Speaking of Israel:
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. “It is my greatest honor to represent the people of Kansas in Congress and [for] any embarrassment I have caused for my colleagues and constituents, I apologize.”
Travis Smith, Yoder’s chief of staff, told POLITICO “Neither Congressman Yoder, nor his staff, have been interviewed by the FBI.”
These GOP sources confirmed the following freshmen lawmakers also went swimming that night: Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) and his daughter; Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and his wife; Reps. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) and Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.). Many of the lawmakers who ventured into the ocean said they did so because of the religious significance of the waters. Others said they were simply cooling off after a long day. Several privately admitted that alcohol may have played a role in why some of those present decided to jump in.
I gotta admit, I too have had a few drinks and gone skinny-dipping. The big difference was that I was in college and not a member of Congress and certainly not on an official government trip.
I’m just going to end this post now, because whatever I say will pale in comparison to the awesomeness that TBOGG will bring to this issue tomorrow.
SiubhanDuinne
Story just hit the AJC. One of the comments about Yoder was “He has nothing to hide.”
I kind of wish I’d said that.
Punchy
GOP, the party of Family Values(TM).
SFAW
Tomorrow? Hell, it’s only dinner time where TBogg lives, I would hope he would address this forthwith, and not be such a slacker, etc., etc.
poco
Maybe they thought it was the Dead Sea??
Can we have a FP about Josh Trevino being hired by the Guardian?
mechwarrior online
I don’t think this is a big deal, just as the secret service partying was not a big deal. One of the draws of government service that sends you overseas is partying it up like a wild animal. Hell it’s a selling point in many military services.
In global development we are having a hard time because we are hiring more locals and sending less “save the world” young types jet setting to party hard in other countries, and they are upset since that kills off the fun in it.
Hal
@SiubhanDuinne:
Someone might want to introduce Yoder to Gary Hart.
Hunter Gathers
I think it goes without saying that Jesus won’t be walking on those waters anytime soon.
Violet
So glad to know our tax money is paying for their naked midnight swims.
SiubhanDuinne
I kind of wonder what collegial relations are like between Rep. Southerland and and Rep. Yoder. Or for that matter, what Mrs. Yoder thought about it.
muddy
Seckystime is doubly misspelled. I appreciate your effort to make it seem less sickening though.
Maude
Mixed company.
Too bad no one snapped a photo as they walked to the lake.
AnonReader
@mechwarrior online: In global development we are having a hard time because we are hiring more locals and sending less “save the world” young types jet setting to party hard in other countries, and they are upset since that kills off the fun in it.
To be fair, the low salaries involved in working for some global development non-profits mean that you have to provide some compensation in the form of “cool.” And if you can’t do that, they might as well get jobs as accountants, which at least will afford them the ability to rent an apartment without roommates.
JPL
Although it’s interesting that the family value guys would skinny dip, don’t forget iokiyar.
sb
It may have played a role? I hope it goes without saying that if democrats did this, we’d never, ever hear the end of it.
Jeremy Saperstein
Interesting that this story came out this weekend as well.
Rommie
@Hal: Sounds like the old WKRP opening come to life: “but the senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity.” Har har.
lamh35
Completely OT, but Uh oh for Akin!?
Growing Number Of Conservatives Call On Akin To Withdraw After ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comments
Shalimar
I’ll take “Things Congressmen do that are much less harmful than all the evil shit” for 400, Alex.
Frank the Tank
Sources would not confirm reports that Yoder yelled “we’re going up to the quad and through the gymnasium” before asking if KFC is still open.
jwb
@lamh35: The national GOP didn’t want him in the first place, so it’s no surprise that they are using this to try pushing him out.
Maude
@lamh35:
His remarks went around the world on Twitter.
lamh35
@lamh35: wow. issuing a 2nd statement ’cause the first was not good enough is surely NOT “winning”.
Akin Clarifies Comments On Twitter: ‘Rape Can Result In Pregnancy’
taylormattd
Come with Me to the sea of Galilee; come with Me, come apart with Me.
Come with Me, leave the multitude; come with Me to a place of solitude.
Come with Me, watch and pray. Come with Me for soon I go:
But I will leave My spirit to guide and comfort you,
And I will come again for you.
[yes, yes, I resisted substituting the word “cum” in these verses. Will save that for Wonkette.]
Patricia Kayden
@lamh35: That’s good. But isn’t he leading McCaskill in the polls anyways?
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh35:
NO! he must absolutely NOT resign until Charles P. Pierce has a chance to write his column tomorrow. Don’t harsh Charlie’s mellow, Akin!
? Martin
@efgoldman: Breach of protocol? US official delegation goes off and acts like a bunch of college kids in another country? That’s a legitimate problem. Same with the Secret Service thing.
If this happened in the US, I don’t think anyone would have cared.
Violet
@lamh35: Maybe he’ll be damaged goods and if the Republicans try to replace him, they’ll not only look disorganized and weak, but risk the wrath of the teabaggers who voted him in.
Let’s hope for a protracted fight and lots of media coverage of the situation.
JPL
Let’s be honest, it’s not like they walked on water where they could let it all hang out.
