His first though was just to turn away, for the accusations had no ground

But no, that would not be the honest thing to do, to turn and say no more

For his accusers had sown quite wide their seeds of doubt in his integrity 

And others, unknowing of the facts, might also fall into the trap they’d set

So defend himself he must, not for himself so much, for he was strong

But for a greater cause, for what he saw to be a weakness in all of man

When decisions must be made that require great strength, he knew

The weak defend their own inaction by faulting those who lead the charge

And so he stood his ground and reviewed the facts that proved his case

But to no avail it seemed at first, for the accusers’ ears were deaf to facts

They’d made accusations without facts and cared to hear none now

Oh, how comforting can be righteous indignation without facts

You see, those who saw a wrong in others could not see it in themselves

The facts from the accused, they must be wrong for his guilt was clear

It simply could not be that only they could see the damage that he’d done

He must be wrong, how else could this state have come to be

Surely what the powers that be had done by stifling all calls for change

Must have been the better course, they had satisfied the greater number

By giving voice to all, to both those who know and those who don’t 

They minimized dissent and assured compliance to their long held view

But at last there came a voice who saw no fault in actions of the accused

Then questioned the accusers as to why they’d showed such disrespect

For one who had never lied before, for one who’ done the work of three

For the common good of all

And then there came another voice, and then a third, and, finally, more

We’ll stand no longer, they all said, for this disrespect you show

This all appears to be because you’ve feared to act upon your own

You’ve tried to save face at the cost of his and shamed yourselves instead

But is this how the tale finally ends, we may never know

Power of the people is a mighty thing but the powers that be are mighty too

And because difficult tasks will never cease, there will forever be a fight

Between those who want the status quo and those who fight for change