All the headline writers noticed that Sean Spicer, communications director for the Republican National Committee, used the phrase “zero tolerance” when he fired Strategic Allied Consulting over falsified voter registration paperwork in battleground state of Florida.(Readers may recall some unpleasantness concerning the Sunshine State's voting system back in 2000 as well. And the founder of SAC had a well-known record of hanky-panky on behalf of Republicans before Spicer recommended him for the job.)
But only CNN seems to have listened to the entire sentence spoken by Spicer:
"We have zero tolerance for allegations of impropriety," Spicer said, explaining the committee's decision not to work any more with the firm.
Now it's possible that Spicer, a communications expert operating at the very top of his chosen field, meant to say that the RNC will have zero tolerance for impropriety. But he didn't say that.
Or, I suppose, it's possible he meant to say that the electoral process depends so vitally upon the trust and confidence of the voters that, like Caesar's wife, it must be above suspicion -- i.e., that the RNC will have zero tolerance for even the appearance of impropriety. But he didn't say that, either.
What he said, once again, was, "We have zero tolerance for allegations of impropriety,” thus appearing to promise it's the allegations he's not going to put up with, not so much any impropriety in and of itself.
To which I say: Whistleblowers -- whether in the RNC, the Republican Party of Florida, or the Florida Secretary of State's office -- you're on notice.
Minute's up.
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