"Sixteen Military Wives" -- The Decemberists

What is this song about?
This song is about America, the people in it, and their beliefs.

What is the theme? (Big picture) 
The theme of the songs is the different views of the American people on war. The Decemberists use various "cliques" of the American people to show this. At the beginning of the song, The Decemberists sing of the the military wives and their husbands away at war, demonstrating their real care for the war. The anchorperson on TV is a representative of the repetitiveness and the lack of consideration of the majority of the American people have of the war with the "La de da de da" the anchorperson says. Then, the Decemberists depict celebrities giving their two cents on subjects with their "pristine moderate liberal minds", illustrating that the American people only care about what the celebrities have to say. This is furthered by their metaphor of cannibal kings (American consumers) waiting for their plate of "fifteen celebrity minds severed on a leafy bed of sixteen military wives". Much like a plate, the military wives concern is the basis of the celebrities concerns, though they are pushed to the side by the "main course" of the dinner.