Chapter 34

"We at CNN try to look at these things from all sides, before taking sides and declaring someone out of their mind. Tonight our panel wants to examine the inflammatory language used by Vice President Gray, when describing the Islamic terrorists that blew up four jumbo jets at JFK Airport, this week. Among our guests are two historically front and center feminists, and two political scientists, and we intend to delve deeply into the statements made by the Vice President three days ago.

"First up is Patricia Ireland, who will undoubtedly rip Vice President Gray a new orifice. Patricia, thanks for coming on and let's cut right to it. The Vice President denigrated all women when he described the behavior of the terrorists that perpetrated the attack on JFK Airport, killing hundreds of people, including Muslims, Jews, children, babies, and expecting mothers.

"Does the severity and depravity of the attacks give the Vice President the freedom to use such misogynistic language and offend millions of women, here and abroad?" She was working herself into a lather, and I couldn't wait to see how she and Patricia Ireland play off one another to rip me apart.

It never came.

"Jennifer I am going to disagree with you, and here's why. John Gray has proven himself a champion of women's rights, equal pay, and civil rights in general, while never using his support for "our" causes to further his own career.

"This may come as an all-time shock to you, but, I completely understand the points the Vice President was trying to convey. He wasn't attacking women. He was attacking Islamic terrorists, who hide behind the Koran to massacre women all over the planet.

"John Gray was attacking the mediaeval practices of militant Islamists, who regularly sexually mutilate their daughters to make certain they can never enjoy a sexual act. These women hating, violent, murderous ... BASTARDS, love to have their own daughters stoned to death for – wait for it, Jennifer – being seen outside their home, not in the company of a male member of the family.

"John Gray hates the senseless, disgusting, cowardly, and YES, weak-minded practices of aberrant Islam as much as I do. When he called them out as acting like frightened women, he wasn't attacking women, he was pointing out the obvious. These clowns run around the world, beating their chest, screaming threats, and killing children, to prove how manly they are, while behaving like scared boys, hiding behind their mother's apron when things go wrong."

Well, that didn't go the way Jennifer Jensen, at CNN expected it to, so she changed tacks. "Melissa Perry, don't you find John Gray's slanderous use of the term, "frightened women," to be a slap in the face to all women?"

"Actually, Jennifer, I agree with Patricia on this. The men who perpetrate these types of heinous crimes against women all over the world, do not deserve a shred of dignity, or a moment of our time. Iran regularly schedules All-Day hangings, where they have perfected the art of murdering so that it takes hours for condemned women to strangle. The mullahs hang women in public ceremonies for such imbecilic offenses as wearing pants, driving a car, speaking to a magistrate, or walking too many steps behind their husbands, thus offending their sense of proper servitude.

"Jennifer, ISIS has published a book on how women must be treated, and it is barbaric, insane, and replete with suppressed rage. One of the saddest things about this culture is the extreme protection of men who violate their laws, and their willingness to persecute to death, women, minorities, and the helpless for perceived actions that are not their fault. They protect rapists, not the raped. They rage against homosexuality, yet they torture the definition to give themselves an out, should they get caught.

"In an Islamic court, a man may claim that he penetrated another male, but it wasn't an act of homosexuality on his part, because he was the penetrator. Like with raped women, they accuse the victim - the one held down and raped, no matter how young the boy, of homosexuality, while giving themselves a pass. It is a sickening, perverted, and – I understand him for saying it – cowardly behavior."

Jennifer wasn't winning the war against me, so she turned to the political scientists. "Carole Howard, you teach Women's Studies, at Columbia. Don't you agree that the Vice President has slandered all women this week?"

Carole Howard gave it a little thought, before answering. "I try to teach my students to look at the whole picture, before passing judgment. The Vice President was neck deep in the dead bodies of American citizens, many of them children, who were horrifically murdered by a bunch of backward, brainless, psychotic killers. He spoke in anger, and yes he said things that would have gone over better had he used different language.

"What most pleased me about classes held after the Vice President spoke was how rounded the debate was in my classroom. Students took all sides of the argument, but everyone – every single student – agreed that Islamic Fundamentalism is a far greater problem than anything the Vice President might say about it.

"What you have overlooked, Jennifer, is that this attack was against our city, and among the dead was one of our most popular lecturers, Amanda Hussein-Tengraff, who spent her whole life fighting against the Islamic war against women. Our students recognized the reality of the act, and when they balanced it against the words of Vice President Gray, there was very little left to argue about.

"So – No. I don't find fault with the Vice President, because I felt much the same, when I heard Amanda was murdered by those psychotic, women hating, pigs. It's time to stop mining every word for something to feel offended about, and start looking at the big picture, and seeing how we can help overcome the problem. The Vice President made an error in speaking too bluntly, but his sentiments are a reflection of millions of Americans furious over the behavior of a bunch of psychopaths. If I want to find fault with his words, I have to find fault with my emotions."

It went just like that until the producer pulled the plug and switched to recorded news, while they put another panel together to carry the evening.

Charles seemed to be living a charmed life, as far as his first term was concerned. Because he refused to take sides in every little thing, both parties viewed him as a potential ally and a possible enemy.

The standoff lasted through his re-election campaign.

Because of his popularity and huge advantage in approval ratings, the opposition put up a token candidate to oppose him. His claim to fame was that he never did anything during his rather uninspiring career in the Senate.

Seriously...

There was a week when the newspapers were delving deep into his career to find something, anything, he'd actually done, with no success.

Charles campaigned with a second agenda. He spent his re-election year traveling the country and asking citizens for their input. He scheduled afternoon no-agenda gatherings.

When crowds arrived, they found campaign aides filling out questionnaires so the campaign knew what was on the minds of the people, instead of taking the media's word for it.

When Charles spoke, he referred directly to his list of issues and concerns gathered from the crowd, then offered a combination of explanation and brainstorming session, so that everyone felt like they mattered.

It worked to perfection, and Charles opponent lost by twenty-five points. No surprises on election day meant that as soon as congress came back after seating the new members and electing leadership, they had to face four years of working together, because their very popular president refused to look at congress as a divided house. Whatever needed attention, needed the attention of all parties, including the handful of independents.

When the Senate Majority Leader attempted to hijack the process, Charles went on TV and asked people what they thought. "I'm speaking to you directly, folks, because we learned so much during the reelection campaign by asking you what you thought and then listening to your answers.

"I have made it my policy to work with every elected member of congress and the senate. The majority leader has spoken very plainly that he wants us to revert to the traditional method of one party always ignoring the other.

"What do you think? Call your congressman and senator and tell them which way you want it. We all work for you. The truth is, we always have. So many of us simply forgot about our obligation to do more than just pretend to work for the people, then do whatever we feel like instead.

"The White House switchboard can't handle an avalanche of phone calls, but our phone number and email address is on your screen. We've asked your local stations to scroll the phone numbers of all local Congress members, and your US Senators.