Speakerless Florida House

Ray Sansom's clumsy attempt to slip into the shadows even as he tries to hold onto the reigns of power as Speaker of the House in Tallahassee has everyone confused. He didn't 'resign,' claims Sansom -- he 'recused' himself in writing:

I have decided to recuse myself from the exercise of my duties as speaker of the House of Representative,” Sansom wrote.

Recusal, we understand. It's done occasionally on a case-by-case basis in specific circumstances where a judge or other public official charged with decision-making authority is faced with real or apparent conflict of interest and therefore should avoid taking part.

It's not a vacation from the job altogether. It's not 'sick leave' or 'legal leave' or even 'grand jury subpoena leave.'

Someone in the Florida legislature ought to consult an English dictionary.

Merriam-Webster:

Recuse: Pronunciation: re·cuse. Function: transitive verb. Etymology: Middle English, to refuse, reject, from Anglo-French recuser, from Latin recusare

Definition: To disqualify (oneself) as judge in a particular case ; broadly: to remove (oneself) from participation to avoid a conflict of interest.

edited 2-2 am