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"Until this—this thing—came on the American scene, I never realized, realized in all my brain and guts, what a banner in the sky the Stars and Stripes have been. I honestly never quite grasped how big and simple and decisive were all the things that it meant, to people, almost everywhere on earth. You know—freedom for every soul among us, justice in every court, opportunity, homes, schools, decency toward your neighbors, fairness in all things. I never realized, as I say, how people everywhere saw all this as quickly as they looked at us or thought of us. Now—that shudder of surprise and revulsion that these same people feel—it really means something more. It measures the respect, the love, the real love, we once had. Nobody else ever had it. We didn't know ourselves—and without this, few of us might ever have known that we had it so completely."
Quickened, heartfelt awareness of all implied in that truth could carry meaning far beyond the bounds of committee, beyond the U.S. Senate and beyond Washington. For, as my friend added: "We could have it all again."