When Republicans visited the Sea of Galilee

[John Manning]

FILE UNDER: The Party of the Christian Right and Family Values


-- 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?

How's that working out?

From POLITICO:

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.

Links here:
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/20/13376675-when-republicans-visited-the-sea-of-galilee

[ATP]

"John Manning" <jrob...@terra.com.br> wrote in message
news:DL-dnQu6uKrCK6_N...@giganews.com...

People don't swim in the Sea of Galilee? The real scandal here is that
Israel was entertaining these politicians by treating them to an educational
tour at an expense of over $20,000 each.

[John Manning]

FBI Probing Rep. Michael Grimm, Not Skinny-Dipping


-- The FBI is indeed interested in a trip that
House Republicans made to Israel last summer. But it's
not because Kansas Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder took his pants
off and jumped into the Sea of Galilee after a night of drinking.

Law enforcement sources — noting that skinny-dipping
usually doesn’t fall under the FBI's purview — pointed TPM
to a New York Times story from earlier this month about a trip
to Cyprus that Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) made following his
August venture to Israel alongside several colleagues.

Politico, which first reported the skinny-dipping anecdote,
said the FBI "looked into whether any inappropriate behavior
occurred, but the interviews do not appear to have resulted in
any formal allegations of wrongdoing."

But FBI agents were actually interested in Grimm's
failure to file paperwork related to his trip to Cyprus
following his Israeli junket, which had been paid for by
the Cyprus Federation of America.

The president of that company was arrested on federal
corruption charges in June. Grimm had reported the Israel
trip in his initial filing in May but did not list the trip
to Cyprus until he amended it in June, one day after Cyprus
Federation of America's president was arrested.

FBI agents may have asked questions about "who went into
the water that night, and whether there was any impropriety,"
as Politico reported, but sources indicated the dip in the
water certainly wasn't the FBI's central focus.

Grimm's office did not comment about the incident to
the Staten Island Advance, but "confirmed that Yoder was
the only congressman who swam nude," according to the paper.

Grimm, a former FBI agent, has been the subject
of plenty of attention from federal authorities over
the past year. On Friday, one of Grimm's top fundraisers
was arrested for allegedly lying about the source of a loan
on immigration documents. That man, an Israeli named Ofer
Biton, traveled around the New York area with Grimm in 2010
to raise money for his congressional campaign. At least four
of Grimm's 2010 campaign workers have been questioned by the
FBI. Federal prosecutors have also interviewed several
donors, according to the New York Times.

While congressional ethics travel rules passed in 2007
ban entities that employ lobbyists from paying for trips that
last more than one day, the Israel trip appears to have taken
advantage of a loop-hole that allows lobbying companies to set
up connected 501(c)(3) entities to pay for trips.

Late update: The Wall Street Journal's Devlin Barrett
and Danny Yadron confirm our report:

The person familiar with the investigation said the FBI came across
details of the swimming incident while examining the Israel trip
and a trip Rep. Grimm made afterward to Cyprus, but that the
swimming incident wasn’t relevant to the probe.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/fbi_probing_rep_michael_grimm_not_skinny-dipping.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

[•R.Measures]

In article <5032d16c$0$11536$607e...@cv.net>, "ATP"

*** With that size of budget maybe Israel should have provided
GOP-approved swimsuits John?

[Father Haskell]

> Links here:http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/20/13376675-when-republican...

Would this have happened if they were smoking weed?

[Dakota]

Think about the children!

I thought I'd toss that lie out before some Republican got to it.

[Just Wondering]

On 8/21/2012 10:56 PM, Father Haskell wrote:
> On Aug 20, 6:12 pm, John Manning <jrobe...@terra.com.br> wrote:
>> From POLITICO:
>>
>> 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.

> Would this have happened if they were smoking weed?

Would it even be in the news if the left wing media didn't need
something to distract undecided voters from Obama's poor job performance?

[Fred]

Ah yes, the myth of the "left wing media." LOL.

You insane loons keep crying about Traditional Christian Family Values
yet when the media *does* expose traditional Christian Republican family
values, you right wing cunts start screaming again.

---
"Fred" is my Christian name.

[Just Wondering]

On 8/22/2012 1:32 PM, Fred wrote:
> Just Wondering <fmh...@comcast.net> wrote:
>> On 8/21/2012 10:56 PM, Father Haskell wrote:
>>> On Aug 20, 6:12 pm, John Manning <jrobe...@terra.com.br> wrote:
>>>> From POLITICO:
>>>> 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.
>>> Would this have happened if they were smoking weed?
>> Would it even be in the news if the left wing media didn't need
>> something to distract undecided voters from Obama's poor job performance?

Here's Mediocre Fred weighing in:

> Ah yes, the myth of the "left wing media." LOL.
>
>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXCJDbmXI68