You hear it all the time from our prospective political leaders. We must change the divisive tone of politics in Washington, ostensibly to usher in this new era characterized by many magical bonds between the legislative and executive branches. Remember when George W. Bush claimed to be a uniter, not a divider, an outsider not an insider, a tone-changer, not the tone-deaf manger he turned out to be? This year, of course, Obama, Clinton, and McCain want to change the tone too and for some reason, we continue to think that Washington’s tone is something you polish off like leather scuff.

Hugo Chavez announces the creation of “Hugo’s Book Club”

In his quest to stay on the high ground of that supposedly easily changeable world of tone, already, Senator Obama’s failing. The day after his losses in Ohio and Texas, he resurrected the issue of Hillary Clinton’s financial records, saying very nicely, “What is she hiding?” Then Samantha Power, Obama’s former foreign policy adviser, called Hillary “a monster,” a comment which promptly lead to her resignation. It’s a lot easier to play nice after a win, isn’t it? Can we get David Archuleta to sing “Imagine” for Barack just to put his team’s tone back in order?

Frankly, I think we need more passion like Ms. Power’s. What if we made Washington’s tone nastier? Take a cue from international politics. Entertain us. Check out the headlines from just this week:

- In Spain, Populist Party candidate Mariano Rejoy used “liar” 30 times in a televised debate with the incumbent and eventual winner, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. No word how many times Rejoy used “pants on fire” or “pantalones en fuego.”

- In South America, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez called Columbia’s President Uribe “a criminal” after he authorized the use of force across Ecuador’s borders to kill Raul Reyes, the second-in-command to FARC, Latin America’s largest rebel group. Chavez is the loud crazy uncle who always rests the sawed-off on his lap at dinner instead of his napkin. This is the same guy who said he had “defeated the devil” after getting re-elected in 2006. No doubt, with a red pitchfork.

- In response, Uribe accused his counterparts in Ecuador and Venezuela of being paid off by the deadly mob. Imagine if Nancy Pelosi called George W. Bush the devil, and he responded back by blindly accusing her of funding La Cosa Nostra? Take that, Fox News! Politics without slander laws!

And who can forget King Juan Carlos of Spain telling Chavez to “shut up” last year in a summit in Chile after Chavez called former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a “fascist.” Okay, “fascist” is a bit archaic and I’m not sure why people still use it. I mean, Mussolini dangled from meat hooks over sixty years ago, folks. King Juan Carlos’ meltdown was turned into a ring tone that generated $2.2 million for the companies selling it — the feel-good political story of 2007.

So let’s change the tone of Washington! Let’s up the ante. Set fire to those pantalones and rid ourselves of the election clichés that are sure to disappoint. That type of change, Senators, is change I can believe in.