Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart had a bone to pick with Jack Kimble, a Republican congressman representing California’s 54th district. In a piece for the “PostPartisan” blog, Capehart quoted this tweet posted by Kimble (@RepJackKimble) on Sept. 2: [Tip to HuffPo]

Capehart then points out:

This stunning bit of fiscal ignorance earned him a tart barnyard expletive from @MWJ1231. But that exchange only highlighted the need to remind folks that the soaring deficits that have freaked them out — and rightly so — didn’t get started with the inauguration of President Obama.

The problem is, California has 53 congressional districts. Secondly, Jack Kimble doesn’t exist. Of course that didn’t stop the person(s) behind the faux pol’s account from ridiculing Capehart:

At some point Capehart realized he had been duped and posted a correction early this morning:

[CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION, 1:22 a.m.: The Twitterer RepJackKimble cited below is not a real member of Congress. The budget deficits are real deficits.]

Capehart also admitted his mistake, saying in a real tweet, “Yes, I got bamboozled by @repjackkimble but the point remains.”

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