Generally, agivenspeechsample is played over thespeech path, whereit presumably undergoes varioustypesofimpairmentsduringencoding, packetization, transmission, anddecoding.
Obama gave a major speech Thursday in which he said al-Qaida is "on the path to defeat" and he's signaling that he's reluctant to commit troops overseas to conflicts like Syria or other countries struggling with instability in the uncertain aftermath of the Arab Spring.