“The apparent scuffle was as odd as it was rare. Not since 1856, when a cane-wielding congressman named Preston Brooks nearly killed the abolitionist Charles Sumner, had a sitting United States senator suffered such a violent drubbing. Brooks at least had the decency to perform his beat-down in front of witnesses in the Senate chamber, and to announce his motive: a beef over slavery. There’s been no such clarity in the weeks since Rand Paul was sent to the hospital.” From GQ: The Bizarre True Story of the Neighborhood Scuffle That Left Rand Paul with Six Broken Ribs.