Last night, as most of you know, Senate Leader Yurtle McConnell evoked “Rule 19” to prevent uppity Northern Librul Elizabeth Warren from reading into the Senate Record Coretta Scott King’s 1986 letter criticizing Jefferson Beauregard Session III’s stance on Civil Rights .
Rule 19 was created in 1902 to protect the feeling of rabid segregationist Senator “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman’s feelings after another Senator called him a "malicious liar" on the Senate Floor.
From The American Senate: An Insider's History By Neil MacNeil,
“South Carolina's "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman accused his South Carolina colleague, John McLaurin, of selling his vote for federal patronage. McLaurin called Tillman a malicious liar. Tillman lunged at him, striking him above the left eye. McLaurin hit Tillman back with an upper-cut to the nose. They were separated by other senators, and the brawl caused consternation throughout political Washington. Senator George Hoar of Massachusetts seized the occasion to propose a rule he long had had in mind: "No senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly or by any form of words impute to another senator or to other senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a senator.”