The Danger of the New Tone

The new buzz is that there is a New Tone in Washington now that the Democrats have reacquired congress. What needs to be examined is at what cost to liberty was this New Tone established. The phrase “New Tone” is akin to the phrase “zero tolerance” as practiced in our public schools. Zero Tolerance means that both the bully and his victim are punished equally for a disturbance on the school grounds. It reminds me of the parable told by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in The Gulag Archipelago. There are two kinds of criminals, he relates: the political and the criminal. During shipment to the prison camps the politicals became lambs for slaughter by criminals, because if a criminal was caught with a weapon, that was to be expected – after all he was a criminal. However, if a political was caught with a weapon – now that was a crime against the state!

Therefore to properly interpret the newspeak of Zero Tolerance you must understand that if a bully attacks another student in the school hallway, that’s to be expected. He’s an angry bully/gang member, under-educated, possible minority and product of a bizarre home life and therefore not responsible for his actions. He must be rehabilitated, not punished. Now the victim, he will not only be held responsible for defending himself and creating an unsafe environment for others, but will be sent to sensitivity training so he can better understand the rage of his attacker and learn to diffuse this anger by resisting the urge to rightfully pummel his tormentor into crying out for his Uncle.

We used to be a people that celebrated when the schoolyard bully got what he deserved. We used to be citizens that could handle a rough and rowdy political debate, but no more. The Stalinism of the New Tone has dropped an iron blanket on political discourse. Today’s political debates are now highbrow Forums with rules of engagement that would satisfy even United Nations bureaucrats. There are now New Tone unwritten rules such as:

• Democrat women cannot be challenged on any topic because they are the weaker sex.


• Those suffering from hardships cannot be challenged on any topic unless you have experienced the same pain, and even then, conservatives suffering hardships will be viewed as shameless panderers.


• Presentation of facts proving allegations of lying and fraud will be considered a personal attack and is not allowed.


• Directly confronting the other forum participant will be considered a personal attack and is not allowed.


• Presenting evidence of a Democrat incumbent’s voting record will be considered a personal attack and will be considered shamelessly rude and insensitive by Moderates.


• Anyone that does not adhere to the rules of the forum or does not graciously and profusely thank those conducting the forum that just whipped his ass will get an “X” in the box next to the question, “Does he/she work well with others?” and will be deemed not fit for public service.

So, rest sweetly America, because the same stupidity that sends your daughter home from school because of a Tweety Bird keychain bearing a pair of nail clippers, that punishes your son for daring to defend himself when brutally assailed by a hoodlum, or publicly pillories anyone who doesn’t toe the politically correct line, is now the standard operating system for our electoral process.

Moderates will not have their mental health troubled by the need to sort through truth and lies in order to make an educated decision. Nor will they have their dinner disturbed by anything negative, or by gory pictures from the front lines on The War on Terror. News is to be no more disturbing than the weathercast or the sports chatter between the anchors on TV. Moderates have spoken and the iron blanket has descended. The press can continue to report what they want us to think because that’s not divisive or requiring of analytical thought. Politicians will continue to be politic rather than representational. Human nature reigns supreme in Washington D.C. and throughout the world. Moderates refuse to know and therefore they will not tremble in fear for the innocents, whose deaths we won’t learn of unless their bodies are uncovered should their oppressors fall from power. It will only be those American political prisoners that still hold the dream of liberty and freedom to tremble and be afraid because they alone know that the Moderate is the most deadly of all political powers because Moderates absolutely will not confront evil but will undermine every last vestige of imperfect men struggling to do the right thing. The Moderates have come into power and in the Stalinist tactics of the New Tone’s enforced civility their peace of mind will not be disturbed!