Error when running Yum

I am getting this error when trying to run any yum command.  I saw
someone ask this question on the mailing list in the past, but I never
saw an answer:

Traceback (innermost last):
  File "/usr/bin/yum", line 22, in ?
    import yummain
  File "/usr/share/yum/yummain.py", line 22, in ?
    import clientStuff
  File "/usr/share/yum/clientStuff.py", line 25, in ?
    import pkgaction
  File "/usr/share/yum/pkgaction.py", line 25, in ?
    import rpmUtils
  File "/usr/share/yum/rpmUtils.py", line 13
    from zlib import error as zlibError
                            ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax