Barack and Michelle Obama Call for "Love and Compassion" in Holiday Edition of Weekly Address

The Obamas will be spending their holidays in Hawaii.

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Michelle Obama, who recently released one of the best songs of the year, joined her husband for a very special holiday edition of his weekly address on Friday. Urging a dedication to unity and tolerance, regardless of religious affiliation, President Barack Obama pointed to the holiday season's ability to inspire tolerance all across the nation.

"That’s the spirit that binds us together," Obama insisted, "not just as Christians, but as Americans of all faiths. It’s what the holidays are about, coming together as one American family to celebrate our blessings and the values we hold dear." Speaking in awesomely direct contrast to the rhetoric of many leading presidential candidates, the Obamas also reminded the nation that America's greatest strengths lie in the country's ability to champion acceptance of all faiths by "treating one another with love and compassion."

Obama also sent a message of hope to "those on society’s margins," including "the sick and the hungry, the poor and the persecuted, [and] the stranger in need of shelter."

For proper holiday exuberance, pair the First Family's special holiday message with a revisit of this instaclassic GIF of Obama calmly cruising on a skateboard en route to a quick international handshake:

 

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