The key sentence is: "<span>We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts." This means that if the leaders continue to act like nothing is wrong, they will gradually become desensitized to their wrongdoings until they think their actions are right. no matter what.
The line "</span><span>I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery" may appear to be similar, but that is not talking about the issue itself yet, but just about the magnitude of it, or how serious the issue is that it needs an open discussion.</span>
Explanation:
the cycle of processes by which water circulates between the earth's oceans, atmosphere, and land, involving precipitation as rain and snow, drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration
