Rep. Patrick McHenry (NC-10) has been an enthusiastic rightwing Republican footsoldier since he was elected to Congress in 2004. And before that? He served one term in the N.C. House of Representatives. 

So it came as a shock to read this in today's Pentagon Post:

Republicans, by contrast, seized on the plan as a political lifeboat after months of being forced to vote against measures repudiating Bush's policy. "Let the generals in the field dictate," said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (N.C.), an Iraq war veteran.

The Iraq War started in March 2003 - and McHenry has been in elected office the entire time, voting repeatedly to send other young men and women to fight and die in his place.

Perhaps the Post meant Iraq War I in 1991? Probably not, since McHenry was 15 years old at the time, struggling to suppress his gay sexual identity, not exactly leading combat troops into battle.

And McHenry would have been ineligible to serve in either war because he's a closeted gay.

So how did the Post make this ludicrous mistake? Did McHenry lie to them, or did the Post just decide to rewrite his resume to promote him for President someday?

And will the Post issue a correction? Stay tuned...