The State of the Union in Pictures

Complete State of the Union Speech Transcript as Delivered












Ted Nugent in the House as GOP "Guest"

















GOP Women NOT clapping for Equal Pay

Cowardly Lion - When John Boehner Cries

It's amazing how many people discuss John Boehner's tears on the internet. Love him or hate him, his crying jags are definitely fascinating. He even cried on the first day of Congress, blowing his nose into a very large handkerchief that he probably buys in bulk.





And I'm not judging him, since I've been known to cry over episodes of The Waltons, or children's birthday parties, or even on the Fourth of July. Certain movies are guaranteed to make me tear up - just put in Tender Mercies or Out of Africa and there I go again. Play certain songs and I get absolutely weepy.

I always wonder if Boehner gets emotional at times because he feels privileged to be there, considering he had a rather tough childhood. Or perhaps he is just overwhelmed with the responsibility and the byzantine politics, and can't control himself. I think it's a little of both, but who knows? Some say he just drinks too much, but I don't hold that against him either.

What it tells me is that in spite of his bluster and his confused stance on many issues, somewhere in there is a human being with a heart. I can't imagine Paul Ryan or Eric Cantor EVER crying in public, or really crying at all - they are cold fish compared to Boehner.

And then there are the rightwing pundits such as Sean Hannity who thinks Boehner should snap out of it:

Crying in public - I can't take it! Somebody needs to say this: I don't get the crying in public all the time. And I like John Boehner but this is ridiculous. If anything we ought to be crying because America's on the brink of bankruptcy. That's something to cry about.

Does it really surprise anyone that a scumbag like Hannity would be puzzled by an emotional display?

And maybe that's why Boehner cries so much: he is trapped in the craziest party in history with a bunch of sociopaths who lack basic empathy and show him no respect. David Axelrod called the Tea Party Caucus "John Boehner's Unruly Children," and I think that's the perfect characterization. A Speaker of the House is supposed to be a figurehead and a mentor to the others in his or her party. The trouble is, the GOP members of the House not only don't love him - they don't even like him.

And maybe that's why President Obama keeps trying to deal with him, since the Democrats are often quick to dismiss him as a failed President, too, even when he gets Congress to vote for his bills with good things for everyone. Nothing is ever enough for extremists in either party, so I think that's their real common ground.

But Boehner is no Obama, and the Speakership is probably the only power he will ever have. I'm sure that sometimes Boehner wishes he could run down the hall and jump out the window like the Cowardly Lion, but he tries to pull himself together and blunders on, which seems pretty brave.

I wouldn't trade places with him for all the money in the world.

Gov. Chris Christie Slams House for Not Funding Sandy Relief

After passing the "Fiscal Cliff" bill late on January 1st, the GOP leadership fled the building and refused to deal with a pressing major bill - relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy in New York, New Jersey and other states. Was Speaker John Boehner trying to make a point of "punishing" New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for cooperating and even praising President Obama just before the Nov. 7 election. which some believe led to Obama's reelection? Who knows - but it was a damn stupid, heartless and irresponsible thing for the GOP to do, and today Christie absolutely lambasted Boehner for it.

"There's only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims: The House Majority and their Speaker, John Boehner."

"Last night, politics was placed before an oath to serve our citizens. For me, it was disappointing and disgusting to watch."

. . . "Despite our willingness to help (other states), we've been left to wait six times longer than the victimes of Katrina, with no end in sight."

"Americans are tired of the palace intrigue and political partisanship of this Congress, which places oneupsmanship ahead of the lives of citizens who sent these people to Washington D.C. in the first place. New Jersyians and New Yorkers are tired of being treated like second-class citizens."

"New York deserves better than the selfishness we saw on display last night. New Jersey deserves better than the duplicity we saw on display last night. America deserves better than just another example of a government that has forgotten who they are there to serve and why."

"66 Days and counting. Shame on you! Shame on Congress."

(I will post the complete video when I find a good copy)

Obama Speaks After Congress Votes on Fiscal Cliff

At the eleventh hour, with yet another display of "brinksmanship," and almost 24 hours after the U.S. technically went over the Fiscal Cliff which raised taxes on all Americans, the House GOP finally got themselves together, and with a special appeal to the Dems by Joe Biden, Congress passed a compromise that kept tax rates low for 98% of Americans, saved unemployment benefits, and raised taxes permanently on the top 2%.

