…but you can cut one out of the newspaper. From the AP :
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.
The strips refer to Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff, as “Turd Blossom.”
Lee Salem, editor at Kansas City-based Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes the strip to 1,400 papers, said the complaints from 10 to 12 newspapers weren’t unexpected. As opposed to other times when editors have objected to Doonesbury content, the syndicate did not send out replacement strips.
“Given the coverage of Karl Rove, we thought it was appropriate, especially given the history of the strip,” Salem said.
In the strip, Bush and an aide are lamenting the problems the administration has had over allegations that Rove leaked the name of a CIA officer to reporters.
Bush says, “Karl’s sure been earnin’ his nickname lately.”
The unnamed aide says, “Boy Genius? I’m not so sure sir …”
Bush then says, “Hey Turd Blossom! Get in here.”
The term is said to be one of several nicknames Bush uses for Rove, one of his closest allies and who is widely credited for Bush’s election in 2000 and re-election in 2004. The mainstream U.S. media have rarely mentioned the nickname, but it has gained traction in the international press and on the Internet.
Among those with concerns was the Providence (Rhode Island) Journal, whose editors removed the offensive word from the strip’s final panel.
“I didn’t think (taking out the word) hurt it,” Executive Editor Joel Rawson said. “I would prefer to run the strip and if we can edit it, that’s fine.”