No Snipe Left Behind

What is this, Grade School?

First, there's this mess:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson sharply criticized Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Tuesday over his reaction to the arrest of six black juveniles in Jena, Louisiana on murder charges, accusing the Illinois senator of "acting like he's white," according to a South Carolina newspaper.

The comments reportedly came after a speech at Columbia’s historically black Benedict College.

The State newspaper reports Jackson later said he did not recall saying Obama is "acting like he's white," but continued to condemn the Illinois Democrat as well as the other presidential candidates for not bringing more attention to this issue.

Not to be outdone, Hilliary Clinton has her own target, and her own zingers:

WASHINGTON (CNN) – She has been sharply critical of Vice President Dick Cheney in the past, but Democratic Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton took it up a notch Wednesday night, calling the president's No. 2 "Darth Vader."

The New York Democrat referred to Cheney as the infamous Star Wars villain at a New York fundraiser when she described his efforts to keep Republican senators behind the Iraq war.

"Vice President Cheney came up to see the Republicans yesterday," Clinton said at the fundraiser. "You can always tell when the Republicans are getting restless, because the Vice President’s motorcade pulls into the Capitol, and Darth Vader emerges."

Now, both actions/comments were rather childish, but that's where the similarities end. In Jackson's case, how the hell does he plan to promote unity and tolerance when he's claiming that a black politician is acting too white? The Jena 6 issue is all about racial tension, and here's Jackson using racial stereotypes. Is he that bitter about not being as popular a black presidential candidate as Obama?

As for Hillary: well, she isn't the first person to compare Cheney to a Sith Lord, and she won't be the last. But everyone in the know knows that those who make this comparison just calls him "Darth Cheney," mainly because with George Lucas' last three movie we see that Vader wasn't really evil, he was just a overconfident crybaby who cracked under the pressure of being a honorable Jedi (and thinking that his wife was having an affair with Obi-Wan Kenobi) Taking this into account, I'd say:

1. Hillary was piggybacking on something already established;
2. She didn't do her research as to the actual origins of the label;
3. She wanted to show that she has a light side.

So yeah, both were childish comments, but Jackson's was far more damaging to a serious cause.