[Our man in washington]

I wouldn't be offended if a candidate I liked said that, so I'm not offended that Hillary said that.

But in general, I think Americans need to lighten up.

[HitmanLV]

I think that is the real issue here. People should lighten up and not be so thin skinned that they feel 'outrage' at some off-color or controversial remarks.

Hillary's comments may or may not be funny, depends on the listener. Her joke isn't offensive to me at all, and I would hope most people recognize that it's just a joke.

I don't think that her comments demonstrate that she is some sort of seething bigot. I don't think they disqualify her from political office and leadership. She handled it maturely and properly, if you ask me.

I think the same of the Trent Lott flap about a year ago. The difference is the locusts swooped in on Trent, and the same breed of locusts is looking in the other direction in this case.

That being said, Hillary's comments aren't what this story is really about. The fact remains that there is a severe double standard with stuff like this, in terms of the conduct of the media, cultural watchdogs, etc. They are the ones that need to lighten up.

The truth is, when Trent Lott says something controversial, the usual suspects become shrill, demanding, and uncompromising. When a favored dem does something comperable, it's somehow excused, no biggie, we need to look at the context, etc.

For example, I think about 5 months ago a Dem California congressman was bullying a Republican congressman and called him a 'fruitcake' in a fierce exchange. Since he was a dem, this was widely considered to be no big deal. I even joked at the time that the Republican who was called 'fruitcake' would somehow end up apologizing - funny until that's inexplicably exactly what happened a few days later!

The subtext here, I think, is a pervasive mindset that suggests that liberals somehow can't be bigots (because after all they are liberals), and conservatives of course are bigots and comments like this just reflect their bigotry.

The real issue is the double standard. Until there is some parity in handling of off color comments (and the best way people can do that is to lighten up as you suggest), the double standard remains the issue.