What did Obama give away? Not much - he let them raise the "middle-class" tax cut-off to $400,000 (or #450,000 for married couples). That will limit revenue for sure, but the top 2% still have to go back to Clinton-Era tax levels of 39.6%, which the Tea Party vowed wouldn't happen. So this is a win for the President and the country, even though many purists on the Left would say "Obama Caved." I disagree - he compromised to get something done and it worked. That's the way it works, folks, whether you like it or not. Stonewalling will never get us anywhere - the Tea Party proves that!

More Glass-Half-Full or Half-Empty quotes:
Snark Amendment: Fiscal Cliff Compromise Makes Both Sides Unhappy

From Talking Points Memo

The final vote was 257-167. The bill passed thanks to an overwhelming display of Democratic support — 172 Dems voted for the bill, while only 16 opposed. By contrast, only 85 Republicans voted in support of the bill, compared to the 151 — including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) — who voted against.

This was not an easily foretold outcome. Though the legislation was the product of White House negotiations with the Senate’s top Republican, and though it passed the upper chamber overwhelmingly in the wee hours of New Year’s Day, House Republicans nearly submarined the bill and sent the country down an uncertain road toward economic contraction.

. . . They wanted cuts to federal spending. And, with a wink from Cantor, they were nearly prepared to sink the bill directly, or return it to the Senate amended and guarantee its demise.
In the end, a self-preservation instinct took over. Leaders suffocated the rebellion, and decided to place the bill on the floor unchanged, at the risk of alienating the majority of rank-and-file Republicans.

Complete Transcript of Obama's Comments:

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release January 1, 2013

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

11:20 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Happy New Year, everybody.

AUDIENCE: Happy New Year, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: A central promise of my campaign for President was to change the tax code that was too skewed towards the wealthy at the expense of working middle-class Americans. Tonight we've done that. Thanks to the votes of Democrats and Republicans in Congress, I will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans while preventing a middle-class tax hike that could have sent the economy back into recession and obviously had a severe impact on families all across America.

I want to thank all the leaders of the House and Senate. In particular, I want to thank the work that was done by my extraordinary Vice President Joe Biden, as well as Leader Harry Reid, Speaker Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, and Mitch McConnell. Everybody worked very hard on this and I appreciate it. And, Joe, once again, I want to thank you for your great work.

Under this law, more than 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses will not see their income taxes go up. Millions of families will continue to receive tax credits to help raise their kids and send them to college. Companies will continue to receive tax credits for the research that they do, the investments they make, and the clean energy jobs that they create. And 2 million Americans who are out of work but out there looking, pounding the pavement every day, are going to continue to receive unemployment benefits as long as they're actively looking for a job.

But I think we all recognize this law is just one step in the broader effort to strengthen our economy and broaden opportunity for everybody. The fact is the deficit is still too high, and we're still investing too little in the things that we need for the economy to grow as fast as it should.

And that's why Speaker Boehner and I originally tried to negotiate a larger agreement that would put this country on a path to paying down its debt while also putting Americans back to work rebuilding our roads and bridges, and providing investments in areas like education and job training. Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough support or time for that kind of large agreement in a lame duck session of Congress. And that failure comes with a cost, as the messy nature of the process over the past several weeks has made business more uncertain and consumers less confident.

But we are continuing to chip away at this problem, step by step. Last year I signed into law $1.7 trillion in deficit reduction. Tonight's agreement further reduces the deficit by raising $620 billion in revenue from the wealthiest households in America. And there will be more deficit reduction as Congress decides what to do about the automatic spending cuts that we have now delayed for two months.

I want to make this point: As I've demonstrated throughout the past several weeks, I am very open to compromise. I agree with Democrats and Republicans that the aging population and the rising cost of health care makes Medicare the biggest contributor to our deficit. I believe we've got to find ways to reform that program without hurting seniors who count on it to survive. And I believe that there's further unnecessary spending in government that we can eliminate.

But we can't simply cut our way to prosperity. Cutting spending has to go hand-in-hand with further reforms to our tax code so that the wealthiest corporations and individuals can't take advantage of loopholes and deductions that aren't available to most Americans. And we can't keep cutting things like basic research and new technology and still expect to succeed in a 21st century economy. So we're going to have to continue to move forward in deficit reduction, but we have to do it in a balanced way, making sure that we are growing even as we get a handle on our spending.

Now, one last point I want to make -- while I will negotiate over many things, I will not have another debate with this Congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they've already racked up through the laws that they passed. Let me repeat: We can't not pay bills that we've already incurred. If Congress refuses to give the United States government the ability to pay these bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy would be catastrophic -- far worse than the impact of a fiscal cliff.

