Turd Blossom

[PsychicWarVeteran]

It would seem one of Bush's nicknames for Karl Rove is "Turd Blossom" (as in, he can make any turd look pretty). It's a well-coined and telling nickname, I have to say, so why is the US media so unwilling to report about it? (That was a rhetorical question.)

For those who think we have a "liberal media" and that censorship isn't a problem in the US:

It may be President Bush's nickname for key political adviser Karl Rove, but some editors don't think it belongs in their newspapers.

About a dozen papers objected to Tuesday's and Wednesday's "Doonesbury" comic strips, and some either pulled or edited them...

...since newspapers don't have to notify the syndicate when they choose to remove a strip, it's impossible to know how many papers ran Tuesday's comic.

Here are the cartoons in question:




So I ask you: Doesn't the public have a right to know that Bush refers to his chief advisor by a nickname that emphasizes how that advisor can make anything, no matter how dreadful, look like a good thing? Is it the word "turd" that's the problem or is it the notion behind the nickname that is the real issue here?

[Doc]

Funny how the mainstream press often runs from something ugly. So much for reporting things "as they are."

Relatedly (and I think I may have mentioned this elsewhere)--

A top executive at an unnamed media conglomerate admitted that they stopped reporting on the war in Iraq (after the jingoism in the "shock and awe" campaign) because it was bad for ratings and circulation. People were so turned off by the way things were going that they stopped watching and reading. So the press stopped reporting. Let them eat cake, too.

[Mikey_C]

Turd Blossom would be a classic name for a grindcore band! :lol:

[tekende]

Um...chill out. It's a friggin' nickname. Who cares? There are far more important things to focus on.

[Pietro_Mercurios]

Um...chill out. It's a friggin' nickname. Who cares? There are far more important things to focus on.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet."
Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

:lol:

[Whiskers]

Um...chill out. It's a friggin' nickname. Who cares? There are far more important things to focus on.

People are free to discuss almost anything they want to here. You can go focus on the important stuff and leave these people to talk about whatever they want. Thank you.

[invalid nickname]

Re: Turd Blossom

So I ask you: Doesn't the public have a right to know that Bush refers to his chief advisor by a nickname that emphasizes how that advisor can make anything, no matter how dreadful, look like a good thing?

I, never having heard W's explanation of the nickname, had assumed that it was an anatomical reference...perhaps that is the reason for mainstream media staying well away from it.

[PsychicWarVeteran]

It's a friggin' nickname. Who cares? There are far more important things to focus on.

Well, to me, it is indicative of deeper, more serious issues. Indeed, it is indicative of the very "important things" of which you speak. It's an acknowledgement that Rove can make anything bad look good. It's a disgusting metaphor for a corrupt practice.

Ironically, in some way it was important enough to you for this to be your first post to this forum. :?

I... had assumed that it was an anatomical reference...

:lol:

[tekende]

I note also that there's no evidence here that a) that definitely is Bush's nickname for Rove and b) that it actually does mean what PsychicWarVeteran says it does.

But even so, I still don't really see the big deal. So the guy's good at making bad stuff look good. Isn't that what politicians DO?

*shrug*

[Pietro_Mercurios]

...

But even so, I still don't really see the big deal. So the guy's good at making bad stuff look good. Isn't that what politicians DO?

*shrug*

Ask Senator John McCain(R).

[A_Non_Ymous]

I note also that there's no evidence here that a) that definitely is Bush's nickname for Rove and b) that it actually does mean what PsychicWarVeteran says it does.

This has been fairly widely documented in the press for several years, so the requirement of "proof" you want to impose here seems disingenuous. Perhaps you don't intend it that way. One hesitates to ask what you would accept as proof.

I first read of this nickname employed by Bush back in 2001. I thought it was common knowledge. It gave me a laugh when I first learned of it several years ago, but it's hardly sparkling wit. Given the qualities of the person who supposedly coined it, that's not what one expects, of course. :lol:

LSN

[tekende]

I note also that there's no evidence here that a) that definitely is Bush's nickname for Rove and b) that it actually does mean what PsychicWarVeteran says it does.

This has been fairly widely documented in the press for several years, so the requirement of "proof" you want to impose here seems disingenuous. Perhaps you don't intend it that way. One hesitates to ask what you would accept as proof.

I first read of this nickname employed by Bush back in 2001. I thought it was common knowledge. It gave me a laugh when I first learned of it several years ago, but it's hardly sparkling wit. Given the qualities of the person who supposedly coined it, that's not what one expects, of course. :lol:

LSN

This is the first I've heard of it, strangely enough.

[PsychicWarVeteran]

I still don't really see the big deal. So the guy's good at making bad stuff look good. Isn't that what politicians DO?

*shrug*

Sure, but not many will blatantly call direct attention to it (either publicly or privately), especially with childish nicknames. Such an act is basically an admission that Bush knows he's in the corruption game and that this fact does not bother him. He finds it so completely acceptable that he feels he can joke about it.

I thought you felt this was a non-issue, tekende. I'm wondering why you haven't entered any of the "more important" debates available in this forum.

I note also that there's no evidence here that a) that definitely is Bush's nickname for Rove and b) that it actually does mean what PsychicWarVeteran says it does.

Well, what do you think this charming nickname means? Give me a positive explanation I can logically appreciate.

[Doc]

Just to throw in my relatively unimportant two cents-

The name isn't just a harmless nickname. Forgetting its implications, which have proven to be pretty valid, the name strikes me as an indicator of the locker room mentality that seems to prevail in this administration.

I remember when Bush called Vladimir Putin "Pootey-Poo." I expected him to flip him with a towel right after he did it.

[PsychicWarVeteran]

...the name strikes me as an indicator of the locker room mentality that seems to prevail in this administration.

[image moved] Well put, Doc.