During a recent severe thunderstorm in the eastern United States, lightning scored a direct hit on a limousine carrying a high-ranking government official. One of the backseat windows was rolled down just a bit, and some electric current actually entered the car and fried a laptop computer that the official had placed beside the window's door. It also caused the hair on his head to briefly stand straight up (as was witnessed by his chauffeur). The chauffeur asked his passenger if he was alright, but got no response.

Other than the startled-looking hair there was no appearance of injury, so the chauffeur continued driving and soon arrived at the destination as planned. When he did, he again asked the official if he was alright, but still got no response. So he grabbed his umbrella and went out and around to the backdoor, which he opened for his boss. The official got out and opened his own umbrella, and then walked silently into the nearby building.

Inside, it soon became obvious to everyone present that the official was completely deaf. The chauffeur told them all what had happened, and a doctor was summoned to do an examination. Except for the deafness, the lightning seemed to have caused no permanent damage, so the doctor left. A system of communicating with written notes was soon established, and for the next several days the official made no public appearances. Then he began speaking again.

Sound returned to him suddenly. One instant he couldn't hear anything, and the next he heard and understood completely all the words being spoken around him. Two puffs of something that looked like dandruff fell from the hair just above his ears as the change occurred. All eyes in the room turned towards this spectacle, and gradually all talking stopped.

"I can hear - I can hear!", he exclaimed as the hushed crowd of staffers stared in awe. He asked to meet privately with two of his closest aides. One of them later said the official told them that, at the moment the lightening struck, he had heard a loud voice asking "Why do you persecute me?" Apparently he may have also heard the voice saying some other things, but hadn't wanted to go into the details of that.

Soon thereafter the official gave a press conference. He began by saying: "I know you all have heard about my recent convalescence - I lost my hearing for a few days - but I am now fully recovered and ready to resume all my normal duties. Before I take your questions, I'd like to talk a little about some changes I plan to make." They all settled back in their chairs as the speech began.

"We have been wrong - disgracefully wrong really - about some of the things we have done lately. I can only imagine how terrible it would be to be locked up for an indefinite period of time, perhaps forever, without even knowing what you are suspected of doing to deserve such punishment. So we will be assembling teams of lawyers to visit every single prison we are running in foreign countries throughout the world to see that each person we are detaining has access to a special court system we will be setting up. From this, hopefully, we will be able to release those who have done nothing wrong, and to inform the rest of the reasons we are detaining them and what it will take for us to release them - if that is possible."

"We will also be putting an end to torture everywhere," he continued. "It was wrong and we should never have allowed it to begin with. We will be issuing very clear and explicit rules of conduct for all of our prison operators to follow - and we will see to it that these rules are followed to the letter. We will also be putting an end to the involvement of private corporations in running those prisons. We're going to have a clear chain of command throughout the entire system. And finally, we will invite the Red Cross to visit each and every foreign prison we operate."

Some members of the audience began to shift in their seats, and a few opened their mouths as if they were going to say something, but the official held up his hand and said with a hint of irritation, "Wait, wait - I'm not finished yet."

"We are also going to withdraw our troops from some of the places where they don't really need to be. We will no longer keep soldiers in areas where their presence makes things worse, and we will no longer occupy what we cannot defend. For too long, we have sought excuses for war instead of alternatives to it. I know I have often refused to listen when I was advised of alternatives that could've prevented much needless bloodshed. I have often rephrased valid objections to make them sound ridiculous or stupid, and sometimes I have retaliated directly against the objectors. I was wrong, and I won't do that anymore. From now on I intend to listen to and take seriously what everyone has to say."

"Now, are there any questions?"