Yet more stupid politicians

Slate has two articles about a little swim gone bad.
The first, by Josh Voorhees, is about a late-night drunken swim in the Sea of Galilee:

Politico has the story most likely to be making the rounds among congressional inboxes today:

"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."

The naked congressman? Representative Kevin Yoder, a Republican from Kansas. The others, who kept their clothes on but nonetheless are said to have waded into the holy waters during the incident, include: Representative Steve Southerland, a Republican from Florida and his daughter, Representative Tom Reed, a Republican from New York, and his wife, Representative Ben Quayle, a Republican from Arizona, Representative Jeff Denham, a Republican from California, and Representative Michael Grimm, a Republican from New York.

It's unclear exactly how big of a scoop Politico has here. While the Beltway outlet is tagging it with the big old "exclusive" label (and sent out a breaking news alert hyping it last night), we should note that the FBI probe of last summer's incident doesn't appear to have gone much beyond asking a few questions, and the investigation didn't result in any formal allegations.
That said, the story involves lawmakers, alcohol, nudity, and the site where Jesus is said to have walked on water, so it clearly has all the ingredients needed to whet the appetite of anyone with a Twitter account. It also is the latest example of a congressman failing to realize that most Americans prefer their lawmakers to keep their clothes on (see: Weiner, Anthony; and Lee, Chris).
Yoder offered an apology in the form of a statement to Politico for its story, but his office says that the FBI never actually interviewed him or his staff about the late-night skinny dip: "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. "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."
While the bold names named in the story aren't all that bold relative to the national conversation, two of the top House Republicans were on the American Israel Educational Foundation-funded trip: Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Republican from Virginia, and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, although neither man took part in the late-night dip. Cantor was so upset by the whole thing that he scolded the group the next morning, according to the report.
You can read the Politico story in its entirety here. Wondering ? The Slatest has you covered with our first mini-explainer.

The second, by Abby Ohlheiser, is about what's special about the Sea of Galilee:

A late-night, possibly alcohol-fueled skinny-dipping adventure in the Sea of Galilee last summer is making things a bit uncomfortable for Representative Kevin Yoder and his fellow Republicans.
We might not know precisely what inspired the Kansas Republican to cast off his worldly possessions and jump into Israel's largest freshwater lake (although an educated guess would probably involve booze), but we do know that the sea, the biggest freshwater lake in Israel, is a Christian holy site. Why exactly?
The Sea of Galilee shows up in all four Gospels, where it served as a backdrop for a pretty sizable number of Jesus' greatest hits. In the Old Testament, freshwater wells often served as significant meeting places, because pretty much every household had to go there. It was also a great place to meet women. The freshwater lake, too, seems to have similarly been a center of life in the region; a really great place to get a large audience with minimum effort, perfect for an itinerant preacher.
When Jesus walked on water, he was on Galilee. He recruited apostles Simon, Andrew, James, and John by nearly sinking their boats with incredible hauls of fish. The Sermon on the Mount and the Feeding of the Multitudes are usually pegged by geographically inclined Christians to the shores of the lake, too. In fact, the GOP group was in Tiberias during the incident, which doubles as a resort city and a base of operations for faithful Holy Land tourists looking to check out the sites of many of the best-known miracle stories.
Yoder has since apologized for "any embarrassment" caused by his plunge into Galilee, which, according to Politico, led to a thirty-minute rebuke from Representative Eric Cantor the next day. The group of lawmakers were on a tour of Christian and Jewish holy sites with the American Israel Educational Foundation, a trip that is something of a chimera of religious pilgrimage and U.S.-Israel bonding time. The group met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren, and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Rico says that, besides the stupidity of some drunk Republicans (and how old was that guy's daughter, anyway?), what do you want to bet that Simon, Andrew, James, and John didn't really have those names...