Florida senator resigns amid outcry over racist remarks

[groundloop]

Source: CBS News

TALLAHASSEE – An alcohol-fueled obscenity and racial slur-laced tirade have cost a Miami senator his job.

CBS Miami reports Republican Sen. Frank Artiles officially submitted his letter of resignation on Friday.

“I apologize to my family and friends and I apologize to all of my fellow Senators and lawmakers. To the people of my district and all of Miami-Dade, I am sorry I have let you down and ask for your forgiveness.

My actions and my presence in government is now a distraction to my colleagues, the legislative process, and the citizens of our great State......."



Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-senator-frank-artiles-resigns-over-racist-remarks/

[iluvtennis]

1. Good riddance of another Trumpian nt

[onetexan]

5. Second that!

drain the swamp

[ailsagirl]

8. AMEN!!!

[NurseJackie]

2. Artiles has tried to explain his behavior as cultural...

"Artiles has tried to explain his behavior as cultural, he’s said that’s the way people speak in Hialeah, where he grew up."

GMAFB!

[itcfish]

14. He was born and raised

in California. I doubt that would be a good excuse.

[tenorly]

3. Alcohol - and, no doubt, yeyo.

Cocaine, it's been said, amplifies your personality. That can be a real problem if the person's an asshole.

[brianvanwa]

4. The next Florida State Senator from District 40

Will there be a special election to replace the disgraced state senator, or does that new rep get appointed?

[lark]

6. Another one bites the dust, hey, hey!

[Permanut]

7. Predicting the Gropenfuhrer response..

"I think he’s a person I know well — he is a good person," Trump would say.

"I think he shouldn't have resigned. Personally I think he shouldn't have resigned," he would add. "Because he should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Frank did anything wrong."

[Blue Idaho]

9. Booze and Drugs didn't put those despicable ideas in his head

But they may have loosened his tongue.

Asshole...

[ATL Ebony]

10. Couldn't have happened to a more deserving A-hole.

[Solly Mack]

11. Neither Jack nor Bud made you a racist, asshole.

[obamanut2012]

12. tbh the majority of his consituents probably agree with him

That is a rare red area is a sea of blue, stretching from Palm Beach County down through Broward and into Glades.

He is right: the issue is his cultural biases, but that excuses nothing. The biases are racist and homophobic ones.

[voteearlyvoteoften]

13. Our local DEm groups pushed hard for this

Woo hoo so long loser

[JudyM]

17. Nice going! Congrats! Who replaces him?

[Hortensis]

21. That's great. How those who voted to replace a

Democrat with this corrupt, racist creep are proud of themselves.

[SeattleVet]

15. This turd resigns, Chaffetz is getting ready to resign...

looks like the swamp is starting to drain itself.

[NewRedDawn]

16. Is this asshat Cuban-american?

I got news for you brother, Your Putin Publican Neo Confederates look at you as a "ferigner" sub-species too.

[GreydeeThos]

18. Republican equals racist. That is the lesson for today class, have a nice weekend

(Why can't we use the equals = sign in the subject line?)

[Stand and Fight]

20. Likely because it's a programming operator. n/t

[HAB911]

19. It gets better: Hooters 'calendar girl' and Playboy 'Miss Social' were Frank Artiles' paid consultan

TALLAHASSEE — Just months before his resignation Friday, Sen. Frank Artiles scored a coup in November when he unseated Democrat Dwight Bullard with an aggressive $1 million campaign in a district that favored Democrats.

But the long list of expenditures filed with the Florida Division of Elections by Artiles' political committee, Veterans for Conservative Principles, also raised some questions. Why did the committee hire a former Hooters "calendar girl" and a Playboy model with no political experience as "consultants?" Were the payments related to a trip to the Kentucky Derby or a fishing tournament in Key West? What was the more than $51,000 in reimbursements to Artiles for?

Heather Thomas, a former Hooters calendar girl and waitress at 101, a restaurant and bar in Tallahassee, was paid $2,000 between March and June of last year. The expense report lists the purpose as "consultant." Her friend, Brittney Singletary, is a waitress at Stetsons on the Moon in Tallahassee. She was paid $1,500 with three checks covering three of the same dates and listing the same purpose.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/hooters-calendar-girl-and-playboy-miss-social-were-frank-artiles-paid/2321199