Bush's newest poodle

President Bush is offended, deeply offended, that Senator Kerry has dared to voice the slightest criticism, even to point out logical inconsistencies in the rhetoric of our Iraqi puppet de jour, Ayad Allawi.

On the campaign trail, at the UN, in the rose garden standing cheek by jowl with Allawi reading and stumbling over the talking points he was given, Bush doesn't like it one bit. Actually, they both had talking points; they were interchangeable.

From the NYT:

RACINE, Wis., Sept. 24 - President Bush hit back hard at Senator John Kerry on Friday for what he
called Mr. Kerry's attacks on Prime Minister Ayad Allawi of Iraq, who stood by
the president's side this week as steadfastly as a member of the Bush
campaign.

"This great man came to our country to talk about how he's risking
his life for a free Iraq, which helps America, and Senator Kerry held a press
conference and questioned Prime Minister Allawi's credibility,'' Mr. Bush said
at a speech in the southern Wisconsin town of Janesville. "You can't lead this
country if your ally in Iraq feels like you question his credibility. The
message ought to be to the Iraqi people: 'We support you.' The message ought to
be loud and clear: 'We'll stand with you if you do the hard work.' ''

How dare Kerry utter any criticism of our sterling ally who is, after all, the interim appointed and anointed prime minister, having done yeoman apprenticeship for the CIA. This is indeed the stuff of which infallibility is made. Of course, I suspect, Bush is not a little chagrined himself at Kerry having the temerity to question anything in the midst of war. And Kerry has been pretty obliging for a long time.

As has been pointed out elsewhere,but needs repeating often, this is the same tactic used by Bush post 9/11 . . . the same one that got us eyeball deep into the whole Iraq mess in the first place. Its taken several years for folks to find their legitimate questioning voices in the wake of that tragedy. The liberty that informs those voices is not one that bows to "shut up and get with the program". Its a disgrace that too many Americans were and continue to buy that version of democracy.