CNN

So, if he was alone, how is it that we have pictures of him on the island?

Altho names don't mean anything, or shouldn't with a name like Flake people are always going to take this guy the wrong way.

He doesn't need to worry about being a pansy; his name says it all. He should have stayed on the island.

I would be more impressed if he went camping in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, or stayed as a refugee in Darfur, Sudan. His shameless self promotion still show his adept ability to be a "pansy".

He should try living on a bowl of rice a day, drinking bacteria laden water, or go without food for a week. Maybe then he will understand what 70% of the people in the world live on a daily basis.

A common expression in the developing world when one greets another is: did you eat today?

Representative Flake has a ways to go in understand what the world is truly about regarding matters of life and subsequent death.

I'm sorry. I come to CNN for news, not this reality TV crap. Please, CNN, go back to your Bernard Shaw roots and cut this crap. There's no cash-incentive ratings on websites are there?

Deserted islands are beautiful and all, but spending a week on one in order to somehow re-claim one's manhood is pathetic. This Flake character sounds like a Moron. Besides – who uses words like "pansy" anymore??? Get a life! If he wants to feel better about himself, maybe he should help feed starving children or improve education. Moron!

Who cares what these crazy Repulicans do.? There are all whacked.

Jeff, congratulations on your trying to get into touch with the environment and your wanting to feel like you were doing something again. My guess is you are going to come off that island a changed man. And also a Democrat.

Even going to a deserted island in the middle of the pacific ocean wont get you away from the media.

And this is news why?

Yes, he just wanted solitude and privacy... of releasing a bunch of posed photos to national mass media.

I didn't realize that being a "pansy" is a bad thing.

I am not sure why he did it or why we should care but my biggest question is what does he mean that he "felt like a pansy"?

Tom Delay recently used that word when referring to dancing on Dancing with the stars and even than i questioned its use. In a time when a 49 year old gay man is beaten to a pulp just for being gay, one must wonder if the use of such anti-gay terms should be accepted.

Sounds like he is a little looney to me!!

This reminds me of Russian President Putin and the pics of him shirtless. How silly.
What exactly is this guy trying to prove? Some rich white male rep from congress decides to rough it for a week. I wonder if he was covered by his health insurance during this "ordeal."
Obvious and complete disconnection going on here.

What? Now "actually doing something" means taking a week-long vacation on a tropical island with your electronic gadgets and taking self-gratifying photos of yourself relaxing on the beach in all your "non-pansied" glory?

Most folks call this a "vacation", but I guess that rugged Libertarianism just isn't what it used to be.

Alone on that island and fending for yourself? You lie!

And we all care about this crap because?????

pretty cool!

How about finding yourself on your own time. You should be in Arizona or Washington DC serving your constituents and US Citizens.
Get back to work, you prima dona !

Good for him.....it's always nice to take time away from the real world to reflect and re-energize.

At first, I mistook the photos for another Vlad. Putin annual summer Siberian macho photo-fest. I'll leave comment on the congressman's last name for others.

REALLY??? This is where our tax dollars are spent???

I'm sorry, but this is hilarious...!

He most likely felt like a pansy because he votes and thinks like one.

Hw camped alone because he is a flake.

I fail to understand how this is a story, especially one that merits 2 separate entries on the political ticker. Thousands of people take vacations like this every year. My wife and I frequently boat or canoe to places far from any road or normal means of transportation. There's nothing super redeeming about this for other people. It is just interesting and fun. It seems like if this guy is doing interviews about this, he is some sort of attention seeker.

Flake is a flake. This is not the time to demonstrate to the American people idle sloth. I am not sure if there ever is a goof time for an elected official, but while we have massive unemployment and two wars going on we need to be mindful of what people are going through. Most people can afford to lounge away their time on a deserted island. Unless that is his solution for the economy. Survival of the fittest.

Jeff Flake would do better to spend a week in Congress - the job he was elected to do - rather than indulge his ego on a week-long retreat on a deserted tropical island. The rest of us in America have to work for our paychecks, after all.

1. Why is this a news item?

2. So not feeling "like a pansy, I guess" is a good thing? And a rationale?
And a useful sound bite? Feeling out of touch with one's background/roots is not a compelling enough reason for the Robinson Crusoe experience?

3. Representative "Flake"? Well named....

4. So why is this a news item, again?

Yes, Jeff, because there is nothing more manly than sticking your toes in the surf, sleeping in a hammock and taking pictures of yourself. Can't we see just one of you wearing the coconut shells, or are you saving those for K Street?

That's because you are!

He probably had a more peaceful week than the rest of us did with all this political hoop-de-doo that we're hearing constantly...Enjoy
it while you can.

Tripod/timer– Footprints????????????????? 2 hrs????

I can't believe he used a pejorative for "gay." What an idiot.

I'm an amateur photographer and if I used a tripod and timer, that would give about 8 – 10 seconds until the shutter releases. So where are his foot prints moving away from the camera to where he is standing?

I think Mr. Flake (has a name ever been more apropos?) could use a little thearpy. Perhaps that week would have been better spent on a couch talking to a man (or woman) with patches on his/her elbows. Just sayin'.

He went camping for a week. What a manly man.

I think it would be helpful if all Repulican reps left for a desert island. . .

So... interesting, to be sure, but why is this headline news? This article says nothing about the man, or really anything at all, except that he was on a deserted Island. Is he a current law-maker? Why is this important?

Umm... so what?

What a jerk.

what kind of a stupid story is this?

HIs last name fits perfectly.

On an island...isn't that where the Republican Party is at the present time?

ALL Outdoorsmen enjoy testing themselves, their skills and their knowledge against the elements from time to time. It reconnects you to the earth and the elements and the primal forces that lie within even the biggest "pansy" you can name. While we can't all afford to head off to the South Pacific, I commend the effort and say "good for you, man". Now get back to work.....

I thought the title refered to Barney Frank.

If He is alone, who snapped the photo...or did He take himself?

The Flake that Felt Like a Pansy. What does he feel like now? A Lupin?

Pansy? So being alone on an island made him feel like a man? What ever happened to "no man is an island"? Was he running to or away from something? I heard the story on CNN, and thought it was interesting that because of his government connections he was able to do something on "regular" citizen probably could do. That was get the local government there give him access to an isolated island. Privilege gave him the access for this photo shoot... Heck I was in the peace corps for 3 and half years, and was in many places alone and fending for myself. I don't see anything this man did for a week other than some privileged tourist. If anything I am surprised he was able to stay out of the gym for a week... nice guns flake.

I take exception to using the word"pansy". Is Rep Flake's use of the word a purposeful insult to gays, or is he really too much of a Flake himself to be aware of the negative connotations of the expression? What an ignorant man ...or lack of one.

Sorry, not news worthy.

Yeah, I can imagine sitting around in the "un-real" world of politicians could make a guy feel like a pansy. Ya know, just sittin' around the House shootin' the breeze and livin' high on the hog with taxpayer $$.

Wonderful – both an obviously faked PR moment and a desipicable slur against Gay people in one stupid comment – a typical Republican embarressment to everything this country is supposed to stand for!

'Confuscious say doing nothing is sometimes whole lot better than doing something'....This politician, (Flake) , is sure walking his talk.

Is this really news worthy???? Honestly????

Good job Mitt Romney to bring one who believes in the same religious beliefs into the spotlight and there is nothing wrong with that. I think Flake is fishing for who knows who he is, I know and even though I'm not a Mormon I'll give him some props. The Flakes are good people.

Is there a reason anyone should care about this person, or this article? News used to be news. Now it is filling white space with anything.

I am very happy that the Representative had an interesting vacation but we would care about this why? I would rather hear about what he has been doing when not on vacation. What has he been doing?

Well, at least he wasn't "hiking the appalacian trail".

amazing but its still hard to believe a republican.

Does the name FLAKE tell you anything.

If that's what it took to make him feel like less of a pansy....I"ve gotta feel sorry for him. What kind of incredible insecurity level is that guy operating at? And what is only one week on an island going to prove? Tom Hanks spent five years as a castaway! And I think his experience was just as real as Rep. Flake's.

And Flake says he only ate coconuts, but at the same time brought a very good camera and a tripod to prove his epic ordeal to the rest of us...Again, I don't know. Seems to me like he might be claiming that he left more civilization behind than he actually did. And if this politico needs to post those photos to prove his manhood, it might be more because he fears he's in for a real tough re-election campaign next time around rather than his having an urgent need to play Tarzan. Maybe he could have just gone back to the farm for a couple of weeks and baled some hay and roped some dogies if he really missed it so much.

Whatever happened to people going soul-searching without looking for photo ops?

I guess after months and months of opposing progress, he needed to stick himself on a deserted island to feel like a member of the human race.

Take notes, Republicans. Go to deserted islands. PLEASE.

Apparently being a "flake" is a way of life for Jeff.

Only one? Oh Really? Then explain that there are no footprints leading from the camera to where he is standing. If he had a tripod and timer, there would be footprints in the sand leading to where he is standing. We have all done that "click and run" move when the timer starts beeping!

Flake is the right name...

the fact that he would actually use the word "pansy" says just about everything you could ever need to know.

Who cares....

That's cool. Sometimes when people loose themselves they find themselves. Hopefully he will have an epiphany and re-join the human race which seeks dignity for all instead of just the fortunate few – as the GOP/RNC seems to espouse. Signed Independent (including thinking).

Are you sure he wasn't "hiking the AT".

Who elects these morons?

What an idiot.

Why is this a story?

um....so you are trying to reaffirm your manliness by going out to some deserted island 'alone' in order to play "survivorman"....but you take along a camera with a timer and a tripod to take glamour shots of yourself?!? Gee, that doesn't seem like a lame publicity stunt.... If you were doing this for yourself, in order to be alone, why are you publicizing it to everyone?

He would know what a "pansy" would feel like I guess. What a jerk.

This is a joke. Please report some news.

While it may have been a great adventure for Rep Flake, he really should have found some other way to express his motivational goal without using an anit-gay pejorative. One would have thought in this day and age a United States Congressman would have had better sense that to use that kind of insulting language. It just shows how far we still have to go.

Good for him. I hope it was relaxing. It sounds great. I am disappointed that he "felt like a pansy" and needed this experience to feel all "manly" again. It's unfortunate that numerous men engage in behaviors out of the drive or fear of feeling like or looking like a pansy or other derogatory terms from other men who feel it is their job to define what it means to be masculine. I wonder what else he avoids or does on purpose to avoid feeling like a pansy. Hopefully, it's cooking, mentoring other men, expressing himself, and being a good role model for other men who are struggling navigating masculinity because too many activities are off limits because they are for pansies.

So this is what people in DC get paid for? How about getting back to work vs just voting no so you can run off to your island!!

Obama goes to Europe and tries for a Olympic victory for America and gets criticized. This guy get press for going to an island for a week?
News organizations are upside down.

Guess we have another log cabin Republican. I wonder how Larry Craig is doing.

Vote him off.

Sorry, Flake, you are not a pansy. Pansies are beautiful little
flowers that survive snow, storms, and all kinds of harsh
weather. You, on the other hand, are still a "Flake", in more
ways than one. So, go back to your island, and take the rest
of the Republican flakes with you. The rest of us will just
enjoy the beauty of the Pansy. What a jerk!

Hmm, are you sure there is NO ONE else on this Island???? Who took the DOGGONE pictures????? LOL

Well, I saw him interview with Wolf and he said he had a timed camea!! So, I ain't one to gossip and you ain't heard it from me!!!

So what?

This should be MANDATORY for EVERY politician so they can come back with a clear mind and MAYBE, they'll get more accomplished!!

Hoo boy, Jeff; if you "feel like a pansy", take it from this one, posing shirtless is a great way to get noticed by the others. But, clean up your language – we can say it about ourselves, you can't (unless that's a coded message that you want to hurry back to DC to get married.)

Sounds like an out of touch rich politician doing something your average, ordinary American couldn't relate to (like when John Edwards climbed Mount Everest to feel "normal"). How about you go and live in a duplex and work in a factory for two weeks if you don't want to feel like a pansy?

A week.... a week on a deserted island? Wow, I'm impressed!!! Sounds like a vacation to me. Baaaawwww
You really, I mean really want to stop feeling like the pansy you are??
Spend a week on the battlefields of Afganistan.
Then you'll have something to write home about.
You can bring your tripod there too... It may get taken out by a .50, though.

When man sits quietly in nature they learn the true essence of God, that He is what He is....Love.....Soverign. it's good to quiet the soul your very life depends on it.

I really doubt that he was the only one there. Why would he feel like a pansy, just because he is a flake I guess.

whats with this idiot??

Good for him! Maybe we would all benefit at some time in our lives by isolating ourselves for a few days.

He admits that republicans don't do anything useful. At least he's honest.

You still are a pansy

Pansies are a dime a dozen within the ranks of the Republican party these days, and maybe he should have taken a few of the Neanderthals with him. Flake is a real flake in our corner of Arizona too. The guy should have stayed on that island in the Pacific.

I would prefer he be in Washington working on the big issues of the day. That aside he does have a right to private time and do with it what he pleases. The big question is this: This is news why????

Well that "pansy" made a point of showing the world his admirable pecs and abs.

Did he get kicked off survior or did they leave him there?

Sounds like a mid-life crisis to me.

I'm sympathetic to wanting this sort of adventure, but every time he opens his mouth about it, he sounds more and more as if Flake is not a misnomer.

The guy is a flake...

Typical politician. This guy merely orchestrated a gimmick to get his name (and photos) in the news.

Well if playing Gilligan for a week recharges the old batteries,then I say cool!As for me I'd go insane without my Blackberry!

ok thanks for putting men back in the Neanderthal phase. "Felt like a pansy"? What does that mean? Rep. Flake should just put a little chew between his cheek and gum and buck up!
Just what makes a man anyway? What other "manly" stuff is he missing? He will be ok, someone just needs to buy him the first few seasons of Survivor and he will his ole manly self without having to visit the Island...

We ought to send the rest of Congress and the Senate to that island and leave them there.

I mean...people are suffering here in the US and we need all hands on deck. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and do what you were elected to do...work for the people.

Get back to work you pansy!

Rep. Flake said his island adventure was actually doing something again?

So bumming around a deserted island is more productive than bumming around congress with his obstructionist Rethuglican pals ?

Yup ... I agree ... a bum is a bum no matter where he is.

Defeat Flake for a better Arizona.

Two things....1) What very few people will even be able to see about this story is how ironic it is. Do you know much money it takes, as the main breadwinner of a family (Rep. Flake has a wife and 5 kids), to leave said family for a remote island for an entire week!!!??? If he wanted to feel like he was doing something, for goodness sake, donate all that cash that you just so selfishly spent to a worhtwhile charity. Spend the week working for a charity. Bare minimum send your poor wife to a deserted island...I'm sure she could use the time alone!

2) He felt like a pansy working in Congress? Big surprise since they've done nothing in years. Get your butt back to AZ and really listen to ALL of your constituents–not just the wingnuts, militia members, birthers and religious zealots.

This isn't a little bit wacky?

So? Must be a slow news day.

Oh no. Not a pansy. ANYTHING BUT A PANSY!

Hey, he's a member of the GOP, so you assume he's lying, right? No bias in that last bit, is there?

We should ship more politicians to deserted islands. Namely:
Pelosi, Reid, Bush...heck, let's just ship them all and start our government all over from scratch.

The name say's it all

"And this made it feel like I was actually doing something again."

Doesn't he already have a job he was elected for?

One week!!!! He is a pansy.

Let's see. The President takes time off, but still works and is blasted for not being here with so much going on. He goes to Copenhagen in an attempt to bring about 8 billion dollars to the US and then the far right wing revels in our, that would be The United States of America, loss in our bid to host the 2016 Olymipics. Now this do nothing, done nothing but vote no on everything the President is trying to do to save this country, and he goes off alone to an island. And that is news? Well, that's all the time we have. We will be back after this message.

A deserted island is the best place for a republican...

One day, pansy will be universally accepted as a derogatory, bigoted term and thus, public figures will think twice about using it. Until then, we can just see this flake as the bigoted person that he is.

sounds like a flake alright!

another wingnut in the news

He never missed a paycheck or health benefits from taxpayers while he was away. The moral to this story is I forgot the taxpayers again, what a caption for this picture.