NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - I don't know whether Senator Lott is a bigot or not, nor do I know whether Jesse Jackson is. Both, however, have made comments that leave open that interpretation. And both have been embroiled in media firestorms over those remarks. Both men apologized, and I take both at their word. But I won't forget what either man has said.

Senator Lott this week has even echoed Jackson's 1984 appeal for forgiveness...saying "This was a mistake of the head, not the heart." And then in a stroke of breathtaking hypocrisy, Jackson was among the first to call for Senator Lott's resignation from the Senate leadership. And the National Organization for Women has joined the clamor, calling for the senator's resignation because they also found his remarks about Britney Spears to be insensitive to women. I read his remarks, and found them rather timid compared to the actual Pepsi commercial that aired on network television nationally. To my knowledge, NOW did not protest against that commercial nor the networks that aired it.

The absurdities in this maelstrom compound themselves, because it's in the media's interest to advance it... it's in the political interests of many organizations and the Democratic party to drive it. But it is the reality that the senator created with his words, and for which he alone is responsible. The senator and Jesse Jackson are now linked beyond their now shared rhetoric... just as Jackson's effectiveness as a national political figure was diminished, so too in my opinion, will Lott's effectiveness as Senate Majority Leader. Like Jackson, Lott's words will be forgiven but never entirely forgotten. The decision as to whether Senator Lott continues as Majority Leader is however not his alone. It also the responsibility of Senate Republicans and the Republican Party. The decision is far too important for the Republican Party and the nation to be left to Senator Lott alone.