Bush did some more whining about Democrats speaking out about Iraq today, when he warned Democratic critics of his Iraq policy “to watch what they say or risk giving “comfort to our adversaries” and suffering at the ballot box in November.”

Democrats said Bush should take his own advice.

There are still 10 months left before congressional elections in which the president’s Republican Party could lose its dominance of Capitol Hill; a recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll found Americans prefer Democratic control over a continued GOP majority by 49 percent to 36 percent.

Democrats really weren’t buying the Bush whine today when they said Bush “has no business trying to define what sort of talk is acceptable.”

“Patriotic Americans will continue to ask the tough questions because our brave men and women in Iraq, their families and the American people deserve to know that their leaders are being held accountable,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said loyalty demands that Democrats differ with Bush on the lack of sufficient body armor for troops and other issues. “From its inception and continuing to this moment, the absence of open and honest debate has been one of the hallmarks of this war,” the California Democrat said.

And Democratic National Committee communications director Karen Finney said: “The Bush administration’s attack, distract and distort tactics reflect a Nixonian paranoia that is un-American. It’s shameful that once again the Bush administration resorted to attacking the patriotism of fellow Americans rather than answering legitimate questions surrounding the president’s failures in Iraq.”

Filed under: Congress, Democrats, House Of Reps, In The News, Iraq, Politics, Republicans, Senate | Get Permalink or trackback |