What kind of words warrant a resignation?

Word got out today that Samantha Power, a Harvard professor who has been volunteering as a foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama, has resigned.

The reason: everybody found out she called Hillary Clinton "a monster" in an interview.

This story raises a couple interesting questions. Power apparently told a reporter for a Scottish paper that her name-calling was off the record. Not everyone agrees with what that little phrase means, but in an interview, the reporter is calling the shots. The reporter may have treated the comment differently if Power were not part of an extremely wealthy, high-profile presidential campaign. But I would be willing to guess this wasn't her first interview.

I interview people all the time, and they like to throw the "off the record" lingo out. I can be understanding with someone who is not media savvy, but not politicians or their advisers. Then again, I may have chosen not to insert the comment because it was kind silly.

Apparently Obama -- or at least more if his campaign advisers -- thought Power's comment was a bad move. Granted, that is not a very nice or grown-up thing to say, but was it really that bad? Should she have quit her job? This is politics, right? I never knew there was anything particularly sweet and kind in this game.