People will remember, back in 2011, the last time this course of action was threatened, our entire recovery was put at risk. Consumer confidence plunged. Business investment plunged. Growth dropped. We can't go down that path again.

And today's agreement enshrines, I think, a principle into law that will remain in place as long as I am President: The deficit needs to be reduced in a way that's balanced. Everyone pays their fair share. Everyone does their part. That's how our economy works best. That's how we grow.

The sum total of all the budget agreements we've reached so far proves that there is a path forward, that it is possible if we focus not on our politics but on what's right for the country. And the one thing that I think, hopefully, in the New Year we'll focus on is seeing if we can put a package like this together with a little bit less drama, a little less brinksmanship, not scare the heck out of folks quite as much.

We can come together as Democrats and Republicans to cut spending and raise revenue in a way that reduces our deficit, protects our middle class, provides ladders into the middle class for everybody who's willing to work hard. We can find a way to afford the investments that we need to grow and compete. We can settle this debate, or at the very least, not allow it to be so all-consuming all the time that it stops us from meeting a host of other challenges that we face -- creating jobs, boosting incomes, fixing our infrastructure, fixing our immigration system, protecting our planet from the harmful effects of climate change, boosting domestic energy production, protecting our kids from the horrors of gun violence.

It's not just possible to do these things; it's an obligation to ourselves and to future generations. And I look forward to working with every single member of Congress to meet this obligation in the New Year.

And I hope that everybody now gets at least a day off, I guess, or a few days off, so that people can refresh themselves, because we're going to have a lot of work to do in 2013.

Thanks, everybody. Happy New Year.

END 11:28 P.M. EST

The House that Boehner Built

"You Built That"
We woke up today to the realization that while the world may have been spared an Apocalypse, Speaker of the House John Boehner actually didn't. In fact, karma went full-Mayan on him last night as the fickle finger of fate socked it to him in the form of his own GOP House members. You can't make this stuff up.

Last night John Boehner took his "Plan B" non-compromise with President Obama to the floor of the House. Rachel Maddow called it a "Republican Wish List." Everyone knew it wouldn't make any difference, since the Senate would never agree to it, and Obama wouldn't sign it because it has nothing to do with the negotiations on the Fiscal Cliff. But hey, it was something, right? It was all in the spirit of NOT going over the Fiscal Cliff on January 1st, which will raise taxes on everyone, including the poorest. So at least they were appearing to work overtime to fix things for the American people, even if misguided and unworkable with the Democrats. They would take a Friday night "purist" vote among Republicans who had signed on earlier in the day, no biggie french fry.

Except that it was. Because at some point, Boehner realized the Tea Party members wouldn't back Plan B after all, and they were pulling the rug out from under him. He was not in control of his people, and after weeks of talks with Obama, and hours of whipping his representatives in the house, the Speaker just didn't have the votes, and he gave up. He just announced he was giving up, and everyone could go home for Christmas, with no way to solve the Fiscal Cliff.

Twitter went nuts, of course, and Democrats and Republicans alike rushed to shame Boehner and House members:
Snark Amendment: Boehner Shambles as Plan B Fails
Snark Amendment: Boehner's Epic Fail in the House

Stunning. Rachel Maddow compared it to the curtain being pulled back on the Great and Powerful Oz, saying the Conservative Movement is "a complete mess." You could also say the Emperor has no Clothes, if Boehner ever did. But then he's dealing with a Tea Party that is run by a group of Mad Hatters.

Now the ball has been tossed back to Obama and Harry Reid in the Senate, and the Republicans have imploded and beclowned themselves again. The problem is, the rest of the country deserves better than the bewildering display last night in the House. They need Republicans to accept the results of the November election and learn to compromise with the sitting President. Once again we are left dangling while the Tea Party takes care of millionaires at the expense of everyone else, including their own constituents. What can stop the madness?

Rumor is the disgraced GOP will return to the House next week after Christmas to try once again to solve this AGAIN before Jan. 1, but don't hold your breath. Happy New Year!

Robert Costa on National Review

Inside the Meltdown
At a quarter to 8 p.m. on Thursday night, House Republicans gathered in the Capitol basement for an urgent, closed-door conference meeting. The scene was hushed and confused. Instead of huddling in a windowless room, members thought they’d spend the evening on the House floor, voting on “Plan B,” Speaker John Boehner’s fiscal-cliff proposal. But as they took their seats and looked at Boehner’s face, the reason for the gathering became clear: The speaker didn’t have the votes. The whipping was over. “Plan B” was dead.
. . . It was Boehner’s tone and body language that caught most Republicans off guard. The speaker looked defeated, unhappy, and exhausted after hours of wrangling. He didn’t want to fight. There was no name-calling. As a devout Roman Catholic, Boehner wanted to pray. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,” he told the crowd, according to attendees.
. . . Boehner had spent weeks negotiating with his members and the president. But in this final hour, when he needed Republicans most, he had only a prayer.

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Senator Feinstein: Petraeus Affair Like "Peeling an Onion"

My gut reaction to the affair between General Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, his fangirlish biographer, was to ignore it and move along because it was a personal matter, but over the course of today and tonight it is morphing and changing by the hour into a curiouser and curiouser tale including more and more people. It's starting to sound and feel like a cross between Fatal Attraction and All the President's Men. Or maybe an episode of NCIS.

In fact, this post is going to be a monster just to catch up with the news.



New York Daily News: All In with Broadwell

Petraeus’ romance with Broadwell began two months after he became the nation’s top spy in September 2011, though they met years earlier, Boylan said. The steamy romance ended four months ago, said Boylan, who served as Petraeus’ spokesman in Iraq and spoke with his old boss over the weekend.
Boylan said Petraeus, 60, is “devastated” that he hurt his wife and lost “one of the best jobs he ever had” by falling for Broadwell, a married Army Reserve officer with two young sons.

~~~~~~~~


From Business Insider: Wife is Furious

As his biographer, Broadwell didn't gloss over what is by all accounts a huge factor in Petraeus' success: his wife, Holly. All In: The Education Of General David Petraeus chronicles how the couple met and fell in love.
Holly's father was the superintendent of West Point, where Petraeus went to school, and a respected military academic. Petraeus found the status of Holly's family "intoxicating," because it was in stark contrast to his own parents, a humble librarian and sea captain, Broadwell wrote.
Holly has also reportedly moved 23 times since she married Petraeus. Today, she's a director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
. . . So far, Holly has been silent on her husband's affair.
An ex-CIA spokesperson said that his wife is so angry over the affair that "furious would be an understatement."

~~~~~~~~
Via Washington Post: Petraeus Regrets

In a farewell letter last week to CIA staff members, Petraeus ­described his affair with Broadwell as behavior that is “unacceptable both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.” The statement and others from his allies in the days that followed created an impression that he had stepped down of his own volition, and out of a sense of moral obligation.
But some of his closest advisers who served with him during his last command in Iraq said Monday that Petraeus planned to stay in the job even after he acknowledged the affair to the FBI, hoping the episode would never become public. He resigned last week after being told to do so by Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. on the day President Obama was reelected.

~~~~~~~~

NY Daily News: Secret Correspondent

As Washington was roiled by the scandal, new details about the affair and its aftermath emerged:
-- Petraeus and mistress Paula Broadwell used an email trick favored by terrorists and drug dealers to hide their messages to each other, storing them as drafts in an account they could both access, instead of sending traceable messages to each others’ inboxes.
-- After Broadwell was revealed to be the mystery correspondent who was sending menacing emails to comely Petraeus pal Jill Kelley, he told her to end the harassment campaign, The Washington Post reported.
-- Kelley, a social liaison for an Air Force base in Tampa, was in near-daily contact with Petraeus when he was overseeing the war in Afghanistan, though his ex-staffers say the frequent emails and instant messages were not romantic.

(From L to R) Natalie Khawam, Gen. David Petraeus, Dr. Scott Kelley, his wife Jill Kelley and Holly Petraeus, the wife of Gen. David Petraeus, watching the Gasparilla parade from the comfort of tent on the Kelleys front lawn on Jan. 30. 2010, in Tampa, Fla.

