Updated - See below

As a rule, insulting U.S. troops trying to keep you safe in Iraq doesn’t seem like an especially good idea. And yet, there was Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), one of Congress’ most right-wing members, reflecting on his recent visit to Baghdad, and calling one soldier he met a “two-bit security guard.”

“We spent the night in the Green Zone, in the poolhouse of one of Saddam’s palaces. A little weird, I got to be honest with you. But I felt safe. And so in the morning, I got up early — not that I make this a great habit — but I went to the gym because I just couldn’t sleep and everything else. Well, sure enough, the guard wouldn’t let me in. Said I didn’t have the correct credentials.

“It’s 5:00 in the morning. I haven’t had sleep. I was not very happy with this two-bit security guard. And so you know, I said, ‘I want to see your supervisor.’ Thirty minutes later, the supervisor wasn’t happy with me, they escort me back to my room. It happens. I guess I didn’t need to work out anyway.”

Yes, poor Patrick McHenry. An American stationed in Baghdad followed orders on Green-Zone security only to get mocked by a conservative lawmaker who never wore a uniform. Classy.

Somehow, I have a hunch that if McHenry were a liberal Dem, and he called an American serviceman or servicewoman serving in Baghdad a “two-bit security guard,” it’d be quite a while until we heard the end of it.

As long as we’re playing “Imagine If A Democrat Had Said This,” we should also probably highlight Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) provocative thoughts on the 9/11 attacks.

The California congressman who called the Sept. 11 attacks “simply” a plane crash ran for cover Wednesday under a barrage of ridicule from fellow Republicans, first responders and victims’ families.

San Diego GOP Rep. Darrell Issa was under siege for suggesting the federal government had already done enough to help New York cope with “a fire” that “simply was an aircraft” hitting the World Trade Center. […]

Under pressure from all sides, the Golden State pol - who got rich selling car alarms after getting busted for car theft as a teen - pulled a partial U-turn. He issued a statement but cowered from the press.

“I continue to support federal assistance for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks,” he said.

But he didn’t retract his wacked-out rhetoric claiming the feds “just threw” buckets of cash at New York for an attack “that had no dirty bomb in it, it had no chemical munitions in it.”

He went on: “I have to ask … why the firefighters who went there and everybody in the city of New York needs to come to the federal government for the dollars versus this being primarily a state consideration.”

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if McHenry and Issa were Dems, Fox News would talk about nothing else for the foreseeable future.

Update: With regard to McHenry and the “two-bit security guard,” I referenced the guard as a member of the U.S. military based on the reports of multiple sources. McHenry’s office, among others, now argue that the guard was a contractor, not a U.S. serviceman or servicewoman.

Two points. First, as John Cole notes, the “Imagine If A Democrat Had Said This” game remains unaffected.

Second, as conservative Ed Morrissey notes, “Does this really make it any better? After all, the contractors risk their lives as well, albeit for better compensation.”

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