What Did Obama Say?

Barack Obama had a few things to say to graduates at a commencement address at Ohio State University this past Sunday. He started by telling students to be conscientious, active citizens throughout their lives. This is what he said:

"You've grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that's at the root of all our problems. They'll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave and creative and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can't be trusted .... The founders trusted us with this awesome authority. We should trust ourselves with it, too ... when we don't, when we turn away and get discouraged and cynical, and abdicate that authority, we grant our silent consent to someone who will gladly claim it."

Then he added:

"Whenever you feel that creeping cynicism, whenever you hear those voices saying you can't do it, you can't make a difference, whenever somebody tells you to set your sights lower -- the trajectory of this great nation should give you hope.  What generations have done before you should give you hope. Because it was young people just like you who marched and mobilized and stood up and sat in to secure women's rights, and voting rights, and workers' rights, and gay rights -- often at incredible odds, often at great danger, often over the course of years, sometimes over the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime -- and they never got acknowledged for it, but they made a difference."

I wonder if Obama was talking about himself?