Obama: Today’s ‘Poisonous Political Climate’ Threatens Good Citizenship

RUSH TRANSCRIPT: 
"But I have a serious point to make here. because this is part of the issue. We have an importation of our politics nationally on cable and talk radio. It seeps into everything. The point I'm trying to make is i care about fixing our politics not only because i am president today or because some of my initiatives have been blocked by congress. That happens to every president. it happens to every governor and everyone who participates in democracy. You are not going to get 100 percent of what you want all the time. the reason this is important to me is next year I will still hold the most important type 00 all: and that the title of citizen and as an american citizen, i never stand our progress is not inevitable. It must be fought for and won by all with the kind of patriotism that our fellow in Illinois at least even some once described as not an outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. it requires citizenship and a sense that we are one and today that kind of citizenship is threatened by political climate that pushes people away from part of the beating public life. it turns people off. it discourages them, makes them cynical. and when that happens, more powerful and extreme voices fill the void. when that happens, progress stalls and that is how we end up with only a handful of lobbyists and policies that are detached and one working families face every day. how we end up with a man who publicly demands the government stay out of their business then expects special treatment. that is how our political system gets consumed by small things when we are a people were called to do great things, to give everybody a shot in a changing economy, to keep america safe and strong and an uncertain world, to repair our climate before it threatens everything we leave for our kids. so that is what is on my mind as i come back to Illinois today."