Absurd reaction to Yoder story
E. Thomas McClanahanMemo to Kevin Yoder: Feel free to emerge from your defensive crouch and call off the crawl-on-your-belly apology tour. You went skinny-dipping. Big deal.
For those who’ve been in a cave the last few days, it emerged that on a trip to Israel last August, the young Republican congressman doffed his duds and took a dip in the Sea of Galilee. Horrors!
Yoder was duly scolded by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. Kansas Democratic Chairwoman Joan Wagnon called on him to resign. To add an ominous note, the initial story said the FBI was looking into the trip, a report based on a Politico posting.
By then, Yoder was in full mea culpa mode. “The gravity of the situation and the actions I’ve taken are not lost on me,” he said, “and I feel, certainly, regret at what has occurred and I just want to apologize to my constituents for a momentary lapse in judgment.”
If you’d run across that quote shorn of context, you’d have thought maybe Yoder had accosted a waitress at a D.C. restaurant (behavior for which the late Sen. Ted Kennedy was known) or been caught with a pile of cash in his freezer, like that Democratic congressman a few years ago.
Some consider the Sea of Galilee sacred because it’s where the Bible says Jesus walked on water.
But it’s also a resort. As Jonathan Tobin wrote, “… it is a lake, not a church chalice. There are places on its shores where people pray but most of it is a vacation spot for Israelis and tourists. People boat there, fish its waters and swim in it everyday and I daresay the Kansan isn’t the first in the last 2,000 years to do so without a Speedo.”
Tuesday’s news found Yoder still apologizing, although we also learned that no, the FBI isn’t looking into any criminal wrongdoing based on the congressional trip.
Yoder’s no doubt grateful that all this broke on the same day as the Todd Akin vortex, which should help it slide more quickly down the memory hole.
Suzanne Conaway
9 months agoI don’t agree with McClanahan often, but I agree with him on this one. What a HUGE non-issue.
Phil Cardarella
9 months agoActually, I concur — although I wonder where this forgiving nature of Mac’s was when Anthony Weiner was being hounded from office. At least he kept his undies on.
This is no big deal. Yoder had a few drinks and jumped into the Israeli equivilent of the Lake of the Ozarks without his skivvies. Other than giving Mossad some interesting footage, no big deal.
Embarrass Kansas? Unlike me, the guy seems reasonably fit for his age, so probably not — unless the water was really, really cold…
The actual scandal was that ANY congressman was being junketed by IAPAC’s laundry/charity arm for a $20K per couple tour. All these guys do vote on aid packages to Israel. Even your friends are not allowed to bribe you.
Gary W Laws
9 months agoI agree with Phil - Thomas did not seem to even notice “undue influence” aspect of the trip. Yoder being a GOP golden boy helps mute the responseI am sure.
Kevin Senn
9 months agoMr. McClanahan: Simple question for you. Suppose you and other KC Star editorial writers were at a company holiday party or picnic. Your spouses were all along, and even the 18 year-old daughter of one co-worker was there. If Yael Abouhalkah decided to strip down naked for a moment of fun, would you have found this to be appropriate behavior? I could care less if someone skinny dips in their own privacy whether it’s the Sea of Gallilee, Mecca, or some other “holy” site (local regulations aside). But when it’s at a job-related function representing your employer (the American people in this case) I don’t see how you find this anything but inappropriate. Never mind the tackiness of doing it around your co-workers’ spouses and children.
Mark Hastert
9 months agoLeave it to the Dems to allow him to run unopposed. We should start a write-in campaign for “none of the above”
Digby Willard
9 months agoI can’t see the problem here. Congressman Yoder went for a quick dip on a dark nite in what was more or less privacy – except that someone talked about it.
Not at all a big deal as far as I am concerned. I like the guy more for being impetuous enough to do it.
Matthew Yeager
9 months agoWrite in Matthew Yeager for representative. I will not be a frat boy in congress.
Kent Mueller
9 months agoKevin, nice story. But those others you referenced weren’t around. You clearly imply that the people you listed were in the immediate vicinity. They weren’t. I guess that changes your story a lot now, doesn’t it.
Phil…do you really equate this at all with what Weiner did? Really? Not even close.
Kevin Senn
9 months agoKent — someone was obviously around. Do you imply that only Mr. and Mrs. Yoder were there and they voluntarily revealed that he skinny-dipped to bring on this embarrasment? I don’t know who exactly else was there, but someone witnessed it. And are you disagreeing with Eric Cantor for also finding the behavior to be inappropriate? It’s ok to criticize someone’s whose politics you may agree with. I realize Republicans have a hard time with that in recent years, which is one of many reasons I’ve left that formerly respectable party (not that the other one is very great either).
Joe Evans
9 months agoReally? You think it is okay and “no big deal” for a representative of the U.S. Congress to go on a trip most average Americans would love to take, but cannot afford, to act like a frat boy? You think it is okay for a man who is paid by our taxpayer dollars to get drunk, peel off his clothing and run naked in a sacred venue like the Sea of Galilee? And now you believe he has nothing of which to be ashamed? WOW! Just because someone who was trusted with votes by those in his district, and acted a fool in a foreign country, you don’t believe he should be embarrassed and should humble himself by apologizing? This IS a big issue, and is likely indicative of Yoder’s past behavior. Throw the bum out!
Phil Cardarella
9 months agoKent, I have to agree that it is different. Weiner kept his skivvies on.
Mark Hastert
9 months agoKevin owes a great debt to Todd Akin. Without the distraction he’d be on his way to the private sector.
Kent Mueller
9 months agoKevin…..who knows how the story leaked out, but you wrote as if there were a lot of people there, and there weren’t. No one has said that other than you. But, once I called you on that, I see that you skinnied down the potential list to “someone”, which is singular. You also left out spouses and an 18 year old daughter. Do you feel bad for including those in your first comment? You should.
Phil, I have read much of your writing here, which is how I know you are serious when you consider what Yoder did to be worse than what Weiner did.
Should Yoder have skinny dipped? Nope. How high is it on the transgression list? Pretty low. Why, I would even put it lower than a married president getting a blowjob from a 19 yr old intern just off the Oval Office.