And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.

We have to recognize we've got some big problems on race, just like we got still big problems on crime, just like we got big problems on just about everything. But we also have to make sure that we've - draw confidence from the progress that we have made, 'cause otherwise, you get into this cycle of cynicism.

In order to make the tough decisions we have to know what our values are and who we're fighting for and our priorities and if we are spending $300 billion on tax cuts for people who don't need them and weren't even asking for them, and we are leaving out health care which is crushing on people all across the country, then I think we have made a bad decision and I want to make sure we're not shortchanging our long term priorities.

I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.

You don't take it personally. You understand that if people are angry that somehow the government is failing, then they are going to look to the guy who represents government.

We're breaking protocol here. That's the good thing about being President - I can do whatever I want.

We may not be able to stop evil in the world, but how we treat one another is entirely up to us.