Punchy
@lamh35: Holy fucking shit……
geg6
College, Cole? Hell, I haven’t done anything so juvenile and stupid as skinny dipping since high school. And even then, I only did it because I was a lifeguard at our local private club and six of us young and stupids closed up at night. Skinny dipping and alcohol (and perhaps some fine green bud) may have been involved, but we ranged in age from 16 to 18 fucking years old and we weren’t doing it on the tax payers’ dime nor did we do it with our own fucking children. these people are some sick mother fuckers.
Davis X. Machina
Heh. He said ‘member’….
JPL
Todd Akin is a creep link
? Martin
@SiubhanDuinne: They’re not going to push him out. MO-Sen was one of the GOPs best pickup opportunities. Until the polls show him losing, he’s going to stay in. If they decide MO is a lost cause, then they’ll push him out ‘out of principle’.
lamh35
Also, surprising no one, Romney/Ryan issues the usual “tepid” statement.
Romney: ‘We Disagree’ With Akin
Mustang Bobby
But when Jesus did it, I’ll bet he didn’t say, “Hey, guys, watch this!”
Violet
@lamh35: And the Romney campaign responds:
They disagree? It’s a fact. It’s either true or not true. You don’t get to “disagree” with facts. Unless you’re a wingnut, I guess.
mechwarrior online
@AnonReader:
I’m talking about people that pull 80-120k.
Most of the people in the field are young women from rich families with trust funds anyways. Who brag about the “lack of a paycheck” as a way to show they are committed to saving the world all while marrying high powered K street types who pay for the fancy house. Those who aren’t married almost always have their parents money to play around with.
The complaints about the pay are bullshit, unless you want a two million dollar condo and a boat at the club. Those who really want it just get mom and dad to buy it for them.
geg6
@Violet:
Well, I’ll say this, it shows that Ryan is as much a liar and flip flopped as Rmoney. Until today and this very statement, Ryan opposed abortion under all circumstances, including rape and incest.
lamh35
@Violet: the pro-life/christianist/Palin-ite crowd sure ain’t gonna like that will they.
I expect a walk-back by AM or noon tomorrow.
Spatula
Cole, why is this an issue?
Some people went swimming late at night. Are you really trying to imply legitimate outrage that someone went skinny dipping? Skinny dipping is awesome.
Call me when photographs from an orgy are available. Then we’ll talk.
This is stupid and reeks of Republican style faux panty sniffing.
geg6
Help! FYWP! I used the term for having sex with a close relative and I’m being persecuted!
Spaghetti Lee
Why would anyone be mad about this? The more time they spend not making laws, the better.
Spaghetti Lee
Akin question: If he does leave/get forced out of the race, who replaces him? Would it be the second-place primary finisher, or would it be like an Alan Keyes thing where the GOP just grabs for the nearest warm object? I don’t think I’ve saved up enough karma for this to happen, but a man can dream, can’t he?
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL: Hahaha
The Dangerman
Hey, I can relate; it sucks when I forget to pack my swimsuit.
R. Porrofatto
Always great to have an excuse to link this bit of Ben Quayle awesomeness. “Somebody has to go to Washington and knock the hell out of the place.”
Spatula
@geg6:
Could you explain in detail how skinny dipping is juvenile and stupid?
My god, the stick up the ass church lady attitude among the BJ commetariat on this issue alone explains a lot. Standard uptight American prudishness.
JGabriel
__
__
Politico:
I like how Politico substitutes the word “lawmakers” for “Republicans”.
Also, being Republicans and drunk, I’ll bet dollars to donuts that some those guys pee’d in that religiously significant water.
ETA: Tell me again why Likud wants to team up with the GOP? I’d think they’d be embarrassed to be seen with this crew.
.
evodevo
Eewwwww!!! This is going to require at least a gallon of brain bleach …..
arguingwithsignposts
@mechwarrior online:
You know what, if that’s what people think of as a “hard time,” then fuck them. Global development isn’t meant for you to get your damned rocks off partying in exotic locales.
Tom65
Presumably no one at the FBI wanted to interview Rep. Yoder’s staff.
/obviousjoke
Rupert
@Spatula: How big does the stick need to be for the FBI to have been called in? And why didn’t the FBI just laugh in the face of whoever thought this should be investigated?
GregB
Romney spokes Rick Gorka, when asked for a comment about reports of drunk antics and nudity by Republicans in the Sea of Galilee responded:
This is a holy site, kiss my ass.
Violet
@lamh35: Nah, most of the forced pregnancy crowd supports exceptions for rape or insest. They’re mostly in support of slut-shaming. If the drunk college girl gets pregnant, she should have to have the baby. That kind of thing. Sure there are hardcore folks, but most of them are a little less strict. Which, of course means they’re pro-choice. It’s just that their line for where the choice should be is different from mine.
Tara the Antisocial Social Worker
I don’t wanna read the words “nude member of Congress.” Or even think about them. Ew.
Spatula
@Rupert:
You’re OK with the FBI being called to investigate skinny dipping? Who called them and why?
So you’re proposing there was a national security or criminal angle to this shocking swimming incident?
General Stuck
Looks like Saint Paul was all for corporate welfare bailouts, before he was against them. At least for GM plant in his own district.
That was Superman that done that. Clark Kent did this.
