Blake Farenthold would “duel” against female Republican representatives who oppose Trumpcare — that is, if they weren’t women.
As Slate reports, Farenthold has a rather “ Hamiltonian ” take on politics, particularly when it comes to party loyalty. Speaking to a Corpus Christi radio station this week, the Texas representative said that if this were two centuries ago, he’d settle his differences with Republican women who oppose Trumpcare “Aaron Burr-style” — which is to say, a duel.
However, Farenthold is quick to add a proviso: He won’t do it because they’re “ladies.” Specifically, he said that if either of them were “a guy from South Texas” rather than “some female senators from the Northeast,” he’d engage in the archaic practice.
Farenthold was likely referring to Susan Collins, Shelley Moore Capito, and Lisa Murkowski, three Republican women in the Senate who oppose the American Health Care Act of 2017 (commonly referred to as “Trumpcare”). Not for nothing, only Collins, of Maine, is “from the Northeast.” Capito is from West Virginia and Murkowski is from Alaska.
In case you were wondering, dueling hasn’t been legal in the U.S. for over a century and a half. As the Art of Manliness explains, a patchwork of state and local laws began popping before and after the Civil War. By the time the dust had settled from the War Between the States, dueling had mostly fallen out of fashion , to say nothing of it being illegal.
Back when it was fashionable, dueling required strict adherence to a Code of Honor that Was Not To Be Broken. Only men could do it, it was limited to the upper classes, it had to be done at a specific time and place, and so on.
Most importantly, and perhaps most surprisingly, is this: actually trying to murder your opponent was considered bad form. Most duelers went for nonlethal shots, such as to an arm or leg (although, in those days, blood loss and infection from a gunshot wound could easily mean death). In some cases, both participants deliberately shot wide of their targets; if both men emerged from the duel unscathed, then the debt of honor was deemed settled.
So prominent was dueling in New Orleans that a particular spot for dueling became known as the Dueling Oak. The tree still stands to this day.
Do you think dueling should be brought back, at least long enough for Blake Farenthold to settle his score with “Northeastern ladies”? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[Feauted Image by US House of Representatives ]
