When Politics Get Physical

This week, a video of two Lebanese politicians brawling on live television has gone viral. (The topic of the fight was Syria, although you wouldn't know if you caught the clip here on Fox News, where they don't bother to provide captions or any sort of context.)

Watching two grown men in suits attempt to throw chairs at each other is scandalous, period, but it made me think about political discourse in our own country. We've heard a lot -- particularly in the wake of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting -- about the shortcomings in the way politicians address each other and their lack of civility. Maybe if the other option is an altercation, we're not doing so badly.

It's not like this country hasn't seen its fair share of violence in the halls of power. Anyone who paid attention in high school should remember May 22, 1856, and Bleeding Sumner. In the run-up to the Civil War, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner spoke out against "Bleeding Kansas," the pro-slavery tactics that had caused that territory to become a hot zone for brutality and the individual senators he held accountable. In response, Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina beat Sumner with a cane. Sumner suffered head injuries but eventually recovered.

Then again -- not that I'd advocate violence in any situation -- there's a reason we learn about that episode in high school. It's rife with political and symbolic meaning, and there's no doubt that Sumner and Brooks felt strongly about the issue. Likewise, for our Lebanese video stars, it's easy to see that Syria is not an abstract notion or talking point or campaign vote-grab. When it comes to fisticuffs, authenticity and sincerity are no longer in question. And that's good.

There must be a way for politicians to show their true beliefs while still using their words (and preferably an "inside voice"). Or maybe not.

It's been 155 years since Sumner was carried from the Senate on a stretcher, but I'm not able to think of a way to judge political sincerity. In the absence of blood, all I have is intuition. Is there a better way to go about it?