incorrect.' ' Bathed in light, Dane flashed a smile of defiance and disdain. 'But true Americans know a simple truth—the Founding Fathers of political incorrectness were the American heroes who signed the Declaration of Independence in defiance of a tyrant.

    'You must not be silenced. You, not Kilcannon, are the true voice of America.' Dane's own voice became a shout. 'And with our voices raised, we must tell America the truth—that this self-styled 'KFK' is the worst threat to our freedoms since we rid the world of Communism, and that we will never be safe until we're rid of him forever . . .'

    With the deep roar of the crowd Dane felt transported by his power. He stood, fists upraised, suffused by the seemingly endless sound of their devotion. He remained silent, still, until, like an actor, the drama of his stillness drew them back at last.

'There are only two sides,' he told them, 'his, and ours. The Senate must choose between us.'

* * *

In her efficiency apartment on Capitol Hill, Cassie Rollins watched Dane achieve near rapture on CNN. Yes, she thought, the Senate must choose. She did not look forward to that moment.

TWENTY-ONE

If the purpose of deposing an expert witness was to help him hang himself, Sarah meant to be as helpful as possible to Dr. Frederick Glass.

    'Dr. Fred,' as he cheerfully called himself, was as chipper as he was conservative, having risen from academic obscurity to prominence as a prolific contrarian who boldly challenged what he labeled 'fatuous liberal orthodoxy.' With the unflappable good nature of someone well pleased at the attention this had garnered, he proffered his research on topics ranging from the fallacy of affirmative action to the role of the entertainment industry as a purveyor of violence. His view of gun rights was summarized by the title of his seminal book More Guns, Less Death.

    'In my opinion,' Glass told her emphatically, 'the Lexington P-2 has an affirmative social utility.'

    Dr. Fred, Sarah thought, was a bit too pleased with himself. 'And what might that be?'

    'It's small enough to be potentially concealable, at least in someone's briefcase. The laws licensing civilians to carry concealed weapons make all of us a whole lot safer.'

    Contemplating the witness, Sarah was aware of the quiet in Nolan's conference room, the attentiveness on the faces of Nolan and Harry Fancher. 'Are you implying, Dr. Glass, that Inez Costello should have been carrying a Lexington P-2? Or that Joan Bowden should have had one in her handbag?'

    The expression on Glass's round, cherubic face was unfazed, almost beatific. 'That would have been up to them. But, in California, the right to carry concealed weapons is severely restricted. If they weren't, Bowden might have believed that someone—if not his intended victims—would take out a gun and shoot him. In which case, the First Lady's family might well be alive.'

    Sarah raised her eyebrows. 'Because Bowden would have been afraid to fire a weapon? Or because some armed civilian might have drilled him once he did?'

    'Either,' Glass answered with a shrug. 'Or both. Doesn't matter to me—any more, I imagine, than it would have mattered to the victims. If you'll permit me, Ms. Dash, you're caught up in the syndrome of blaming guns for crime.' He paused, his manner combining patience with a certain evangelical fervor. 'The real blame falls on the entertainment industry—many of whom, ironically enough, are President Kilcannon's principal supporters.

    'Until children are six or seven, when they start to distinguish fantasy from reality, TV is very real, and killing is a normal and essential skill in a brutal and frightening world. That's why the Journal of American Medicine concluded that the introduction of television in the 1950s caused a doubling in the homicide rate when those children reached adulthood, and that long-term childhood exposure to TV is a causal factor behind roughly half the homicides committed in America . . .'

    'Most of them with guns,' Sarah interjected. 'Isn't it true that the same rise in homicide rates coincided with a steep increase in handgun ownership?'

    Glass shook his head in dismissal. 'Have you ever heard of operant conditioning?'

    For Sarah, it had become easy to imagine Glass taking over a courtroom. 'You're the expert,' she answered in an even tone. 'Why don't you explain it.'

    'All right. In the army, we teach new soldiers to fire repetitively at man-shaped silhouettes which pop up again, over and over. Video games which simulate murder have much the same effect. If anything, the AMA has concluded, video games are worse than movies. Which,' Glass added with obvious relish, 'brings me to John Bowden.

    'I've interviewed his parents. As a child, Bowden had unfettered access to television; as a teenager, he repetitively played video games, often well past midnight, which required him to kill his video opponents.

    'His parents thought the only harm was to his grades. In my opinion, the ultimate harm was to the six people he murdered.'

    This opinion, and the implacable certainty with which Dr. Glass delivered it, convinced Sarah of how dangerous he was and, in her mind, how completely irresponsible. 'In your opinion, Dr. Glass, were Bowden's repetitious beatings of Joan Bowden also attributable to video games?'

    'Violence of any kind is a learned response. It's time for our society to control the purveyance of violent imagery to children, just as we control access to guns, pornography, tobacco, sex, and cars. A failure amplified, in Bowden's case, by society's decision not to jail him even though he was a clear and present danger to his wife. With this litany of failures, why in the world are you sitting here trying to blame a law-abiding manufacturer who didn't even know him?'

    With this, Sarah resolved to abandon any pretense of politeness. 'Then let's turn to your academic career, and, specifically, to your connection with the subject of guns. How many universities have employed you as a professor?'

    As though prepared for this line of inquiry, Glass answered equably, 'Five.'

    'And how many offered you tenure?'

    'None. But I was only eligible for tenure at the University of Connecticut.'

    'Because the others let you go too quickly?'

    The witness's smile resembled a grimace. 'I'd classify the decision as mutual—their lack of real academic freedom, and my resistance to the prevailing liberal ideology.'

    Whatever, Sarah thought. Crisply, she asked, 'For what reason did Connecticut deny you tenure?'

    Glass steepled his fingers. 'Their stated reason was that my academic research was 'insufficiently rigorous.' The actual reason was that I voiced forbidden thoughts.'

    'Such as your suggestion that women's suffrage has led to an increase in crime?'

    The witness shrugged. 'It's easy, Ms. Dash, to mock a statement isolated from the research which supports it. But it's a demonstrable fact that, since 1920, women's more permissive attitudes toward crime—as reflected in their voting patterns—has relegated crime prevention to a low priority compared to what I call 'the nurturing issues,' matters like education and health care. This has led to greater laxity among our elected officials and, as more women have ascended the bench, our judiciary.'

    'Then you'll be relieved to know, Dr. Glass, that I'm unlikely to become a judge. But I'm haunted by the concern that Mary Costello's family might have lived if only I'd refrained from voting.'

    'Don't worry,' Glass responded airily. 'Under your theory of shared responsibility, there's lots of blame to go around. Including an academic world which refuses to think forbidden thoughts.'

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