In how these things are handled. A lawmaker makes a dreadful mistake and says things he should not. Lawmaker is pressured by colleagues in the same party to do the right thing. Lawmaker does not go on the offensive, does not try to shift blame. Lawmaker does the decent thing and resigns.
Well you knew it wasn't John "Look! I'm a magic hat" Kerry.
HIALEAH, Fla. – A state lawmaker under fire for leaving a message filled with obscenities and a racial slur on a colleague's voice mail resigned Wednesday from the Florida Legislature.
State Rep. Ralph Arza had been urged to step down by fellow House Republicans and by Gov. Jeb Bush.
In a news conference Wednesday, Arza apologized for his actions and said he didn't want to distract from the work of the Republican-led Legislature.
"I do not want to be the story," he said.
Arza had acknowledged leaving the message on fellow Republican Rep. Gus Barreiro's voice mail last month but said he was drunk.
He said he had learned that Barreiro had filed a complaint alleging he had earlier used a racial epithet when referring to Miami-Dade County school superintendent Rudy Crew, who is black. He used the same epithet in his phone message to Barreiro, who is Hispanic, but he has vehemently denied ever using a racial slur to refer to Crew.
Arza was under pressure from his own party. Nobody tried to excuse what he said or cover for him. Seems a bit different, doesn't it?
Kerry’s apology. “I Apologize that all the stupid, uneducated, mouthbreathers in the military and the rightwing hacks that support them misinterpreted my statement”. They’re really stupid. They should all move to Massacommunists and vote for me. That’ll make ‘em really smart.”