"You know so much of the time we are just lost. We say please God, tell us what is right tell us what is true. Only there is no justice, the rich win, the poor are powerlessness. We become tired of hearing people lie and after a time we become dead, a little dead, we think of ourselves as victims and we become victims. We become weak, we doubt ourselves, we doubt our beliefs, we doubt our institutions, and we doubt the law. But today you are the law. Not some book, not the lawyers, not a marble statue, or the trappings of the court. See those are just symbols of our desire to be just. They are, in fact a prayer, a fervent and a frightened prayer. If we are to have faith in justice we need only to believe in ourselves and act with justice. See I believe there is justice in our hearts."

In the movie The Verdict, Paul Newman gave this summation to the Jury. He was trying to overcome the cynicism of everyday life and stand up for what was right. Unfortunately not enough of us stand up to those who have malice in their hearts. We rationalize away our dignity. “That’s the way of the world,” we say, or, it’s a tough world, when all that is needed for justice to be a reality is for those who are not injured to feel as indignant as those who are. For those who are not constrained by necessity, to help those who are, for those who have self respect to give it to those who do not and for those who have been hurt to fight back.

What we need now most of all are people who want to make a difference. Everyday people who will stand tall. In his book, John McCain: An American Odyssey, Robert Timberg wrote, "Did you know that a nightingale will never sing its song if it doesn't hear it first? If it hears robins or wrens, it will never croak a note. But the moment it hears any part of a nightingale's song, it bursts into this extraordinary music, sophisticated, elaborate music, as though it had known it all the time. And, of course, it had."

We need to hear that justice matters. We need to stand up to those who, “make us feel a little dead.” We have been at the heels of those who put power above reason, who put lies above the welfare of the public. We get run over by their self serving greed. But maybe, just maybe, if you heed the call and you understand the words and reach out and help in any way you can, you will reach inside and touch others with a truth they have ignored too long, and then, they too will start to sing.