My friends, I believe that willingness to dissent is at the core of true patriotism. Especially when you live in a truly free country that does not legally bind and require you to behave as a patriot. Standing up and speaking your mind, even if your mind is of a disagreeable notion, is what makes true freedom possible. If this is not true, then why do we aggrandise and quote those who stood down tyranny and oppression before us? Why do we praise Patrick Henry and repeat words, mere words, he uttered hundreds of years ago? Why? Because speaking up and speaking out is a true patriot's duty and legacy.

Un-Patriotic? Un-American? These are things you can choose to be or not be in America. You are not required to wave the flag and sing the praises of your government for the privilege of feeling safe in its arms. You merely need to be a national and follow its laws, laws which you can challenge at any time no matter who you are. The only way this can be taken away from you, from us, is through complacency. If we let those who would steal some of our power for personal gain, usually wrapping themselves in a cloak marked 'patriotism' to blind your eyes from the truth beneath, taint our freedom we may one day wake to find ourselves in a very different country. We awoke one September 11th to the realisation that we were not immune from terrorism just because we were Americans, we should all concern ourselves with ensuring that we do not wake one day to find we've given away our freedom for specious promises of safety by cloaked bandits; Bandits from our own soil.

So, where do we stand today? How have things changed, for better or worse, since January 2002? Have we simmered down? Do we have a more level head? Are we just as free today? Do we still have a clear notion of what patriotism (not flag waving) is?