To the editor:
The recent report of a congressman from Kansas skinny-dipping in the Sea of Galilee gave me a high degree of consternation or, as a dictionary defines it, “a state of paralyzing dismay.”
How can we as good citizens deal with such news? Do we accept it as a stupid act because we all do stupid things sometimes in our lives even though we are not representing our state in our nation’s capitol or our United States in foreign lands?
Are we to believe congresspeople can vote objectively on legislation related to that foreign land when they have given their ear to its leaders and have been wined and dined at posh hotels costing $1,000 per night and entertained at extravagant dinners? Are we to believe an apology that says they drank wine with dinner but alcohol was not a factor or that it was done because others in their group were doing it? Would the Kansas congressman jump off a cliff or vote “no” on important legislation just because others were doing it?
Does this incident show that these people when campaigning for office, promote themselves, leading us to believe they can walk on water, simply cannot? So what are good citizens to do? I want to know before I go back and bury my head until this incident blows over!
Comments
wounded_soldier 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Simply, don't vote for him again. Let this be a lesson to all who seek office, we will not tolerate this kind of behavior and if they want to continue, they do it on their own time, not ours.
vertigo 8 months, 3 weeks ago
The point. You missed it.
*here's a hint- it wasn't about the swim
Ragingbear 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Perhaps we would have been more offended if he took a pee on the Wailing Wall?
geekin_topekan 8 months, 3 weeks ago
If a foreigner peed on Mt. Rushmore, do you think the forgiving crowd would be as vocal?
Ragingbear 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Mt. Rushmore is a work of art and a national monument. The Wailing Wall is a sacred religious site for both Muslims and Jews. There is no real comparison there.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 8 months, 3 weeks ago
No, it was about the continual, all-expense-paid hobnobbing that corrupts our legislators.
TheSychophant 8 months, 3 weeks ago
No, it was about the unmitigated hypocrisy of standing for "family values" and drinking and shedding one's clothing in public.
vertigo 8 months, 3 weeks ago
No it wasn't about the swim. The swim is just what prompted the reader to think beyond that and ask:
Can a legislator be impartial in the laws they vote for or against when someone is paying for their extravagant trips and hotel suites and the legislation affects that person or their nation?
Can a legislator be trusted when they lie to your face about the details?
Can you trust a legislator to vote the way their constituents ask them to when the "pack" they run with goes in a different direction?
THAT was the point of the LTE.
Getaroom 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Awh shucks, he was just doing what any flag waving, bible loving, Christian (..........)politician does best while visiting a foreign country on official business, being a hypocrite. Nothing new about that. What's the flap all about? In fact, I just saw a huge commercial on teevee, I think it was called something like "The Republican National Convention" you my have heard of it? Any way it was full of politicians saying things like "we did build that" and other mind numbing things like that.
Wait for the next news cycle to come around offering you even more business of superb consternation.
jhawkinsf 8 months, 3 weeks ago
It's a little bit about the swim, if you care for it to be. But it's a lot about the cover-up. It happened more than a year ago and is just now becoming public information. During that time, a primary was held where the voters could have chosen another candidate, if they had that information. But we didn't. The Democrats could have fielded a legitimate challenge, if that information was available. But it wasn't.
Maybe Mr. Yoder would have beat back challenges both during a primary from within his own party and during a general election had the Democrats put up a challenge. We'll never know now, because of what we didn't know then. It's not about the swim, it's about the public's right to information about those who put themselves up to represent us.
switch 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Everybody who has never gone skinny-dipping raise your hand.
jafs 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Everybody who has ever done so in a foreign nation while representing our government raise your hand.
And breaking the laws of that nation in the process.
Frankie8 8 months, 3 weeks ago
I never have and I would bet that the majority never have.
Trumbull 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Everyone raise your hand who has gone skinny dipping while on a work related event, representing your country and in a foreign land.
switch 8 months, 3 weeks ago
-sf. Cover-up? When was the last time we (the US) could muzzle the Israeli press? Much less their police.
jhawkinsf 8 months, 3 weeks ago
I could care less if the Israeli press reports this or not. I want the Kansas press to report this. I could care less if some citizen in Tel Aviv knows this story. I want the people of Kansas to know this story. I could care less what the people of Israel think about this. I care what the people of Kansas think about this.
The people of Kansas have been cheated, cheated of information that they could have used when making their voting decisions. I have no idea if the outcome of the elections would have been different. That's not the point. The point is that we were entitled to the information. What we did with that information, that's up to us to decide.
oldmomxx 8 months, 3 weeks ago
So he skinny dipped? Why is that bad?
Wallythewalrus 8 months, 3 weeks ago
"So he skinny dipped? Why is that bad?" Some of the reasoning for why it is bad can be correlated, I think, to the same reasoning of why it is in bad taste to get drunk at the company Christmas party. Or better yet go skinny dipping at the company summer picnic. (It is just frowned up as immature behavior). And then one has to ask the more pertinent question, as Van Tassel did, do I really want this guy in a position of great responsibility. (Sally do you know a Susan?)
Trumbull 8 months, 3 weeks ago
I agree, it probably would be a bad idea to drink wine and go skinny dipping at the company picnic.
wounded_soldier 8 months, 3 weeks ago
First of all the Sea of Galilee is a place of historical and religious significance to many people including Christians of all denominations and Muslims. To have a representative of the US Government in that water while drunk and unclothed is a travesty to all. Second, this news is a year old and may have been newsworthy enough to sway some voters in the upcoming election. Third, the host country, Israel, was in the process of trying to sway these congressmen and women to be especially gracious to their political and monetary needs and this is a slap in the face. While I am no great fan of Israel, but have no personal argument with Judaism or Jewish people, I still think to affront them in this matter reflects on him, his constituents and the USA.
OonlyBonly 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Sea of Galilee. Historical? Yes. Religiously significant? Somewhat - the "Holy" places are around it mostly. Is it worthy of this Bauhaus? I think not. I mean it does have commercial development and fishing operating there - Must not be too revered. But maybe it's the "skinny dipping" that has everyone up in arms. If so I submit this quoted piece, "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. Yet today in a story emailed out to media professionals as a “POLITICO EXCLUSIVE,” Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan write about mere congressional skinny-dipping like it’s a serious scandal, though no one even tweeted iPhone photos. From patheos.com Or maybe, and I really believe this is the major problem - it's only a bunch of Liberals getting a chance to take a shot at a Republican with all kinds of pretended outrage.
Trumbull 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Skinny dipping in the white house pool is not much different than skinny dipping in your bathtub. I'd check the city ordinances if I wanted to skinny dip elsewhere. If it were against code, and still wanted to, I would pick a time and place other than a work sponsored event.
I also don't buy your liberals taking shot theory, The R's chastised Yoder behind closed doors. They obviously didn't like it either. And if it was a D who did this, you can bet they would have been all over this with outrage.
milkman_dan 8 months, 2 weeks ago
I hope skinny-dipping becomes the new planking!
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