Obama gives last state of the union address

Jan 13, 2016 (LBO) – U.S. President Barack Obama gave his final state of the union address on Tuesday attempting to bridge an optimistic assessment of the nation’s progress with public anxiety over terrorism abroad.

In a wide-ranging speech Obama painted a hopeful portrait of the nation after seven years in office.

“As frustration grows, there will be voices urging us to fall back into tribes, to scapegoat fellow citizens who don’t look like us, or pray like us, or vote like we do, or share the same background,” Obama said.

“We can’t afford to go down that path. It won’t deliver the economy we want, or the security we want, but most of all, it contradicts everything that makes us the envy of the world.”

After nearly 10,000 air strikes, the United States has taken out centers of the ISIL, he said, adding the country remains the strongest in the world in terms of military capacity.

But rebuilding a nation cannot be the responsibility of one party and fall on the United States, Obama said.

In terms of political culture, Obama said rancor between political parties has increased during his term in office, which is one of his regrets, and there was a collective responsibility to fix the political system.

Obama also emphasized the need to reduce the influence of money in politics.