Gerard Hoefling, Co-founder of Greenfire Coalition

July 4, 2025

This Fourth of July, I invite everyone who can read this to join me in reaffirming faith in our shared United States of America and to our sacred heritage bestowed by the signers of the Declaration of Independence and enshrined by our Constitution. We who believe in and honor the rights earned over 250 years of civil strife and foreign wars must not stand idly by and bemoan threats to the always hard-earned Democracy or wring our hands about seemingly inept “leaders” and a seemingly compromised Judiciary.

We must believe in the foundational principles of this most optimistic political experiment that stands for the unquestioned and absolute equality of ALL. Regardless of country of origin, sexual preference, gender, pronoun of choice, age, income, religion, political affiliation or color, now is the time to embrace your duty, our duty. STAND UP against those forces now arrayed to strip us all from all we hold dear.

To fail to resist now is to risk utter failure. To fail to resist, to speak out, to stand up, is to disgrace those who provided the gift of Democracy and to dishonor those many who died to preserve and ensure it. To fail to stand together now ensures only slavery. Awake!