I really don’t see what the big deal is with a bunch of congresspeople and their senior staff getting drunk during a trip to Israel and jumping into the Sea of Galilee. The whole article reads more like a piece in The Onion than a serious piece of journalism. Even the congressman who took off all his clothes doesn’t bother me. I can understand that it might be construed as disrespectful of the hosts, but since when is drunk skinny-dipping at religiously significant holy sites a reason to get upset? Maybe they were seeing if they could walk on the Sea of Galilee the same way Jesus did 2000 years ago. Maybe Rep. Kevin Yoder got naked so no one could accuse his wingtips of being flotational devices. And why is the FBI involved? Does the FBI normally investigate congressmen who travel abroad, drink too much, and rip off their clothes in front of dozens of co-workers? I mean, who cares? They should investigate why Rep. Yoder votes the way he does.
I guess I can see why Eric Cantor is upset. As the only Jewish Republican elected official in the known universe, he probably felt like an a-hole when he learned that his chief of staff and his then communications director got rip-roaring hammered and jumped into the Sea of Galilee. But, really, this can’t be unusual behavior in the wingnut world. You wake up the next morning, eat some greasy food, meet with Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority prime minister, and then maybe go ask a clergyman for forgiveness. No one gives a shit.
