Rep. McHenry Opens Mouth, Inserts Foot, Loses Leg To Stand On

McHenry under fire over Iraq visit

HICKORY — U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry enraged his opponents with his actions during a trip to Iraq last month and comments after his return. The first issue erupted last week when video of McHenry’s speech to a Republican gathering in Lincoln County showed the congressman speaking of an early morning trip to the gym while in the area known as the Green Zone. A military guard stopped him because the congressman lacked sufficient credentials. During his light-hearted speech, McHenry referred to the guard as a “two-bit security guard,” by not allowing him to enter the gym without proper credentials.
The military guard was not a United States soldier, but an employee of a foreign contractor providing security at the site. That didn’t lessen the reaction from his opponents. — Andrew Mackie, Hickory Daily Record, Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Meanwhile, from the Charlotte Observer:

Pentagon: Lawmaker can't re-air Iraq video; Rep. Patrick McHenry faces accusations his video breached security

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon told an N.C. lawmaker Tuesday that he couldn't re-air a video he shot in Baghdad after accusations surfaced that he breached operational security in detailing enemy rocket attacks. Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Republican from Cherryville, traveled to Iraq with other lawmakers for the first time on March 22. On Friday, his Web site featured a video shot in the fortified section of Baghdad known as the Green Zone. McHenry could be seen gesturing to a building behind him and saying that one of 11 rockets "hit just over my head." Then he named two other places struck by the rockets ...
A Pentagon spokesman said he didn't know what McHenry was told in Iraq, "but we routinely brief our operational rules to our visitors in Iraq and Afghanistan." "We do not as a matter of policy discuss attacks in a way that would provide the enemy any better understanding of the effectiveness of their attacks," said Lt. Col. Todd Vician.
A spokesman for the Multi-National Forces in Iraq said that he didn't know what the rules were for congressmen, but the military is not allowed to talk about battle damage. — Lisa Zagaroli

YouTube = preserving the words and actions of fast-talking, self-absorbed politicians everywhere.