, a democrat from mississippi, but he aimed a bit too high and william barksdale's wit went flying off his head. nobody in the house knew that he wore a week, so this was amusing. the house starts laughing uncontrollably and it's over. so what does this tell us? this is a pretty common name in washington. there's a lot of violence, but it's part of the regular hearing. it happened in that it's over. this is the context in washington in which the chaining of charles sumner happen. it's not a situation where washington politicians become so angry with one another that they can't speak to each other. they're over it in about three days. not true elsewhere in the country, but in washington. the experience of washington politicians with the sumner brooks kendall also help us understand the second aspect of the washington fraternity and that is that politicians could be isolated from what was going on back home. although sumner and brooks were from the north and south respectively, the difference between the two places is not as dark in washington itself. what senators and congressmen came t