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At last, a topic worth debating! The answer, quite obviously is, yes. Indeed, let's dispense with the overly paid super stars of wrestling, football and the choreographed grappling in cage fighting - the gentleman's art of dueling is where it's at folks. Not since Hamilton and Burr has America truly and appropriately been able to settle scores between gentlemen. Now it's all done in the bland and sterile environment of the litigation court room, or the demeaning law suit, brought by some cowardly toady who is too timid to accept a good thrashing with a sword. I say yes to dueling, preferably with swords, but an old fashioned pistol will do. It will do away with the fat cat litigators and petty dispute muckrakers, since those of us who're good at it could eliminate the riff raff. There would be no need for expensive hours of investigation involving the fuzz, and maybe it would make one or two people less prone to pick fights if they knew a duel "was a coming."

Many will argue that such a flagrant display of violence debases the moral fabric of society, but given the blatant disregard for law and order in our society and indeed many similar modern societies, this is utterly false. Dueling is conducted under gentleman's rules. There are codes of behavior and polished moves to conduct, a dress code even; I mean, no one wants to be found dead in their gardening gear, especially if you'd gone to a duel intending to win. The whole procedure is rigorously governed by the strictest conduct, this is not like some hideous gas station robbery or drive by shooting. No, no, disputes within the rules of a duel mean people have to face their enemy eye to eye, not as previously mentioned in some cowardly distant or impersonal manner which befits the modern and uncouth age of today.

Some will also argue that dueling is a European thing; something of a long distant and foul hangover from the continent which is entirely un-American. Of course, to an extent this is true, except if you compare it to the adversarial gun battles represented in numerous "Westerns" and the consummate dueling anti-hero's played by Clint Eastwood in his many films. And we all love him.

Then there is the European factor itself, or more to the point the English factor, and here I refer to Colin Firth and "Pride and Prejudice." You may not see the immediate connection, but numerous women probably are, as I recall well the legion of female American fans who turned up to see a snippet of Mr. Firth and Mr. Darcy

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