Gun immunity is only a small portion of the comprehensive and badly
needed reform of our legal system contained in this important bill. Whatever our problems—including gun violence—in my opinion the current culture of litigation makes them worse. I intend to press for an override as vigorously as before.
Having delivered his message, Fasano left the podium.
'The sonofabitch is smart,' Kit told the President grudgingly. 'He's put all the daylight he needed between himself and Dane. But he wants to keep the SSA in his debt, and their votes and money in his party's pocket. And if he can override your veto after this, he's king of the Hill.'
'Not on my watch.' Kerry felt both anger and exhilaration, the freedom of knowing who was responsible, and what he needed to do. 'I've got some senators to call.'
'What about a statement?' Kit interposed.
Kerry smiled. 'I'll take care of it myself.'
* * *
At six o'clock in the east, sufficient time to make the evening news, the President appeared as promised in the White House press room. Fasano, Majority Whip Dave Ruckles, and their leadership team watched on CNN.
Earlier today, the President began, Senator Fasano suggested that 'none of us can know what Mr. Dane intended to convey to Mr. Callister.' For myself, I find statements like 'I have personal information that the President and First Lady can never survive,' and 'the President can be handled if he gets in the way' less ambiguous than does the senator.
Let me review the sequence of events. I was threatened through an 'anonymous' phone call relayed by Senator Slezak, I nonetheless vetoed the Civil Justice Reform Act, and some very 'personal information' promptly became public. Mr. Callister has now identified the source. The President's tone took on a trace of irony. To be fair, the Majority Leader has found this sequence sufficiently damning to separate himself from Mr. Dane. I also agree with him that the membership of the SSA does not believe in blackmail. But its leadership plainly does . . .
'Saying isn't proving,' Harshman scoffed. 'No matter how many times he says it.'
Fasano was silent. Of all the men in the room, only he was as certain of Dane's involvement as Kilcannon. But he could never admit this to the others. 'There's no reason for Callister to lie,' he said at length, 'and now the President can unleash the FBI. The prudent thing is to assume that, sooner or later, the President will pin this on Dane.'
In addition to his repudiation of blackmail, the President continued, I
offer Senator Fasano this practical suggestion: that his party return the over two million dollars the current leadership of the SSA gave it in the last election cycle— or, at the least, that it refuse to accept such money in the future. That might help them, to borrow the senator's phrase, focus on the 'merits' of the Civil Justice Reform Act . . .
'Whoever leaked the story,' Dave Ruckles observed, 'I sure as hell don't like blackmail. But our quality of life was better when this guy felt more chastened . . .'
Consider one compelling fact. If the Senate had overridden my veto a mere two days ago, instead of tomorrow as the senator hopes, this bill would have prevented George Callister from being sworn to tell the truth—about the destruction of evidence, the SSA's unlawful domination of Lexington Arms, and Mr. Dane's use of blackmail to advance the SSA's agenda. From the standpoint of the SSA, the bill's 'merits' are now clear: suppressing truth and perpetuating injustice.
Fasano turned to Ruckles. 'Where does Palmer stand?' he asked.
* * *
At that moment, the senior senator from Ohio had no wish to be on Capitol Hill. He was at home with Allie, refusing to answer the phone. This still was true three hours later, when Charles Dane appeared on Larry King Live.
'This,' Chad told his wife, 'should be one for the time capsule.'
Larry, Dane said with deep sincerity, I share Senator Fasano's feelings of indignation over charges such as these. But however Mr. Callister chose to interpret our many conversations, never once does he claim that I mentioned Lara Kilcannon's abortion.
What's important here is to examine Callister's motives. Lexington and the SSA are codefendants in an inflammatory lawsuit which is bad for Lexington's image. So he's blaming the SSA instead of the President for its existence, and trying to pass on to us any liability they might have . . .
But why would he do that, King interrogated sharply, with the Senate about to wipe out the lawsuit altogether?
'How uncharitable,' Palmer observed. 'Larry's becoming Tim Russert.'
Clearly, Larry, Callister hedged his bets—and it backfired. He never considered that President Kilcannon and his legal surrogate, Sarah Dash, would use his calculated lies to practice the politics of smear and victimization against American gun owners.
Kilcannon and his followers smear us because we're the most dedicated upholder of every decent American's right to defend themselves and their families against murderers, rapists and child molesters—the scum of the way-too-permissive society exemplified by the Kilcannons. Then the President tries to advance his true agenda—confiscation—by pretending to be the victim of the big bad SSA.
'Pretending?' Allie said.
Dane's voice filled with scorn. In the Kilcannons' narcissistic world, everything is about them, everyone is after them, and anyone else is responsible except for them. So let's call a spade a spade. They had the affair. They aborted their unborn child. And now they want the four million law-abiding members of the SSA to pay for their immoral conduct that sickened decent people everywhere . . .
In profile, Chad saw Allie's eyes brim with tears. 'It's hard to watch this,' she told her husband. 'It's too much like what they did to our daughter.'
I call on every patriotic American to reject these ugly machinations, and to urge their senators to support the reform of our civil justice system.
The telephone beside Chad rang. At first he ignored it, and then saw the identity of his caller flash up on the iridescent panel of the phone.
'Watching Larry King?' the President asked.
'Never miss him.' Chad hesitated, then added softly, 'Dane's making a mistake, Mr. President. More than that, I'm deeply sorry.'
'I know that, Chad.' The President paused in turn. 'I need your help on this. What's at stake transcends the
