The Twittersphere exploded with condemnation and defense of freshman Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) for leading the letter of 47 GOP senators to Iran’s leadership — explaining how Congress works and how that jeopardizes their imminent pact with President Obama. A fair share of the criticism painted Cotton, a combat veteran with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, as a backwoods yokel who must not even know Middle East geography:

@SBengali @LOLGOP If Cotton is representative of majority in his state, he’s unable to identify Iran on a map or know language they speak. — Joanna (@JoannaCocoGrove) March 10, 2015

Joining that chorus was New York Times columnist Roger Cohen:

Outrageous behavior from Republican senators who can’t find Iran on a map: White House Faults G.O.P. Letter to Iran http://t.co/YZxOcAK6xe — Roger Cohen (@NYTimesCohen) March 9, 2015

However, the NYT had its own map problems:

My new favorite correction – NYT map said the Islamic State was busy smashing antiquities in Iran… #winning pic.twitter.com/ot3mZcLxMf — Matt Trevithick (@MattTrevithick) March 9, 2015

That correction came from this story.