It's pretty good, but I have some questions.

When he says:

Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation, not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

That is the true genius of America, a faith in the simple dreams of its people, the insistence on small miracles. That we can tuck in our children at night and know they are fed and clothed and safe from harm. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe or hiring somebody's son. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be counted-or at least, most of the time.

It sounds like he thinks these are good ideals. Do we only want these things for ourselves, or for others in the world?

When he says:

For alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga.

A belief that we are connected as one people. If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandmother. If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It's that fundamental belief-I am my brother's keeper, I am my sisters' keeper-that makes this country work.

Again, does his sense of unity and empathy only extend to our borders? If there's a woman being raped and beaten to death in an Iraqi detention center, should we care? If there are entire villages in North Korea where people eat grass to stay alive, should we care? If schoolgirls are forced to burn alive in a school fire in Saudi Arabia because they're not dressed properly to appear in public, should we care?

Many people, including myself, see political and religious oppression, coupled with totalitarian regimes, as the root causes of the greatest threats we face in the modern world.

And yet Obama's speech was extremely U.S.-centric, something that I often hear liberals accusing us of being, too involved with our own affairs, without worrying about what's going on in the world around us.