says, “don’t ask, don’t tell.” We are a nation that says, “Out of many, we are one.” We are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot. We are a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal. Those are the ideals that generations have fought for. Those are the ideals that we uphold today. And now, it is my honor to sign this bill into law.
It’s at the 24:00 mark:
As you may know, right after the 2008 election, my photographer wife Anne C. Savage put together a photomosaic of then President-elect Barack Obama. Titled “Out of Many, We are One”, it is composed of thousands of faces of people she photographed who had attended Obama rallies in Michigan that fall. She posted it on Flickr and, much to her surprise, it was picked up by Time magazine. In January of 2009, it ran as a full two-page spread in their Person of the Year issue.
She then turned it into a poster and ended up selling thousands of them. Congressman John Dingell and his wife Debbie gave them away as gifts to everyone who attended to the Michigan inauguration ball in Washington, D.C. the evening Barack Obama became president.
The posters have been $20 plus shipping. However, between now and January 1, 2011, you can order an “Out of Many, We are One” poster for only $5 plus shipping. This is a gift from us to you after this historic first half-term of the best president in our lifetimes.
Have a very happy holiday season, my friends. I hope you all feel you have as much to celebrate as we do.
See more of Anne’s remarkable photography on her Flickr page. Spend a bit of time there. You won’t be disappointed.
I’m just sayin’…
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