maddavethorp/Flickr
The Sea of Galilee in Israel, seen here without naked Republican politicians.
Remember after the 2010 midterms, when Republicans said power would now be in the hands of responsible lawmakers, who'll finally make Americans proud of their Congress?
The FBI probed a late-night swim in the Sea of Galilee that involved drinking, numerous GOP freshmen lawmakers, top leadership staff -- and one nude member of Congress, according to more than a dozen sources, including eyewitnesses.
During a fact-finding congressional trip to the Holy Land last summer, Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) took off his clothes and jumped into the sea, joining a number of members, their families and GOP staff during a night out in Israel, the sources told POLITICO. Other participants, including the daughter of another congressman, swam fully clothed while some lawmakers partially disrobed. More than 20 people took part in the late-night dip in the sea, according to sources who took part in the trip.
"A year ago, my wife, Brooke, and I joined colleagues for dinner at the Sea of Galilee in Israel. After dinner I followed some Members of Congress in a spontaneous and very brief dive into the sea and regrettably I jumped into the water without a swimsuit," Yoder said in a statement to POLITICO.
Other swimmers included Reps. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), and Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.). Explanations for the swim varied, but "several privately admitted that alcohol may have played a role in why some of those present decided to jump in."
Ya don't say.
In fairness to the raucous Republicans, it's not at all clear why the FBI looked into this. Unless there's reason to believe crimes were committed -- and there's not much in the article that points in that direction -- it's hard to understand why the FBI would care. Perhaps there are relevant details we don't yet know.
Regardless, I'm struck by the larger context. The incident was in August 2011, shortly after these same Republican lawmakers, for the first time in American history, held the full faith and credit of the United States hostage, rattling markets, undermining the economy, and causing a downgrade in our debt rating. They were in Israel, where Jesus is said to have walked on water -- this gives "kiss my ass, this is a holy site" a whole new meaning -- and as part of an official delegation, they were representing all of us, traveling on our dime.
And they nevertheless thought it'd be a good idea to start partying a little too hard.
I can think of a lot of reasons this is the worst Congress ever, and why congressional incumbents are pretending to be challengers, hoping voters won't know the difference, and it looks like we can add this to a pretty long list.
For the record, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) was reportedly the senior most GOP lawmaker in Israel on the trip, and "rebuked the 30 lawmakers the morning after" the incident. It's unclear, however, if any of the offending members were punished outside of the scolding.
Photo credit: maddavethorp/Flickr
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"...when Republicans said power would now be in the hands of responsible lawmakers, who'll finally make Americans proud of their Congress?"
Thank you Steve for the reminder and the best laugh that I've had all morning! BTW, you owe me a cup of coffee, cause the other one shot thru my nose and spilled a bit as I read that first paragraph.....
"Kiss my ass! This is a holy site" + skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilee.
Somebody better be working on an side-spittingly hilarious political cartoon.
I rebuke thee!
-Eric C@ntor
Steve, you've got it all wrong. The GOP group never intended to swim in the sea of Galilee. They thought they too could walk on top of it. The ones who took any or all their clothes off just weren't as certain of their own infallibility.
Further proof of why the New, Improved GOP is making it difficult for the Onion to stay ahead of reality. I do believe this is the single most unintentionally hilarious response yet to an allegation of misbehavior by a Congressman, ever.
And seriously? The Sea of Galilee? Of all of the bodies of water in all of the frakking world, the Party of God's members decide that the Sea of Effbombing Galilee is the perfect place to get wrecked and do a little drunk swimming? I'm a sacrilegious heretic who leans agnostic at least four days out of seven, and even I am offended.
Indeed, the whole thing is so crassly offensive that I'm certain I'll be getting a crazy uncle email within weeks portraying this as something Democratic members of Congress did.
...I got caught.
I'm a sacrilegious heretic who leans agnostic at least four days out of seven, and even I am offended.
What do you expect from a bunch of dumbass Southern Baptist fundamentalists?
It's like Garrison Keillor once said: don't ever take just one Baptist fishing with you, 'cause he'll drink all your beer. Take two and they won't drink any!
That is, unless they're also Congressmen as well as Southern Baptists.
"Consider a congressman, then consider an idiot. Ah, but I repeat myself." Mark Twain, 1872
Another heretic here, but even I know fake "christians" when i see them.
They wear their religion like its jock strap or a thong. Only when it suits them.
So now male Republican members of Congress are behaving like frat boys on Spring break. What next female Republican members flashing their breasts for Mardi Gras beads? (Yeah I went there)
When you get drunk, and decide to emulate Jesus, it is best to make the attempt in Vermont, and in January.
Or at least know where the stepping stones are.
Since the GOP imagins itself the Party of Christ I thought I wuld post a few Bible quotes:
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for
rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been
decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and
the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they
stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving
judgment.
...
There are plenty more
Seriously, a little nekkid swimming is a big deal? And the Sea of Galilee is not a holy site. Just silly.
The Sea of Galilee isn't a holy site? Are we talking about the same "Sea of Galilee?"
Because I'm pretty sure that this event occurred in the one whose fish Jesus commanded into the nets of Simon-Peter, Andrew, John and James before recruiting them to the cause, whose storm-tossed waters he stilled with a word, and upon which he strolled with said Peter, and beside which he gave the Sermon on the Mount and fed the 5,000. The one, indeed, upon whose shores, in the ribbon of towns and villages that surrounded it, the vast majority of his ministry occurred.
Conceding, for purposes of argument, that the words "holy site" aren't a semantic nullity, I'm going to have to say that the Sea of Galilee qualifies as one. At least for Christians. (And, though I'm no authority, presumably Muslims as well, given their embrace of Jesus as the second most important prophet of their religion.)
...true.
That's why Republicans with their on-camera piety would scream bloody hell had Obama popped over to the Holy Land, got a bit drunk one night after a Summit, and took a quick skinny dip in the Sea of Galilee with a few of his trusted entrouage. Oh yeah.
Renee it seems they may have done it they did it at or near a restaurant. A very public place I am sick of being embarrassed for my fellows Americans doing asinine things while on vacation, let alone Representatives of my government. This wasn't some private pool or some obscure body of water where the public rarely if ever ventures. It was a very well known public place. I don't know about you but I expect a little more decorum from our elected representatives.
I don't except our elected representatives to be perfect but I do expect to think before they they literally leap.
During a fact-finding congressional trip to the Holy Land last summer
Why did it take a year for this to surface? Didn't hear a thing about this 12 month old event until now. Must be an election year. Classic campaign tactics. Now of course you know the Republican campaign will be digging up 1 or 2 year old "events" that will put some Democratic member of Congress or the Administration in a bad light. Such a mature and informed way to elect the POTUS and Congress. What that freshman Representative did was idiotic, but what the hell does it have to do with the economy, the ACA, the deficit and all the other "real" issues that this very important election is about? Now we will talk about this for a week or so - like it will change anybody's vote.
Um, Skip..it isn't the Democrat's doing the digging... IT IS THE FBI.
Now, if the FBI were to dig up some stuff on things Democrat's were doing wrong a year or two ago, then we would be on equal footing.
Until then, go jump in a lake.
Not a lake, Fugudaddy, the Sea of Galilee, and Skip needn't bother with a suit since it's a free for all these days because "both sides do it"...
Oh, wait. I haven't heard about Dems "revering" the Holy Land in this particular manner.
Ah yes. The "Real Issues." Best I can tell, that's Republican code-talk for "Waaaahhhh! The MSM isn't mindlessly transcribing our talking points!!!! No fair! Liberal bias! Waaaahhhh!!!!!!"
Skippy: Thanks for the daily demonstration of how stupid stupid has to be to be one of you morons. Do you actually have an IQ? Frontal lobes? Opposable thumbs?
Fugdaddy,
Not sure when the FBI looked into it, and more importantly why the FBI would look into a skinny dipping incident is a mystery (as Steve also pointed out in the article above). I am assuming the FBI looked into it closer to when it happened - a year ago. Of course the timing of it coming out less than 80 days before the election is purely coincidental ...and again sooo important in this election. Let's talk about a stupid freshman Representative that probably had too much wine and skinny dipped. Real national implications there. I hope the FBI uses a lot of time and personnel on this.
And NeedMoreCofee,
I am not very religious person and to me it is just a body of water. I would imagine to most of the "Dems" (your term, not mine) probably view that way too. Most of the ultra-religious are Republicans.
And sorry Steve 458xxx,
You're right...this is a real issue. My bad. Don't know what your comment about Repulican code talk means. I do not vote Republican very often - maybe for a local seat now and then if I think they are the best candidate.
Yes, it's time to stop bringing up things that happened a whole year ago and concentrate on more important, more timely things, such as President Obama's school transcripts.
:-p
damskippy,
School transcripts and birth certificates are just like this - petty compared to the actual election issues. Again why you and others think I am for "looking into" the President's birth certificate or college transcipts puzzles me. I have never brought any of that crap up. Or maybe you were just agreeing with me in a funny sarcastic way. Not sure, but it is funny.
Do you really believe this skinny dipping incident is important or that it will make someone change their vote? Granted the average voter can be mesmerized by lawn signs and misleading ads but.....
Skip- Ben Quayle and David Schweikert are in a close race here in AZ. Jon Kyle has endorsed Quayle, as has Sarah Palin, Lindsey Graham and a few others. This got quite a bit of attention on the news last night, with Quayle blaming the Schweikert campaign for breaking the story. Schweikert of course denied it.
Will it have an effect on the election? It might here in AZ.
rwsgate,
If it does effect that election in AZ, then it just confirms what I already know and stated above - the average voter can be mesmerized by lawn signs and misleading ads...and in this case one side maybe breaking the story and the other side making that accusation. And of course this is sooo relevent with the state our country is in. Just so fantastic that this stuff may determine your race in AZ. Funny, by sadly true I guess.
Skip: It amazes me that no one but you even noticed Mr. Benen's rather tepid "why"
What the H business is it of the FBI? Since it happened in a foreign country, wouldn't it be a matter for LOCAL law enforcement? Why would they assume they had jurisdiction?
This stinks like a psyop to me. My first reaction was to check my desktop calendar - nope - not April 1. Actually, it more stinks like Karl Rove. He's talked before about planting fake stories to make Dems look bad when it comes out that it's fake.
Skip
Please see my reply #7.3 why this annoys me.
Thank you
As always Maria
And, of course, Politico had to bend over backwards to work in some mention of some totally unrelated scandals involving Democrats so that we can rest assured that Politico is Fair and Balanced and Both Sides Do It.
And, of course, that didn't dissuade the always intelligent and insightful Politico commenting community from pointing to the story's publication as proof of how deeply biased Politico is and how deep in the tank it is for Obama. It was there that I learned of the lengths the liberal MSM went to try to hide some scandal involving the Secret Service and prostitutes in Cartegena. (A scandal that I, for one, heard next to nothing about).
Steve
If you needed to know about Cartegena, the Secret Service and prostitutes then you should have listened to NPR. Because I got an earful of it. TMI
This just shows how deep the pious right's devoutness really is: skin-deep.
Yep. And I bet one of them peed in the water too.
Great. Now all the catfish noodlin' rubes will find out about all the bennies of Congress and be mountin' their own campaigns. Add the chasin' women parts and there'll be a stampede of baggers.
The trip wasn't actually "on our dime" -- it was privately funded by the American Israel Educational Foundation, an affiliate of AIPAC, not that that really makes me feel better about it. I can't tell which of the four daughters of Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL) it was who also took a dip, or whether she was a minor at the time; they are all pictured here on his appropriately titled "splash page." In any case it wasn't exactly a shining moment for either Yoder or the Southerlands.
Why do they remind me of all the sorority bimbos I ever met in college? Because they are sorority bimbos?
Kevin, one small point: the trip wasn't on taxpayers dime. From the article:
Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was also on the privately funded excursion, which means two of the three top House Republicans were a part of this trip.
No quibble with the rest of the piece. Just FYI.
I'll be honest - I don't really see the problem here, but then I don't know what the cultural standards are for the behavior, or the body of water, so maybe that's just me being an Ugly American. But I have to admit, I kind of understand a whole bunch of people spontaneously doing this, nekkid or not, and it's not like they were playing hooky when they were supposed to be in a meeting. And why would the FBI - not the CIA, mind you - care?
Also, love the photo caption.
I don't care about them going swimming, but I know that if a Dem pol had done it, they would have persecuted him/her until he/she resigned. It's the hypocrisy that always gets me. They'd be pissing and moaning about the desecration of the holy sea of Galilee.
"and as part of an official delegation, they were representing all of us, traveling on our dime."
I think it bothers me more that this is a privately funded "routine" trip..... meaning that it happens regularly and is paid for by private funds lobbying our Legislators by giving them this trip.....
