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It must have been a rough week for the Florida Senate. One of their own misbehaved so badly and in such a public way that the guardians of the institution were forced to expel him. To be more accurate, the guardians were ready to do so, but they shamed a former US Marine into submission instead. This must be what happens when term limits force the upper chamber to admit too many members from the unwashed, lower House chamber.    

What was this behavior that stood out as so bad, so disruptive, so heinous that Senators themselves felt they knew better than the people of District 40 to determine the fate of their duly elected colleague? What law did this man violate, what crime did this man commit, what sin did he visit upon another human being? Bad actors are not new to elected office in Florida – or anywhere else – this crime must have been exceptional. Spoiler alert: Senator Frank Artilles called people names. While they may have been horrible, nasty, despicable and disgusting names, really - that’s what he did, he called people names, and that’s all that he did. But mind you, these were not just people; they were Senators.

It’s funny what happens to some people when you give them power, a title, and some authority. Especially when you call someone a Senator. They start acting like a Senator. Google Roman Senate and read if you don’t quite get the implication of this statement. It’s not exactly a compliment. Apparently, Senators believe they are special and cannot be referred to by their fellow men in derogatory terms, because, well, they are Senators.

For the political correct crowd, it’s easy to argue that Artilles deserved to be canned. It This type of bullying retribution for behavior the left abhors is the exact behavior for which the this short-sighted, PC crowd is known.  Tolerance, unless the idea or comments are against us.   For Senators, perhaps it’s such hypocrisy is even easier and to do so by hiding behind the “integrity of the institution” argument.  Especially since by many accounts, Artilles didn’t truly fit in with the gentile, blue-blood crowd of the elevated chamber. Clearly, enough Senators believe that because there is no bad behavior in the Florida Senate, the institution must protect itself, from the likes of Frank Artilles.  

Candidly, there are many in Tallahassee that refer to Artilles as a bully and a bit of an ass.  Of course, it must be noted that he serves in an institution where kissing ass seems to be a more important attribute than the ability to kick it. But what one might also wish to consider is that the approach of condemning a man for using the “N” word is merely a full acceptance and acknowledgment of the cowardess of white people. Especially white men and more especially white, male Senators - all buying into the arguments of political correctness because it is much, much easier than to defend speech, especially speech one abhors.  Perhaps the “P” word Artilles used is an apt description of many of these Senators after all – if all they can do, when a colleague loses his cool and says things that he may (or may not) regret, is jump on the bandwagon of the left’s PC police and condemn the sin and the sinner.