"As we gather in fair grounds, waiting for darkness, and waving our flag, we might take this year to evaluate the true state of our independence. Do our representatives represent us in an era of corporate power? How have dogmatic religions influenced politics? How independent is our information? What freedoms are at stake? What is it we all fiercely believe enough to give our lives for now? It should be the same beliefs we are willing to give the lives of others for, but I’ll bet it isn’t. America has been at war for ten years, but few of us have been fighting it."