Last year Peter Hoekstra tweeted about his missions in Iraq and even said he’d do it again.  This time Hoekstra has gotten more attention by comparing Twitter’s activity in Iran to when the Republicans had used Twitter to show their spite against Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the decision to adjourn Congress.

“Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did in House last year when Republicans were shut down in the House,” stated Hoekstra on Twitter.  After making that odd comparison comment, lots of people chimed in to make fun of Hoekstra.  Below is a list of some of the witty disses that were made.  C’mon Hoekstra, you’re embarrassing some of us in Michigan with the random comparisons.

- ArjunJaikumar: “@petehoekstra i spilled some lukewarm coffee on myself just now, which is somewhat analogous to being boiled in oil.”
- luckbfern @petehoekstra I stand in solidarity with the oppressed rich white men of Repub Party in the House. #GOPfail Allah Akbar!
- chrisbaskind @petehoekstra My neighbor stopped me to talk today. Now I know what it is like to be questioned by the Basij!
- netw3rk @petehoekstra Someone walked in on me while I was in the bathroom. Reminded me of Pearl Harbor.
- MattOrtega Walked out onto Constitution Ave in D.C. and was almost hit by a taxi. Reminded me of Tienanmen Square.
- TahirDuckett @petehoekstra ran through the sprinklers this morning, claimed solidarity with victims of Hurricane Katrina
- tharodge @petehoekstra maybe now is a good time to reconsider whether you are ready for national politics?

To be fair I’ll clarify what Hoekstra meant in his tweet.  His office said that he wasn’t comparing the two situations literally, but intended to talk about the benefits of technology.  Given all the witty disses that were made, I’d highly recommend to everyone that has lots of followers, Think Before You Tweet!

[via TalkingPointsMemo]

You tell em’, Petey boy!  Pete Hoekstra, Congressman from West Michigan said that he won’t apologize for posting tweets from Iraq.  Hoekstra said that Twitter was his way of being transparent.  This past weekend, Hoekstra posted the following messages on his Twitter account:

- Iraq! Issues! lLong term impact on containing Iran.. Need a coherent detainee strategy. Amb Crocker leaving after very successful tenure.
- Moved into green zone by helicopter Iraqi flag now over palace.Headed to new US embassy Appears calmer less chaotic than previous here.
- Just landed in Baghdad. I believe it may be first time I’ve had bb service in Iraq. 11 th trip here.
- On the way to Andrews Air Force base.12 hour flight to mid east Be back on Mon instead of tues. Votes mon. I’ll keep you posted.
- Heading to Iraq and Afghanistan weds night.I’ll update on twitter and web pg as links are available.I’ll ne [be] back in touch mid next week.

“I take the issue of secrecy very, very seriously,” stated Hoekstra. “I know how to do this stuff. I’ve done intel now for almost 10 years.”  Hoekstra added that he did not write any more tweets after the delegation left the international Green Zone into other dangerous areas of Iraq.  Plus there wasn’t much BlackBerry service there.  “I didn’t Twitter that because that’s a different environment,” Hoekstra said.

Would Hoekstra do it again.  He plans on it.

[via MLive]

House Minority Leader Peter Hoekstra (R-Michigan) landed in Iraq today on a secretive mission, but he decided to be transparent and write about it on Twitter.  The mission to Iraq was led by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Hoekstra wrote the following tweets in chronological order from newest to oldest:

- Iraq! Issues! lLong term impact on containing Iran.. Need a coherent detainee strategy. Amb Crocker leaving after very successful tenure.
- Moved into green zone by helicopter Iraqi flag now over palace.Headed to new US embassy Appears calmer less chaotic than previous here.
- Just landed in Baghdad. I believe it may be first time I’ve had bb service in Iraq. 11 th trip here.
- On the way to Andrews Air Force base.12 hour flight to mid east Be back on Mon instead of tues. Votes mon. I’ll keep you posted.
- Heading to Iraq and Afghanistan weds night.I’ll update on twitter and web pg as links are available.I’ll ne [be] back in touch mid next week.

Did Hoekstra break any laws by writing about his trip?  Given that he didn’t reveal anything too secretive, I highly doubt it.  However the Congressional Quarterly reported that the reps were told to keep the trip to themselves.  CQ knew about the trip but did not publish anything about it as they pointed out in the article.

Hoekstra emigrated from the Netherlands to Holland, Michigan, U.S. around age three.  Hoekstra received his B.A. from Hope College and his MBA from The University of Michigan Ross School of Business in 1977.  Hoekstra caused controversy amongst the Muslim community when he called the Islamic Society of North America a group of “radical jihadists.”

[via CNET]