Two things can be learned from the following story:

A foreign policy adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama resigned on Friday after calling campaign rival Hillary Clinton a “monster” during an interview with a British newspaper.
Samantha Power, a foreign policy aide on the Illinois senator’s White House campaign, said the comments were inexcusable. They were published on Friday by The Scotsman newspaper.
“With deep regret, I am resigning from my role as an adviser to the Obama campaign effective today,” Power said in a statement.
“Last Monday, I made inexcusable remarks that are at marked variance from my oft-stated admiration for Senator Clinton and from the spirit, tenor and purpose of the Obama campaign.”
…Power’s comments were made on Monday before Clinton revived her presidential bid with wins in the big states of Ohio and Texas.
“She is a monster, too — that is off the record — she is stooping to anything,” Power was quoted by the newspaper as saying of Clinton.
“We f***** up in Ohio,” she said. “In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it because she knows Ohio’s the only place they can win.”

My own personal feelings about the “obsession” of Ohio aside… First lesson: that even if you’re a Pulitzer prizewinner (as Ms. Powers happens to be), nothing is ever off the record.
Second lesson: someone at The Scotsman should never be allowed to interview anyone ever again, nor should ever be joined at the bar for even casual conversation.  Even if you’re a reporter, if the phrase “off the record” is uttered and you place those contents very deliberately onthe record, your career should be over. Not only because you clearly have the personal honor of slime mold, but because you also don’t have enough common sense to realize that someone who is willing to take you into confidence through remarks made off the record is much more likely to give you valuable remarks and other material made on the record due to your established relationship.  Idiot.
On the other hand, when you’re in politics, one could argue that you should never make any questionable remarks to anyone ever, on or off the record.  But that’s politics for you.

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