Just another tricky day on Planet Wingnut
arguingwithsignposts
@Tom65: {golf clap}
John Cole
I have no problem with people skinny dipping. I have a slight problem with congressional delegations on diplomatic missions getting liquored in a foreign country then dropping trou in a holy site.
Imagine an Israeli delegation streaking at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then get back to me.
But I know you only post to troll here and let us all know we are prudes.
Irving
…um, so? I just got back from Pennsic, where the Classic Swimming Hole is an institution.
Irving
…um, so? I just got back from Pennsic, where the Classic Swimming Hole is an institution.
arguingwithsignposts
@John Cole: Is he about to tell us how it’s okay for coaches to shower with young boys?
ETA: Or is this another of the perma-trolls. I think I lost track.
geg6
@Spatula:
It’s juvenile and stupid to do something like this in public, with your own child, when you are a representative of a large number of people, when you are representing your country in a foreign land, when you are in the public eye, when you’re old enough to know better, and when you choose to run around drunk and naked with your own child, regardless of that child’s age. It’s inappropriate in just about every way possible. And that’s without even bringing up their prudishness and utter condemnation of people who have secksytime in the privacy of their own homes.
dmsilev
For a bunch of avowedly devout Christians, they sure did demonstrate a lot of respect for one of Christianity’s sacred sites.
Also, too, am I the only one who keeps reading the story as ‘Congressman Yoda’? Because the thought of Yoda skinny-dipping is just wrong.
Ed in NJ
@Spatula:
Are you being willfully stupid or trying to troll us?
This is embarrassing behavior by U.S. Reps in a foreign country. Is there any chance it wouldn’t be criticized in conservative circles if they were Dems?
This should be hung around the necks of each of these during election season. They embarrassed the country. The FBI needed to be called in to investigate. They don’t deserve to remain in office.
dance around in your bones
Oh, please.
I don’t give a flying fuck what people do with their secksytime (as long as they are not trying to restrict others)…….
Ok. Good Dog, I am just tired of this shit. No wonder Cole just shows up once in a while….I’d prolly blow my brains out.
Says she who just got served two delicioso fish tacos whilst reclining on her bed.
JordanRules
Meh. Skinny dipping is fun. Call me juvenile. *kanye shrug*
GregB
This does bring to mind the old chestnut about Senator Howell Heflin, Democrat from Alabama:
From Wiki:
“Upon seeing photos in the National Enquirer showing U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy copulating with an unknown woman on the deck of Kennedy’s boat, he was said to have noted that he was glad Senator Kennedy had “changed his position on offshore drilling”.”
Xecky Gilchrist
@muddy: Seckystime is doubly misspelled.
And the term is hideously overused anyway. It stopped being funny in about ’05.
scav
@efgoldman: Probably has nothing to do with getting the skinny on the dip, but with drinking and unscheduled behavior, there may be some security issues involved.
BillinGlendaleCA
Politics is wierd, and creepy.
Citizen Alan
@efgoldman:
Personally, I would hope that the FBI would investigate drunken skinnydipping in the presence of minor children, but that’s just me.
dance around in your bones
OK, FYWP wouldn’t let me edit my comment.
But I have to say I have never been shocked by a naked wienie – even when on a Greyhound bus. A fellow passenger whipped his out and asked me what I thought, and I said “Looks like about 5 or 6 inches to me”.
He tucked it back in kinda pronto.
Spatula
@John Cole:
Fuck you, schizophrenic douche. Most of your front page posts, like this one, are designed to troll your reactionary fan base.
I don’t believe for a minute that you, with your background, think skinny dipping where this took place is akin to streaking the tomb of the unknown.
Although your latent prudishness and fondness for authoritarianism does explain your right wing “background,” much of which you have retained but slapped a new tribal label on.
But then, maybe you’re just drunk again. It is past 10am.
jheartney
As I came upon this post, the number of comments was “69.” (Beavis and Butthead giggle.)
Spatula
@Ed in NJ:
omg.
you are a pompous ass.
hahaha…wow
srv
This is a spoof right? Who the fuck cares who swims where? FBI has to investigate swimmigng… sheesh.
Hal
The Akin mess reminds me of Rachel Maddow’s segment a couple of weeks ago regarding the CO Senate race and how the Republican candidate turned out to be so extreme on abortion that he blew his chances at winning. I wonder if we are looking at a similar circumstance along the Christine O’Donnell Sharon Angle Ken Buck.
Oh, also on Ken Buck:
Poopyman
Just FYI, here’s a pic of Steve Southerland’s family, including his three daughters.
dance around in your bones
@Spatula:
Oh hell, Kitchen Implement, go flip yourself. Your obsession with Cole is…………creepy and…………ya know, creepy.
Get a boyfriend, dude.
Spatula
@srv:
Exactly. Either Cole is nakedly trolling, or like many wild and irresponsible young men he is turning into a boring and prudish old geezer.
Or both.
Hal
@Spatula:
How do you troll your own blog? Also, isn’t a blog all about your opinions and things you like or are interested in?
arguingwithsignposts
@Spatula: So, nothing to do on a Sunday night, eh?
Spatula
@dance around in your bones:
Could you explain in what way I am OBSESSED with Cole?
Thanks.
P.S. I doubt he really requires your sychopantic, ass kissing assistance.