Paid for by AIPAC, the organization of KAPOs that supports the Jewish Nazis of the Likud and the rest of the Israeli far right. Surprise surprise they'd be sending our nazis to visit and give pointers.
Christened fools and harlots these guppies emerged with glee from the sea.
Their holier than thou attitude intact they submitted to a grave tongue lashing from their leader as the FBI kept track.
Why did the FBI look into it?Perversion?Prurient interest? Cover up? Hey why do workers get pictures of the boss in compromising situations? To get all they can get.
Acually that's the last news which gives me a positive impression of the GOP congressional delegation. Now I'm off to swim in the sea of Mediterranean wearing ... none of your goddamn business.
Take a dip in the Gulf of Mexico. (You might want to have EMTs at the ready)
Debate is not about the sanctity of lie or anything like it, but about the lie and the cleverness of the liar, shouting the loudest.(1)
The twist and turns of blame entangle like octopus for all those without a sharp tool for cutting:
The policies of the right, developed relentlessly over many, many years are totally the fault of Obama?
Any mistakes and confabulations on the right are caused by confusion created by Obama?
...
The GOP Congressional tour of The Sea of Galilee was just a ceremonial confirmation, a baptismal affirmation of their Christian Evangelist Faith, spread throughout the world and most recently at befriending those of the Jewish Faith.
We need not wonder of the connection that has brought this full circle through the millennia. The complete revelation was passed down while the committee of the faithful's sins was washed clean in the Sea of Miracles, the Sea of Galilee. The Christian path arose from the Jewish Faith in conflict with the many commandments of Old Testament when forcefully confronted by the power of the undefeated Roman Empire, that itself arose from the division of the long lasting Roman Republic.
While it is natural that these forces were divided against each other for two millennia, it was just the path that the divine has directed. The purpose of this lengthy wandering path was to gather strength, energy, and purpose, and to knit, tie and bond the powerful, with the means, to achieve a heavenly goal, to unite all faiths into one that became the predicted millennia of peace.
While immersed in these Holy waters, these chosen ones, had revealed unto them, the world's financial global interdependency owing to their ability to lower the credit rating of the Earth's greatest economy.
While the waves of the Holy Sea washed away the oils of the flesh, it was revealed unto them the location of the Earth's greatest oil reserve.
While the holy waters washed their nether regions, the connection of man's inventions and dependency on energy was revealed.
Connecting your nether regions, to oil, to energy, to finance, to the realization in frontal cortex to action is held retained by forces of politeness, to be unleashed. The great simplification is the trigger the reduction down to three ideals; to oil, to energy, to finance, were the moral conundrum as to who is right and who is wrong is suspended while the hordes of military might descend upon the oil lands, no man, nor country can halt this tempting choice.
Only after this has begun, will God reveal the true plan; all the forces believing in their God will arrive to a hot infernal unpeopled land, and be greeted by the God welcoming them to live in this desolate place, without one gift they have forsaken, that gift is life and all life depends not at all on oil, but water, water for life, water for your life, water for all life that has been and will ever be.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Whitefield#Benjamin_Franklin_and_Whitefield
(1) Benjamin Franklin and Whitefield
Knots I tell you Knots:
Well, looks like I was half right. It really happened, but the
FBI part was BS. And the Grimm story is far more significant than skinny-dipping. Although the image of shrunken Repub . . . well, you know.
Darn, it really smelled like something Rove would do.
Can you imagine how bat@!$%#e crazy the 'thuglicans would have been if a Democratic Congressman had jumped into the sea with all his clothes on. Oh, the hypocrisy! IOKIYAR.
I wonder if the 'thuglicans released the story themselves to take the limelight away from Akin.
Oh. It was Quayle's opponent who dropped the dime. Figures.
TRMS should never have carried this story. It panders to nothing but the need to ridicule the political opponent - and that should not be what the show is doing. The guy was naked, so what? It is a "body of water" mentioned in the bible ... so what? ther eis no policy implication at all, so leave the dude alone.
The blog entry is even worse. It is nothing but a collection of attack memes - all thrown together.
Gegenzeit
Please see my reply #7.3 why this is not a "so what?" situation.
When I heard this story, it reminded me of the opening theme radio scan for WKRP in Cincinnati ('78-'82).
http://www.littleshopofvoices.com/radioscan.wav
What's old is new again.
The scandal is not that the Republicans jumped into the water, nor even that one of them was naked; the scandal is that they were there on a junket paid for by lobbyists.