COMMENTARY: Insult is as old as politics

“Jacobin.” (John Adams’ friends referring to Thomas Jefferson)

“Pimp of the White House.” (Congressman Kenneth Rayner referring to President Franklin Pierce)

“Liar.” (Donald Trump and Kamala Harris referring to each other).

In the “Iliad,” the ancient Greek poem still read by audiences today, Achilles refers to Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks, as a “bloated drunk, with a dog’s face and a deer’s heart!”

Teddy Roosevelt once said of William McKinley — under whom he later served as vice president — “McKinley has no more backbone than a chocolate éclair.”

Today, there is widespread concern about civility. Everyone seems on edge, ready to react to the slightest insult. According to the Pew Research Center, 47 percent of Americans think people saying offensive things is a significant problem in America.

Insults and related behaviors on occasion have led to violence. In 1856, House Democrat Preston Brooks of South Carolina entered the Senate floor, where he nearly beat Republican Charles Sumner to death. Sumner had given a speech in which he referred to Stephen Douglas — of the Lincoln-Douglas debates — as a “noise-some, squat and nameless animal.”

Such violence, however, has been rare. Historically, trading insults in politics has been more like battle rap than a call to arms. While the words might be harsh in the moment, the combatants are perfectly comfortable sharing a drink afterward. Washington is full of taverns that provide venues for decompressing after-hours. President Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Tip O’Neill were like this in the 1980s.

This reminds me of the Looney Tunes cartoon featuring Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog. At the start, Sam and Ralph politely greet each other as they clock in to work. On the job, they are in a death match: Ralph, to steal a sheep — Sam, to stop him at all costs. In most episodes, the whistle blows just as Sam is about to finally destroy Ralph. They stop fighting, clock out and wish each other a good night.

That Pew study also showed that nearly two-thirds of all Americans — 62 percent — think being too easily offended is a significant problem. We think people should be less offensive, but we also think they should be more tolerant!

How can you reconcile these two results?

Debate is at the core of a free society. Freedom of speech and the right to voice disagreements are core American principles.

Globally, the protection of free speech is a rare and fragile thing, almost unique to America. At the time of the American Revolution, the colonists had suffered greatly from British sedition laws. By 1776, there had been hundreds of cases. Punishments could be severe: Some convicted colonists had their ears cut off or holes punched through their tongues. Offensive speech carried a high price and protecting it was a core concern of America’s Founders.

Not surprisingly, it is included among the personal liberties protected by the First Amendment, along with the right to “peaceably” assemble and to petition the government, religious freedom and freedom of the press. These freedoms are the foundation of all others.

The First Amendment should have ended the sedition laws, but in 1798, the Alien and Sedition Acts were signed by John Adams to persecute Thomas Jefferson and his followers. Over the next two years, 10 people were tried and convicted under the Sedition Act, including four newspaper editors sympathetic to Jefferson.

Jefferson won the election of 1800 despite the law. On the day before his inauguration, the Sedition Act was allowed to expire.

Despite the vitriol of the 1800 election, much like Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog, Adams and Jefferson later went on to renew and cultivate a deep friendship that lasted until the day they both died, July 4, 1826.

Americans today are dismayed by the incivility of our political discourse. I suspect that it’s not the fiery words that upset them but that, after the words are spoken, our leaders fail to move on to the hard work of seeking solutions to our common problems.

We expect them to duke it out rhetorically. However, we also expect them to sort it out afterward.

Frederic J. Fransen is president of Huntington Junior College in West Virginia and CEO of Certell Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides schools and teachers with free digital curricula on U.S. government and history, world history and economics. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.