Joel
That picture is vom worthy.
sharl
Well shoot, this ain’t nothin’ for goopers. Like hormone-addled bunny rabbits, they’re always hippety-hopping back and forth across that line between ostentatious and anti-Biblical* piety, and activities that violate that self-proclaimed piety. There’s a little bit of Hot Tub Tommy** in a great many folk, but only the Special Ones let their Inner Hounds run while claiming that both alcohol and expression of christian faith are involved.
But we’re all sinners, my friends, and the Big Guy in the Sky will forgive, if you just ask real nice like. Practicing faith is just like your soul is a car: drive it through whatever dirt and grime you want, then go to a big ol’ place of worship, which is just like a car wash, but for your soul. Just remember that some weeks you’re gonna have to shell out for that extra wax treatment to restore that original shine.
*[Somewhere in Matthew 6… where it says praying should be done in private.]
**Or Michael Steele, Bob Livingstone, Larry Craig, Newt Gingrich, etc.
srv
The sea of Galilee is 64 square miles of water and people swim in it all the time. People go there to be baptized.
OMG naked a night. You people are completely psycho.
Spatula
@Hal:
Where have YOU been?
One trolls one’s own blog by posting crap purely designed to stir up the fanbot base, reinforce their stupid group think habits, and draw a couple of dissenters like me, resulting in epic length threads and lots of page hits.
Cole doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilee or anywhere else; he’s just egging on the thread and playing super-Dem.
In a couple of days he will post something with a hint of Firebaggishness as kind of a mirror image trolling tactic, and to keep us all guessing just a little bit…
The Cole post schizophrenia is one of the attractions for me to this place. Maybe someday there will be a meltdown.
dance around in your bones
@Spatula:
Ok, I have no idea what sychopantic means, but I have observed over time that you (whatever your current name is) have a habit of frantically trying to get Cole’s attention.
Which he gives to practically nobody, so you should give it up, hombre.
Ok, WTF? over – no idea why the whole damn comment shows up as a link.
FYWP, 20 bazillion times.
Spatula
@arguingwithsignposts:
Pretty sure you’re here too.
Spatula
@srv:
You are CORRECT, Sir!
Heliopause
“The FBI looked into whether any inappropriate behavior occurred…The FBI’s questions focused on who went into the water that night, and whether there was any impropriety, according to multiple sources…The FBI declined to comment on its probe, saying its standard policy was not to comment on such matters.”
Can somebody explain why the FBI was involved in this?
arguingwithsignposts
@Spatula: Indeed. But I have no problem with it. And I am not the one making a HUGE ISSUE out of my pseudo-psychological diagnosis of the blog host.
Why, exactly, do you come here again?
Spatula
@arguingwithsignposts:
Entertainment, and a continued fascination with tribal group-think in politics, which I used to think was most prevalent on the right. I was wrong.
Also I am intrigued by the issue of Cole’s political about-face, and whether or not it is authentic.
And to annoy you.
dance around in your bones
@Spatula: You are losing, Mr. Kitchen Toolio.
Spatula
Losing what, Boner?
jl
I done did some o’ that sauna stuff in Nordic lands with butt nekkid wimmins and mens, together in one room, a moist and hot room BTW. Probably I can’t run for office now do to my scandalous past.
But I was too much of a girly man, or was sane enough, not go jump in the water afterward when it was cold out.
OT, I made a very bad mistake and put on radio alarm for this morning, and woke up to Rudy Giuliani yelling at poor ol’ Schieff about how awful that Joe Biden is, and Palin was operating at a much higher level.
Fer gawds sake. The Dem ticket must scare the crap out the GOP for them to make such asses out of themselves. The pathetic and hilarious GOP zombie concern troll campaign to dump Biden for the Democrats’ own good staggers on to provide another day of comedy.
Of course, if things had gone slightly differently, and HRC was veep and Biden Secty of State, and the GOP had exhausted all of its sexist wedgies to no effect, then I am sure we would be hearing about how HRC’s ‘harshness’ and ‘divisiveness’ was hurting the Dems, and Biden would be better.
Murderous psycho clowns is what the GOP has turned into.
Bago
If the press holds grudges as long as @ewerickson holds a grudge, we’ll still be omni-tweeting about the “Great teabagging of the Galilee” incident in the year 2055.
Spatula
@jl:
BUT YOU DID NOT DO THIS IN A SACRED LOCATION!
Cole is nothing if not deeply religious and respectful of same.
feebog
I would ordinarily not give a rodent’s ass about skinny dipping. However, these Representatives were on an official trip representing the USA. Not the picture I would like painted for the rest of the world to see. Moreover, several posters have made the key observation; if this had been a half dozen Democratic Reps the faux outrage from Republicans would blow your socks off. But IOKIYAR.
dance around in your bones
@Spatula: Uh, your ‘trying to annoy’ thingio. Ain’t working. (Ok, maybe it is, but just about as much as the dude who whipped it out on the Greyhound bus for me – a brief moment of amusement, quickly forgotten).
And it’s Dancer, not Boner…that’s that Orange guy in WashDC.
Uriel
@arguingwithsignposts:
No,you’re right- he’s the one who supports the rights of under-aged, underprivileged children to shower with wealthy old men to their tender little heats content, the tut-tuting of all us unenlightened croch-sniffers be damned!
Thank god for such principled americans as Timmy….
dance around in your bones
@Heliopause: And where the hell were they sticking their probe??
Xecky Gilchrist
Oh, so it’s one of THESE threads: http://postimage.org/image/jjybgk4v7/
Wag
All this talk about skinny dipping and embarrassed (em-bare-assed?) Representives made me think of Fannie Foxe and Rep. Wilber Mills.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanne_Foxe
dance around in your bones
@Xecky Gilchrist: Thank Gawd we all love pie.
burnspbesq
@geg6:
Now we see the violence inherent in the system.
burnspbesq
@Ed in NJ:
Those two things are not mutually exclusive. In fact, that’s spatula’s sweet spot: willfully stupid trollery.
John O
I couldn’t give less of a shit to hear that some powerful people actually had some fun, for a change.
I know they’re hypocrites, and accept it.
Roger Moore
@Poopyman:
That picture must have been PhotoShopped; Boehner is the wrong color.
Ash Can
Between this and Romney’s trip, it should be abundantly clear that you can’t take a Republican anywhere.
@Violet:
The hell it wouldn’t. They’re full of shit.
dance around in your bones
My husband used to hang around with American Embassy folks in AFG – they were HARD partiers.
That was back in the 70’s. I doubt things have changed much.
Cain
BTW I checked out teh age of the daughter and the youngest was like born in 1995, which makes her over 18 easily. So, every one was an adult.
That said, it’s kind of sad that Republicans have to keep embarrassing us when they go offshore. It’s practically consistent. I remember the good old days when none of this shit would ever happened. We did our sneaky business privately or maybe the press knew when to keep their mouth shut.
The Dangerman
OT, but if you’re into historical mysteries, there’s a Discovery Channel program on at 10pm about Amelia Earhart (sorry, East Coasters, too late for you); if you’re watching breaking headlines, there are reports they MAY have identified pieces of the plane (far from definitive, but there have been lots of clues at this location for the past couple decades, just no smoking gun yet, but they are getting close).
Ash Can
@Cain: The press did keep their mouths shut. The article says this happened last summer. It’s just news of the FBI investigation that’s emerged now.
? Martin
@Heliopause:
Again. These people weren’t there on vacation. They were there representing the US. They were on the job. If I sent my staff to a conference as representatives of their employer and they went skinny dipping in the hotel pool, I’d probably fire them. If they did it while on vacation, I couldn’t give a shit.
Does nobody else but me understand the difference between office behavior and bedroom behavior?
Violet
Not sure if anyone saw this from the Politico story on the Republican swim:
Those pictures are out there somewhere.
Poopyman
@Roger Moore: Maybe the digital camera auto color-corrected, what with all the mahogany paneling and all.
? Martin
@Violet:
Stapled to Mitt Romney’s tax returns, no doubt. Hopefully in a building in Chicago.
Poopyman
@Violet: Like someone already said earlier, they have nothing to hide. Don’t you know about shrinkage?
John Cole
Look, Spatula. Just because I do not share the same moral compass as you and Caligula does not mean I am a prude or trolling the website or sexually repressed. I have no problem with people skinny dipping. There is a very desolate creek right by my house- I would have no problem going down there and dropping trou, in private, on a hot summer night and taking a dip myself.
But I am not a US Congressmen on an official diplomatic fact-finding mission getting shitfaced and then skinnydipping with people in a holy site. As an atheist, I don’t even believe in the baby Jeebus, but I would never do anything like that because I like to think I have some remaining shreds of personal dignity.
Personally, I don’t give a fuck if Yoder is sucking dick on horseback while wearing a wetsuit and an 8″ buttplug, as long as he is on his own property or in private. I’m very much a “whatever blows your trumpet” kind of guy. Having said that, I would have an issue if he was doing the same thing in the River Thames as a member of a US congressional delegation. Likewise, I have no problem with anyone having anal sex and putting whipped cream on their nipples while their lover shocks them with a car battery. I would have a problem if they were doing it in my front yard, and I would really think it was fucked up if it was my congressmen doing it while on a fact-finding mission to Moscow.
You can not possibly be this fucking stupid or incapable of drawing distinctions between when behavior is appropriate and when it is not.
Heliopause
@? Martin:
Can somebody explain why the FBI was involved in this?
Steeplejack
@The Dangerman:
It’s coming on again at midnight EDT.
The Thin Black Duke
@? Martin: Forget it, Jake. It’s Republicans.
Gretchen
Yoder is my representative. He is running unopposed. The Kansas Democratic Party hasn’t been able to find even a token candidate, despite the fact that this district was represented by a Democrat for 10 years before he retired in 2010. I know the KDP is preoccupied with trying to keep Brownback and the teaparty nutcases at the state level from crashing and burning the state, but Yoder has voted 100% teaparty and that’s now what this district really wants.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@dance around in your bones:
Hee.
Steeplejack
Is the Sea of Galilee really a “holy site”? I know it attracts a lot of Christian tourists who want to see the places where Jesus walked, etc., but it is also a highly developed recreational area, etc.
ETA: I get that these jagoffs shouldn’t be making asses of themselves while representing the U.S. on official business, but I don’t get the “defiling a holy site with their skinnydipping” angle.
Phoenician in a time of Romans
But I am not a US Congressmen on an official diplomatic fact-finding mission getting shitfaced and then skinnydipping with people in a holy site.
Wait, what?
That would be this place:
.
—-
.
Today, tourism is the Kinneret’s most important economic activity with the entire region being a popular holiday destination.
[…]
Another key attraction is the site where the Kinneret’s water flows into the Jordan River, to which thousands of pilgrims from all over the world come to be baptized every year.[citation needed]
Israel’s most well-known open water swim race, the Kinneret Crossing, is held every year in September, drawing thousands of open water swimmers to participate in competitive and noncompetitive events.[citation needed]
Tourists also partake in the building of rafts on Lavnun Beach, called Rafsodia. Here many different age groups work together to build a raft with their bare hands and then sail that raft across the Kinneret.[citation needed]
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Late night, drinking, skinny-dipping in a lake which is noted as a tourist and swimming spot? I don’t really see the problem here – even on a government tour, people are allowed to let their hair down after hours, and there doesn’t seem to be any reports of sexual harassment or Congressmen running down the high street with their willies waving in the breeze.
I’m off to a conference for four days in September, paid for by my government institution. I am saving money for said institution by sharing a room with my partner, who is also going to the same conference, paid for by her tertiary institution. There will probably be naughty canoodlings involved after hours, and all on the taxpayer dime. Horrors!
dance around in your bones
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: Totally true story.
sharl
Is there anyone reading here who knows if the specific constituencies of any of these folks would take this poorly? Or would it be DENIAL SHIELDS UP, and FULL POWER TO COGNITIVE DISSONANCE TORPEDOES?
While inappropriate for this official visit by Congresspersons, such nekkidness in the teh homeland of the baybee Jeebus doesn’t bother me much personally – a bit aesthetically off-putting, but different strokes and all that – but I’m really hoping it makes for some “interesting” visits with heartland-valyoos constituents back in their Districts.
ETA, I see that after posting, there are comments to the effect that the waters in question are already used for recreational purposes. Would still like to see this used against wingnut goopers in their CDs – a nekkid Congressman with a colleague’s daughter present?? My word! – but what shall be shall be.
Valdivia
I think the issue for the FBI is that they were on a diplomatic mission invited by a foreign govt. Israelis are not uptight people about nakedness, but there may have been religious pilgrims in the area who were offended and reported it.
mai naem
I thought Republican saxytime had to involve wetsuits and dildos and wide stances.
Valdivia
@Steeplejack:
Having been there many a time in a swimsuit I can tell you if you are there when the religious people congregate you get a lot of dirty looks. To Israelis the Kineret is not holy at all, so they really couldn’t care less.
Violet
@Heliopause:
From the article:
So, no. Unless there’s a leak from the FBI.
There is this bit:
Does the FBI monitor the public behavior of Members of Congress? Maybe they do in the sense of making sure there isn’t anything that is blackmail-worthy or something.
Spatula
@John Cole:
Bloviating faux piety.
You only pretend to give a shit because it’s a republican.
At least I’m consistent: I don’t give a shit either way because it doesn’t matter in the least.
Spatula
@Phoenician in a time of Romans:
That can’t be true. Cole says it’s a holy site so it must be so.
And Cole is always right. He has a 12 year history of same to prove it.
Oh, wait…
b
This is the real Kevin Yoder…..Went to school with this jackass…only person he cares bout is himself so this is no surprise…..wake up Kansas this is the real Kevin Yoder….still acting like a drunken frat idiot like he did at KU….
Sarah, Proud and Tall
I once went skinny dipping with Mamie Eisenhower while we were at the 1957 NATO Heads of Government meeting in Paris.
All that fuss – who knew you weren’t allowed to get your kit off in the Fontaines de la Concorde at 3am?
ETA: Mind you, Mamie and I did manage to pick up a gendarme called Gerard and spent most of the rest of the week bouncing up and down on top of him, so it wasn’t a bad trip, all in all.
The Other Bob
@John Cole:
Fucking classic.
dance around in your bones
@Spatula:
Kinda like you, dude.
Ash Can
From the linked article, as good an explanation as any:
I wouldn’t be surprised if it were the booze and public disrobing factors that set the FBI off. As others here have noted, this was after all an official mission, and even though this was after hours these people were still official representatives of the US.
Moreover (also from the article), the person who really did blow a gasket over this was none other than…
Carl Nyberg
What criminal activity or alleged criminal activity precipitated the FBI investigation?
I don’t get what makes this news.
scav
I almost want to thank Yoder for dropping his briefs because watching kitchen implement get his knickers in such a twist is somehow howlingly funny — cut off all circulation to what passes for a brain and totally stripped his cogs. And then since Yoder is such an Amish name for me, the imagery in itself is pretty wild to begin with.
Phoenician in a time of Romans
@Valdivia:
think the issue for the FBI is that they were on a diplomatic mission invited by a foreign govt. Israelis are not uptight people about nakedness, but there may have been religious pilgrims in the area who were offended and reported it.
There are hotels built on the waterfront. It depends on the circumstances, but it sounds more like a private beach or beachfront associated with the hotel, with a bunch of inebriated diplomats hitting the surf straight from their rooms or dinner arrangements.
If these guys were Australian, it would probably be expected of them.
ralph wiggum
Two words: Pee Pool
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Is the FBI involved in security when officials travel officially overseas?
and did Ben Quayle win his primary against the guy who called him “Both Ways Quayle” or some such, and Quayle thought the guy was calling him bisexual? And does anyone but me think Ben Quayle still lives at home, and still has a Heather Locklear poster on his bedroom wall?
TG Chicago
@Shalimar: Yeah, I kinda agree. This really isn’t so terrible.
But I can’t help but think what these same folks would say if some black or brown kids were found drinking and skinny dipping in their local lake or quarry. In that case, we would be dealing with horrible hedonistic hoodlums~! But this is totally cool.
dance around in your bones
@Sarah, Proud and Tall:
We used to
have sexytimefuck in the airplane bathrooms back in the day………before they would bang on the door if you were in there for more than five minutes..Also – true story – once I burned my ass from a burning piece of hash that fell on the airplane toilet whilst I was, ahhhh, indulging. Back when you could smoke in the airplane w/o bringing in the F-35’s or whatever they are called now,
Anyway, my ass hurt like hell for the next 10 hours (it was a long flight).
GregB
There is obviously much more to the story if Cantor was furious and the FBI were looking into the incident.
? Martin
@Violet:
The FBI has two main responsibilities:
1) enforcing federal laws
2) counterintelligence
They would investigate this under either of these – to make sure that drunken Congressmen with security clearances aren’t revealing information to foreign agents (I think unlikely this is reason), and that they aren’t otherwise breaking any laws (more likely the reason). Federal employees are generally still subject to US laws while overseas on work related duties. They would also be subject to foreign laws.
scav
@GregB: Basically, yeah. The nekkid bit side-show is what got it into the papers.
redshirt
Big hitter, the Lama. Long.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@dance around in your bones:
I think I love you.
Gretchen
@sharl: Yoder is unopposed. I’d love to vote against him, as would all my friends here in KS-3, but no Dem is running. No idea why not.
Yutsano
@dance around in your bones: Well FWIW it’s not so much a security risk inasmuch as a second hand smoke restriction. If you hop a European plane anywhere you’ll notice there is no such restriction. I drank a lot of water on that SAS flight. And if I had pushed matters probably could have joined the Mile High Club. Ahh college…
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: For a moment I thought Mamie would have preferred to bounce upon you, but then I recalled that was Eleanor. Who was also quite lovely.
sharl
@Gretchen: Thanks; only saw your earlier comment (and ‘b’ @140) after I had posted…
dance around in your bones
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: Well, I know I love you.
Did I ever tell you about the hubble-bubbles in AFG and how I tried to keep up with the guys?
I would end up sailing the bed around the room, as we used to say.
suzanne
HAHAAHAAAAAAAA of course Ben Quayle was involved.
Sounds fun, though. I, too, would love to have the taxpayers send me around the world to get fucked up and par-TAAAAAAAY.
Seriously. Sounds like a blast.
redshirt
I’m impressed no one’s made a Yoda joke yet, or even a “do or do not, there is no try” allusion.
dance around in your bones
@Yutsano:
I was, ya know, exaggerating a little bit.
Hell, I remember when they used to give you a little 3 or 4 pack of cigarettes on the airplane with your dinner. (All free).
And everybody lit up.
Phoenician in a time of Romans
@dance around in your bones:
We used to fuck in the airplane bathrooms back in the day………before they would bang on the door if you were in there for more than five minutes..
Hah – I could be done TWICE and still get out before they became suspicious! Possibly THREE times if you count that unfortunate incident I had daydreaming about the Cathay Pacific stewardess while in my seat.
Uriel
@John Cole:
Objection, your honor! Assuming facts not in evidence!
dance around in your bones
@Phoenician in a time of Romans: Uhhhh…am I impressed?;)
We didn’t brag about no mile-high club, neither. We just, uh, did it. ‘Cause the flights were long and it was fun.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@Yutsano:
It was both of them once, but only for one warm, orangeblossom-scented evening in Tangiers.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@dance around in your bones:
I think I actually blushed. That or my e is kicking in.
Nom de Plume
@John Cole: Imagine an Israeli delegation streaking at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Hahaha, trick scenario. An Israeli delegation could do anything the hell they wanted, and nobody would say shit.
dance around in your bones
@Sarah, Proud and Tall:
That actually refers to the sensation of hanging on to the edges of the bed while it flies about the room, not, like pulling a train or some smarmy thang.
Can you send me some e?
Yutsano
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: Well now. I see that I am way overdue for my next pilgrimage to Spokane! :)
Phoenician in a time of Romans
@dance around in your bones:
We just, uh, did it.
We? Wait, there was someone else in the bathroom with you?
I hadn’t considered that possibility…
dance around in your bones
@Phoenician in a time of Romans: Heh heh.
Ya, there was the two of us. Well, unless it was the two that I wanted.
karen marie
@John Cole: How is the Sea of Galilee “a holy site”? They were eating in a restaurant on its shore, not attending a church service.
I’d like to know what the FBI thought it was investigating because this incident, although in bad taste, broke no US laws that I know of.
dance around in your bones
I kinda hate it when everybody disappears around here.
Not to go all Little Boots on everyone…..I just have trouble sleeping lately…..especially when it’s only 10:26 here.
Well, maybe my ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZanaxxxxxxx will kick in soon.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@dance around in your bones:
Ah. I can’t help my filthy mind.
I think Anderson snaffled the last one, but I have some hash cupcakes that are to die for.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@Yutsano:
Jesus says he has made up the spare bed and windexed the guest bathroom.
dance around in your bones
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: I’m thinking about getting the mar-ee-ju-wana card.
I can’t wait to go into a pot shop and………..well, shop!!
Never thought it would happen in my lifetime. Not that it ever stopped me from partaking….however, I am particularly fond of the juice of the poppy. Guess I will have to grow my own, surreptitiously.
Woops, guess I just blew the surreptitiously part! Ha de ha ha!
Yutsano
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: He’s a good lad. I hope you tipped him well before your latest excursion. And I’m not talking about the last rent boy incident. Those stains took him days to get out of the carpet and the nursing home director was ever so cross.
(Note: Those lines are funnier if you hear them in your head in Alex Kingston’s voice.)
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@Yutsano:
I know. It was worse than the time Ronnie Reagan crapped himself at my Spring Tea in 1997.
dance around in your bones
ok. just for fun – The Waitresses and Jimmy Tomorrow
“Found a cure for hunger yet? Black coffee and cigarettes”
Yutsano
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: Is that why he’s never been back? Pity. I think a few of the residents rather fancied him.
xian
@John Cole: timmeh’s mission accomplished – attention from daddy
xian
@Spatula:nothing like posting all weekend to prove you don’t give a shit about something
xian
@Uriel: exactly. given that timmeh thinks fucking an underage boy in a school locker shower might be appropriate, i wouldn’t expect him to understand how this shenanigans might cross a line. instead he want us to know he gets the vapors when a partisan blog takes partisan shots and make sure we all know that the sexual revolution did not pass him by.
Bobby Thomson
@dance around in your bones: Probably my favorite waitresses song. Have tried to get stations to play it without success.
On topic, it sounds as though no one else here ever visits clothing optional beaches. It’s no big deal, really. Especially in the Med.
Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937
I’ve seen pictures of some of those congress people. I’m glad they chose to swim at night.
dance around in your bones
@Bobby Thomson:
“Found a cure for desire, yet?
I don’t wanna talk about that, why do you keep asking me?!”
Really too many great lines to quote.
I have been to clothing optional beaches in SoCal but sand keeps getting into inconvenient places and the naked people are almost always the ones that really should just keep their clothes on already, ya know?
MooCow!
#YOLO
artem1s
@John Cole:
OK, the WHOLE Sea of Galilee a holy site? srsly? its the largest fresh water lake in the country and about 65 square miles. And I’m betting it was probably the hotel private beach, not a public beach (think security).
there’s a big difference between skinny dipping off of Middle Bass Island at the Perry National Monument and jumping into the water at a private beach on Lake Erie. you do the former and can get arrested for indecent exposure and public drunkenness. Do the latter and pretty much no one knows or cares.
IMHO the USA get its panties in way too much of a wad over public nudity issues and confuses it way too much with sexualizing and objectifying body parts for the sake of marketing and advertising.
Aet
While I _do_ like the fact that politicians were covered like celebrities, this isn’t really a scandal. If this was illegal, it shouldn’t be.
I’d rather hope that our national representatives overseas would not behave like drunken college tourists, but at least they aren’t voting to take people’s rights away or starve babies.
Catsy
@Spatula: Aww. Our resident concern troll is concerned. How adorable. And surprising.
Spatula
@Catsy:
You’re wrong, as per always, Batsy Catsy.
If you could read you would have perceived that it is your sky god Cole who is deeply, severely, and VERY concerned about he desperately important impropriety of people swimming – gasp! – NUDIE in the holiest of all holy water holes, The Sea of Galilee.
replicnt6
This description of the holy site that mustn’t be tainted by skinny dipping (from http://igoogledisrael.com/2010/04/the-sea-of-galilee-a-place-not-to-visit-during-holiday-season/)
Bobby Thomson
@dance around in your bones: I find sand is less of an issue with no suit. YMMV.
LanceThruster
If there were any under age children present (or offended adults), shouldn’t he now have to register as a sex offender?
Maybe Michael Powell can give him the full Janet Jackson nipple-gate monty.
And the FBI cares about this why? Are they afraid they need to get in on the action the Secret Service has been in the news for recently?
“Peoples are swimmin’ nekkid in the “see” of Galilee? To the FBI-mobile for a full frontal investigation! Wait. What? Just some guy? Poop!”
Phoenician in a time of Romans
Ooops
“When President John Quincy Adams lived in the White House, between 1825 and 1829, the erstwhile diplomat and U.S. Senator frequently went skinny-dipping in the Potomac River, causing no fuss. President Teddy Roosevelt, an avid outdoorsman, swam naked in the Potomac too. Billy Graham was one of many to go skinny-dipping with President Lyndon Johnson in the White House pool. ”
(http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/08/in-defense-of-the-skinny-dipping-congressman/261311/)
Heliopause
Not that anybody is still reading this, but I finally got an answer to my question of why the FBI was involved in this. According to this reporting the FBI interest was only incidental as they were already investigating the junket for another reason.