REP. JOHN GRAHAM Altman has worked so hard at being aggressively offensive that his fellow House members tend to shrug off his outrage du jour.

But last week, he went on TV and implied that victims of domestic violence get what they deserve and arrogantly and repeatedly told a reporter she was “not very bright” because she asked a question he was either too lazy or unable to answer. Those comments weren’t the most offensive he’s ever made, but WIS-TV’s extensive and repeated coverage has seared them into the public’s mind in a way that hasn’t happened before. And that has jarred legislators into recognizing just how far outside the bounds of civility Mr. Altman routinely steps.

House Speaker David Wilkins, Judiciary Chairman Jim Harrison and other leaders have gone into overdrive trying to assure voters that Mr. Altman’s views don’t reflect those of the Judiciary Committee or the House; they pledge to revive the domestic violence bill whose defeat prompted the TV interview.

That’s progress, even though they’re likely to eliminate some of the most important parts of the bill and simply increase the penalties for simple criminal domestic violence. Lawmakers must not compromise in treating domestic violence as the despicable crime that it is (just as we should treat cockfighting as the lesser, but still serious, entry-level violent crime that it is).

But passing a stripped-down domestic violence bill doesn’t undo the damage caused by Mr. Altman, who goes out of his way, time and time again, to insult, disparage and mock anyone with whom he disagrees.

Mr. Altman is a product of the political process of carving out districts that are so heavily Republican or Democratic that no one from the other party can ever possibly win, and then circling the wagons within the parties to protect incumbents from primary challenges. Short of upending that process — which isn’t going to happen anytime soon, although it should — there’s nothing his colleagues can do about the fact that voters keep sending Mr. Altman back to the House.

But representatives don’t have to condone and encourage such boorish behavior — from Mr. Altman or anyone else. At last week’s meeting, when Mr. Harrison said changing the title of the “Protect Our Women in Every Relationship (POWER) Act” to refer to “people” would produce the less-catchy “POPER” act, a voice identified by observers as Mr. Altman’s could be heard saying, “Pop her again.” This was followed by laughter.

Mr. Altman has denied saying that, and it’s unclear on a tape how much laughter was coming from House members and how much from the audience, which was filled with cockfighters there to oppose the next bill on the agenda. But no matter who made the joke, it was out of line. Mr. Harrison acknowledges he should have admonished the committee, and says the uproar over Mr. Altman’s later comments now gives him an opening to clamp down on decorum problems on the panel.

That’s obviously overdue, but it’s not enough to deal with a serial offender such as Mr. Altman.

Mr. Wilkins has condemned Mr. Altman’s comments; he should put his power behind his words and strip Mr. Altman of his prestigious Judiciary Committee post. And the full House should pass a resolution condemning Mr. Altman’s actions.

Mr. Altman might wear that as a badge of honor. But the rest of the House will have made an important statement about the decorum, respect and civility that is demanded of people who expect the public to address them as “the honorable.”