Well, you could knock me over with a feather...

An expert being critical of the Bush Administration and being retaliated against? Who ever heard of such a thing?

A dispute involving a researcher at the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service is fueling a debate over whether analysts throughout the government are being muzzled to prevent criticism of Bush administration policies.

Louis Fisher, a 36-year veteran of the agency and an expert on the separation of powers, said his superiors wrongly punished him for giving interviews and publishing scholarly articles under his own name that contained criticism of the White House. Top officials deny those allegations, saying they were simply trying to protect the agency's reputation for nonpartisanship and objectivity...

...The current dispute began in early January, after Mr. Fisher was interviewed by Government Executive, a publication about the federal government. He was quoted as saying that Congress had been overly deferential to the Bush administration's efforts to punish whistleblowers or otherwise suppress information. According to Mr. Fisher, his supervisor, Robert Dilger, walked into his office three days later and gave him a critical memo that said the interview meant that readers would assume that Mr. Fisher's "work cannot be presumed to be balanced."

Golly, I just can't imagine Dear Leader's minions being so nasty, it seems so unlike them to dislike criticism.