To absent friends.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

We've reached the end of the journey- today is the day we find out if we still deserve to call ourselves a Democracy.

Many here at the Democratic Underground have fought the good fight, giving freely of their time, their resources, their money, and their spirits. Many here have taken that one step beyond what was expected of them.

And some have left the playing field.

Let's take a moment to remember them. I can name a few- others here will have a better memory and will be able to fill out the list.

To Alarcojon.
To Andy Stevenson.
To Khephra.
To Oneighty.
To all the others at DU I neglected to list.

A special thanks goes to the soldiers who felt strongly enough about doing their duty to their country that they stood firm in the face of the pointlessness of it all, at the end giving their lives for us. Too many have needlessly fallen. Too many more are destined to do the same.

And we should offer up a special apology for the innocent women, children, and men of Iraq and Afghanistan who were butchered in the name of George Bush's madness. They paid a horrific price for a commodity that in the end never even existed.

And finally, a moment of remembrance for those who died on the day the madness began- those who fell at the World Trade Center, and the heros who sickened and died in the aftermath.

Today is the day the citizens of our nation will rise up and begin the process of putting these wrongs to rest- we will never be able to erase the sins done callously in our name, but perhaps in time we can try to reverse a small amount of the damage.

We salute you, one and all.

:toast: