Yoder's nude swim attracts national attention
Yael T. AbouhalkahU.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder has no opposition in his bid for re-election to a seat that represents hundreds of thousands of Johnson County residents.
Good thing, too.
Because based on Sunday’s exclusive report in Politico, any opponents of the Kansas Republican would be having all kinds of fun with puns and other accusations about whether Yoder is taking his job seriously.
The Politico story says Yoder, a first-term congressman, briefly got naked and jumped in the Sea of Galilee “without a swimsuit” on a 2011 trip to Israel. Other congressional representatives apparently also got in the water, but were more fully dressed.
Yoder and several other congressional representatives on the trip were later scolded by House leaders for their behavior.
And the stories also note that at least one female child of a congressman along with some wives also were at the scene.
On Sunday, Yoder issued one of those statements that doesn’t take much responsibility for his actions.
“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. 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.”
Note: He’s not apologizing for doing something wrong.
He’s apologizing if anyone thinks he has done something wrong.
Here are some of the headlines making their way around the Internet Sunday night:
“FBI Probed Lawmaker’s Nude Swim Abroad on Official Trip Last Summer” - from the National Journal.
“Lawmaker admits swimming nude in Israel” - from Politix
“House Republicans Scolded For Drinking, Nudity In Israel” - from Huffington Post
Mark Hastert
9 months ago“Yoder’s apology: offered.,,,though not good enough”
It wasn’t good enough for Anthony Wiener either but I’ll bet Kevin isn’t forced to resign.
He’s an American Congressman, naked in front of, presumably, both Jews and Muslims! Demonstrating his shortcomings!
Mark Hastert
9 months ago“So Yoder’s an infidel?”
Buzz, this is how viscous rumors get started. You, being a conservative are in a better position to know so I’m assuming it must be true. Kevin Yoder is an infidel! You heard it here first from Buzz!
No, Yoder is a moron who, filled with the spirit, or spits, went skinny dipping. It’s not a firing offense unless you’re a prig (which so many Kansas conservative are).
Mark Hastert
9 months agoBuzz?!! The question was yours…. and apparently you don’t have the answer.
You need to consult what GH calls us “smart libs”. We would tell you that it was foolish, silly and it has little to do with governance. A conservative would tell you that it was a firing offense… so Kansas is all red, fire him if you really believe the conservative BS …. or admit it’s just conservative BS.
George Hunsucker
Northland
9 months agoYT & babs must have gone to a lib meeting where they decided it was time to really start churning out the posts…
Libs are getting more and more frantic which is good to see….
Mark Hastert
9 months agoThe irony is just so sublime….So, ‘Lil Kev goes tippling and skinny dipping in public in the Sea of Galilee and it’s no big deal? This from the Grand Old Prigs? Maybe after a few drinks he thought he’d try his hand at walking on water.
From the standpoint of us smart libs so long as everybody was a consenting adult and no one was hurt it was just an indiscretion but I thought naked frolicking was strictly forbidden by the Grand Old Priggies.
Mark Hastert
9 months ago“Do you really see those as similar transgressions?”
Chris Lee? and he wasn’t even naked!?
It’s Republicans Gone Wild! And who were the other naked Congressman and staffers (20+/-) with Kevin? Grand Old Priggies, Ya gotta love it. LOL!
Kent Mueller
9 months agoMark, you should answer the question if you repeat it. Are those similar transgressions?
Phil Cardarella
9 months agoLet’s see: Anthony Weiner gets drunk and sends out pictures of himself in his underwear, and the media drives him from office. Yoder gets drunk and strips down naked to go skinny-dipping at the site where Christ walked on the water, and what? Debate? There’s a debate?
Look, we should not get too bent out of shape about the location. To the Israelis, the Sea of Gallilee is just their Lake of the Ozarks, and this resort was probably the equivilent of Four Seasons or Tantara. So this was not a “blasphemy” — just a dumb idea fueled by too much good booze paid for by the Israeli lobbyists.
Did Kevin Yoder “disgrace” the people of Kansas? Don’t know. He seems reasonably trim for a guy his age, but I guess we could poll the onlookers.
Perhaps FOX could do a special comparing the Weiner and Yoder …uh, incidents.
Mark Hastert
9 months agoTo paraphrase the late great David Niven the only way Kevin could ever get this much attention is by stripping off and showing off his shortcomings. I wonder if in retrospect Kevin doesn’t think his action was shortsighted.
I hope the water wasn’t cold.
I’m told that now Kevin is on Boehner’s short list.
LOL! I got a million of em!
Kent Mueller
9 months agoOnly Mark thinks he is funny.
Phil…Weiner didn’t see anything wrong with what he did. That’s not a good thing.
And Mark, there you go again spreading things that are not true. That’s quite a habit you have, isn’t it? You referenced “the other naked congressmen and staffers (20+/-)” There were no others naked. Why would you say there were? Just wondering, were you the first to say the FBI was investigating? That wasn’t true either.