The bottle let me down

Sheesh, these guys sure do have trouble holding their liquor, don't they?

Representative Rafael Arza, Republican of Hialeah, directed the racial slur at Representative Gustavo Barreiro, Republican of Miami, in a phone message on Oct. 21. The slur came in response to a complaint filed by Mr. Barreiro charging that Mr. Arza used racial epithets to describe Rudy Crew, the schools chief in Miami-Dade County, a charge Mr. Arza has denied.

The speaker, Representative Allan G. Bense, also a Republican, gave the committee of six House members until Nov. 7 to decide whether to recommend the expulsion of Mr. Arza. Many Republican leaders, including Gov. Jeb Bush, have asked Mr. Arza to resign, but he said Monday that he had been unfairly maligned.

The controversy around Mr. Arza first erupted in April, when Mr. Barreiro and three other public officials told The Miami Herald that Mr. Arza had repeatedly used racial epithets to describe Mr. Crew, formerly the schools chancellor in New York. Mr. Arza was chairman of the House education committee, with considerable power over education policy and financing.

Dr. Crew, who is black, filed a complaint with the Legislature, but it was dismissed because he did not hear the slurs himself and Mr. Arza denied making them. Mr. Arza said on the House floor that he was not a racist, and the dispute appeared to be over until Oct. 20, when The Herald reported that Mr. Barreiro had filed his own complaint about the alleged slurs.

The following night, Mr. Arza left two profane voice messages for Mr. Barreiro, calling him one of the offensive racial epithets that he allegedly called Dr. Crew. Mr. Barreiro turned the messages over to the police and Mr. Arza soon acknowledged leaving them, saying he had been drinking beforehand and lost control.

Not one, but two "voice messages."