~~~~~~~~
Daily Beast Exclusive ~ Cat Fight: Paula Broadwell's Emails

The messages were . . . what the source terms “kind of cat-fight stuff.”
“More like, ‘Who do you think you are? … You parade around the base … You need to take it down a notch,’” according to the source, who was until recently at the highest levels of the intelligence community and prefers not to be identified by name.
Kelley herself seemed mystified as to what was behind the emails, much less who sent them.  “I don’t know who this person is and I don’t want to keep getting them,” she told the FBI, as recounted by the source.
When the FBI friend showed the emails to the cyber squad in the Tampa field office, her fellow agents noted that the absence of any overt threats.
. . . The squad was not even sure the case was worth pursuing, the source says.
. . . Some of the steamier messages made clear that it was an affair. The besotted Broadwell may have viewed the curvaceous Kelley as a threat. Broadwell may be able to run a six-minute mile with Petraeus, but Kelley looks like a woman who lets the guys do all the running—and in her direction.

~~~~~~~~
Wall Street Journal: FBI Agent Investigated

The FBI agent who started the case was a friend of Jill Kelley, the Tampa woman who received harassing, anonymous emails that led to the probe, according to officials. Ms. Kelley, a volunteer who organizes social events for military personnel in the Tampa area, complained in May about the emails to a friend who is an FBI agent. That agent referred it to a cyber crimes unit, which opened an investigation.

However, supervisors soon became concerned that the initial agent might have grown obsessed with the matter, and prohibited him from any role in the investigation, according to the officials.
One official said the agent in question sent shirtless photos to Ms. Kelley well before the email investigation began, and FBI officials only became aware of them some time later. Eventually, supervisors told the agent he was to have nothing to do with the case, though he never had a formal role in the investigation, the official said.

The agent, after being barred from the case, contacted a member of Congress, Washington Republican David Reichert, because he was concerned senior FBI officials were going to sweep the matter under the rug, the officials said. That information was relayed to top congressional officials, who notified FBI headquarters in Washington.

~~~~~~~~
Eric Cantor Involvement

On Saturday, Oct. 27, Cantor spoke by phone to an FBI employee who told him about an investigation, including the details about Petraeus’ affair, and said he was concerned that classified information had been compromised.
Cantor then asked his chief of staff, Steve Stombres, to inform FBI Director Robert Mueller. Because the federal government was closed Monday and Tuesday of that week because to Hurricane Sandy, Stombres did not connect with Mueller’s chief of staff until Wednesday, Oct. 31. Mueller took the information, but gave no indication whether there was an investigation, according to the aide.
The senior aide also said Cantor did not inform anyone else.
Indeed, House Speaker John Boehner did not find out about Cantor’s role in this until the story (of Cantor’s contact with the FBI) broke two days ago. Cantor believed the FBI agent was credible enough to pass on the information to Mueller, but, given that it was a single source whom he had never met, he did not believe there was a need to pass the information on to his fellow House leaders.

~~~~~~~~


New York Mag ~ Security Leak?

. . . a video has surfaced that adds fuel to the speculation about whether Petraeus shared classified information with Broadwell. While speaking on October 26 at the University of Denver, Broadwell said in response to a question about the 9/11 attack in Benghazi, “Now I don’t know if a lot of you heard this, but the CIA annex had actually — had taken a couple of Libyan militia members prisoner and they think that the attack on the consulate was an effort to try to get these prisoners back. So that’s still being vetted.” That sounds to some like Broadwell was referring to an unreported detail about the attack — though it's also possible that she just misunderstood something she heard on Fox News.
. . . The Washington Post reports, "Officers close to Petraeus grew concerned about her posts on Facebook, which they believed sometimes divulged sensitive operational details." According to the New York Times, when Broadwell was first interviewed by the FBI on October 21 she voluntarily turned over her computer. Agents found several classified documents during the search, but both Broadwell and Petraeus denied that he'd given her the files.

~~~~~~~~
NBC: Senator Dianne Feinstein on Andrea Mitchell Video

Via CNN

An angry Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein warned again Monday she would investigate why the FBI did not notify oversight committees about its probe into CIA Director David Petraeus after the bureau determined he was having a secret and risky extramarital affair.
"...A decision was made somewhere not to brief us, which is atypical," the California Democrat told NBC's Andrea Mitchell about how the top Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate intelligence committees are usually briefed on key developments.
"This is certainly an operationally sensitive matter. But we weren't briefed. I don't know who made that decision."
Section 501 of the National Security Act of 1947 spells out the requirements for the executive branch to inform the congressional intelligence committees of key intelligence related activities.
"The President shall ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully and currently informed on the intelligence activities of the United States, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity as required by this title," the statute reads.
Feinstein described the unfolding scandal, which she learned first about only on Friday when Petraeus announced publicly his resignation, "like peeling an onion. Every day another peel comes off and you see a whole new dimension to this."

~~~~~~~~
Charlotte Observer: Broadwell's NC Home Searched by FBI

About eight to 10 agents brought cardboard boxes used for carrying papers and were on both floors of the home for the search, which began shortly before 9 p.m. About two dozen members of the local and national media gathered. It wasn’t immediately clear what the agents were focused on. The search ended at 1:09 a.m. Tuesday.

The agents appeared to start their search in the kitchen at the rear of the house, turning on lights as they moved into different rooms. Two hours into the search, lights appeared to be turned on in most rooms. After midnight, an agent walked out of the kitchen and retrieved boxes from a Chevy Malibu parked outside. She didn’t comment.

Just after 1 a.m., about eight FBI agents came out of the house with a half-dozen file boxes, a Dell PC, an iMac, a briefcase and a printer. The agents left at 1:09 a.m. The agents declined to comment on what they found.

~~~~~~~~
Washington Post: Probe of Petraeus Scandal Snares Commander John Allen, Head of Nato

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT — The FBI probe into the sex scandal that led to the resignation of CIA director David Petraeus has expanded to ensnare Gen. John R. Allen, the commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced early Tuesday.

According to a senior U.S. defense official, the FBI has uncovered between 20,000 and 30,000 pages of “potentially inappropriate” e-mails between Allen and Jill Kelley, a 37-year-old Tampa woman whose close friendship with Petraeus ultimately led to his downfall. Allen, a Marine, succeeded Petraeus as the top allied commander in Afghanistan in July 2011.

. . . Petraeus’s fall from grace shocked the CIA but especially stunned his former colleagues in the Army, where he was considered one of the most brilliant and influential commanders of his generation. Allen, a Marine, was likewise seen as an intellectual, upstanding role model who first made his mark as a general in Iraq and later earned the professional and personal confidence of Obama.

Gawker: Jill Kelley Hires Big Attorney

Among the many odd, swirling facts surrounding the unfolding David Petraeus scandal: Jill Kelley, the longtime friend of the former CIA director who reportedly went to the FBI complaining of harassing emails from Petraeus' mistress Paula Broadwell, has reacted to the mess by bringing out the scandal equivalent of heavy artillery. She's hired DC superlawyer Abbe Lowell and crisis PR specialist Judy Smith—despite the fact that the FBI has concluded its investigation and there are no criminal allegations on the table.
. . . Even if Kelley simply found it prudent to keep a lawyer handy—why Lowell? It's like hiring David Boies because your friend got a speeding ticket. Lowell is the quintessential Washington power broker. He represented Clinton before the Senate during his impeachment trial. He specializes in disgraced political figures, including John Edwards. He's the kind of guy you hire when you're seriously f***ed.
Likewise, Judy Smith is one of those unique DC creatures one hires to make serious problems go away. Her clients have included Monica Lewinsky, Larry Craig, Wesley Snipes, Michael Vick, Kobe Bryant, and the family of Chandra Levy.

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GOP in Galilee ~ Drunken Skinny-Dipping or Naked Baptism?

Why did 20 Republican members of Congress and their staff members go skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilee while on a supposed "educational" trip to the Holy Land?

Was it some strange form of group Baptism? Or merely a drunken revel?

Either way, the FBI wants to know:

During a fact-finding congressional trip to the Holy Land last summer, Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) took off his clothes and jumped into the sea, joining a number of members, their families and GOP staff during a night out in Israel, the sources told POLITICO. Other participants, including the daughter of another congressman, swam fully clothed while some lawmakers partially disrobed. More than 20 people took part in the late-night dip in the sea, according to sources who were participants in the trip.

. . . The Sea of Galilee, a Christian holy site, is where Jesus is said in the Bible to have walked on water.

The FBI looked into whether any inappropriate behavior occurred, but the interviews do not appear to have resulted in any formal allegations of wrongdoing.

But Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who was the senior most GOP lawmaker in Israel on the trip, was so upset about the antics that he rebuked the 30 lawmakers the morning after the Aug. 18, 2011, incident, saying they were distracting from the mission of the trip.

Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was also on the privately funded excursion, which means two of the three top Republicans were a part of this trip. Neither Cantor nor McCarthy went swimming that night, the sources said. Some of their staff did.

The Tweets about this have been hilarious, as you might expect:

Show me in the Constitution where it says I shouldn't soak my taint in the Sea of Galilee on an official delegation! politico.com/news/stories/0…

— David Waldman (@KagroX) August 20, 2012

Jeeze. I thought what happened in the Sea of Galilee stayed in the Sea of Galilee. #GOP

— Christina Gomez (@stayupearly) August 20, 2012

BREAKING: Kansas GOP congressman claims "legitimate shrinkage" after late night skinny-dip in Sea of Galilee

— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) August 20, 2012

And yet who among us has not skinny-dipped in the Sea of Galilee? politi.co/TOockL

— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) August 20, 2012