Maybe The Fish All Died

Once upon a time about a year ago, a man who had been elected to the United States Congress went to Israel and he had ma-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ybe a little too much to drink and then he went skinny dipping in a big lake because it was really hot that day so maybe some people saw his weiner.

The moral of the story is: “Seriously. Why should anyone care?”

Burt Likko

Pseudonymous Portlander. Homebrewer. Atheist. Recovering litigator. Recovering Republican. Recovering Catholic. Recovering divorcé. Recovering Former Editor-in-Chief of Ordinary Times. House Likko's Words: Scite Verum. Colite Iusticia. Vivere Con Gaudium.

7 Comments

  1. Is it okay if I agree that this is totally un-newsworthy – especially a year after the fact! – and yet still find myself in awe that an elected official decides it’s a good idea to take all of his clothes off in that situation, with that group of people, on that particular trip?

    Hey, no harm no foul… but if this guy turns up in some impulse-control-related scandal a year or two down the road, I will not be overly shocked.

    • My favorite sentence:

      Rep. Schweikert framed the late night swim as an example of a lack of judgment, pointing particularly to Rep. Ben Quayle, who he will face in a GOP primary to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional district in a little more than a week.

      Honestly, I would rather be represented by the first 435 eight-year-olds in the Washington phone book,

  2. What this reminds me of is the story about Ethel Kennedy pushing a fully clothed Arthur Schlesinger into a swimming pool. There might have been some drinking going on, the participants were scolded not to embarrass their side, and seriously, why should anyone care?,

    • It was the day the Dow plunged 512 points. Without the nudity, it’s unlikely that it would have fallen by more than 150 points or so.

  3. This is an interesting case, in that our prudence has gone exactly the opposite direction that we’d expect. People used to swim naked all the time. TR did it in the Potomac. LBJ did it in the White House pool.

    • A lot of things went on in the White House swimming pool in the Kennedy-Johnson days that I’m quite happy would (probably) not be accepted in our time.

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