Trudeau Defends 'Turd Blossom' Reference, Says Editing Strips is 'Not Acce

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000992006

Trudeau Defends 'Turd Blossom' Reference, Says Editing Strips is 'Not Acceptable'
Garry Trudeau

NEW YORK Why did Garry Trudeau use Karl Rove's "Turd Blossom" nickname in Tuesday and Wednesday's "Doonesbury" strips?

"Given that I'm writing for a general audience, I try not to use crude or vulgar language gratuitously," replied Trudeau, after E&P e-mailed him several questions this afternoon. "But in this case, I felt that Bush's nickname for Rove was illuminating. 'Turd blossom' has so many connotations, none of them flattering. It's a small masterpiece of nastiness."

About 10 to 12 newspapers pulled or edited the "Turd Blossom" strips, according to an Associated Press story. Trudeau is OK with the pulling part, but not the editing part.

"Editors obviously have a responsibility to determine what's appropriate for inclusion in their papers," said the Universal Press Syndicate cartoonist. "The syndicate and I accept that from time to time individual editors may object to particular strips and decide to drop them. What's not acceptable to us, however, is for editors to alter the content of a strip and represent it as what I sent them. In most cases, changing the dialogue compromises its meaning or rhythm or humor. Sometimes, the strip no longer even makes sense. Who benefits from that? We'd prefer that an offending strip be dropped altogether."


<</SNIP>>

[meganmonkey]

1. "a small masterpiece of nastiness"

:rofl:

[GCP]

2. That kind of sums up Chimpy himself - no?

"A small masterpiece of nastiness" :evilgrin:

[DS1]

10. I'd go with "King Nasty"

:shrug:

[moof]

11. Very good Godlesscommieprevert at last a fitting title " smn bush "

Kudos to you & Gary

[central scrutinizer]

34. think of the children!!!!

How can I explain to my daughter that our divine emperor-king has a potty mouth?

[TroglodyteScholar]

3. Somehow...

...I THOUGHT maybe this didn't make sense...



BTW, did anyone notice he went on and used the nickname in today's strip, too?


Edit: For clarity, I did that edit on the strip. I was never able to find an actual copy of one that had been changed. Was the offending term just blocked out, or what?

[Kolesar]

8. Today's Doonesbury would have been submitted a week ago

Or perhaps more. One problem with cartoons is that the writer has to submit them a week or more in advance. Real, timely issues cannot be addressed.

[Demit]

4. I wonder that his contract doesn't cover this sort of thing explicitly.

I've never heard of a newspaper unilaterally changing the content of a cartoonist's strip. Even for lowly freelance cartoonists, they'll either accept it, ASK you to change it, or reject it. But the way Trudeau's reaction is worded surprises me. I would've thought it was a violation of the contract, but that's not clear from this account, or his reaction.

[Toots]

5. I do believe there are laws against such things

:shrug: I think he should sue their ass off.

[SemperEadem]

29. sounds like copyright infringement to me

I agree--he should sue.

[Divernan]

6. Message to eds: Bush has a 7 yr.old's potty mouth - deal with it!

Not only is that nick name a small masterpiece of nastiness - it shows the immaturity of Bush and the underlying contempt that he has for everyone -even his most trusted advisor. Bush sees himself as the center of the universe and the only function any one else has is to enhance the quality of Bush's life.

[tridim]

7. CNN said last night that Trudeau didn't mind that it was edited

I guess they were just lying.

[sabra]

9. What, can't be?

</sarcasm>

[Cha]

24. cnn(chicken noodle network) LIE?

Surely you jest?!

[zbdent]

12. Akron Beacon Journal, to its credit

kept the reference in.

Mind you, it also carries "Prickly City" - which has a nasty term for male genitalia in the title . . .

[Jackpine Radical]

13. Good on Garry for keeping it stirred up.

That will ensure that at least 10 times more perverted little RW wackos get exposed to the strip than would have otherwise been the case.

[Cha]

25. Zactly!

Love censorship..it always keeps the pot stirred.

[rocktivity]

14. Here's the strip that started all the trouble

Does anyone have the edited version? I'd like to see it, since removing the word completely defeats the joke.

And here's today's strip, where it's used more gratutitously:


:headbang:
rocknation

[damntexdem]

15. The papers didn't find Dubya's own words suitable for print.

Too bad they didn't make that determination about something that counted: like the lies that stampeded America into an illegal invasion.

[Cha]

26. Yeah, it's not like ..we gave

rove that nickname..it was the president(sic)of the United States of America.

Course, they probably wouldn't want to print what I call rove, either..so it's unanimous..rove inspires nasty nics.

[jefferson_dem]

16. Rove cartoon blossomed out

:rofl:

Rove cartoon blossomed out
By David Twiddy
Kansas City, Missouri
July 28, 2005

It may be US President George 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 yesterday's Doonesbury comic strips, and some either pulled or edited them.

The strips refer to Mr 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 1400 papers, said the complaints from 10 to 12 newspapers were not unexpected.

<SNIP>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/rove-cartoon-blossomed-out/2005/07/27/1122143906274.html?oneclick=true

LOGIN: hgdhgdfghdfg
PW: 1998

[fob]

17. I'll ask again here, anyone know how the strip was edited?

I haven't seen the actual edit addressed anywhere.

[Maple]

18. I believe it was changed to

'hey Karley, get in here'

[fob]

23. Thanks. And WTF? Hey Karley? That makes no sense then!

[Cha]

27. No, the poster who did that said

he didn't know how they really did it..that was his version.

[TroglodyteScholar]

30. no no no

i did that. see my post above. it was a joke.

sheesh

[fob]

36. I did a search and this is the only reference I found...

www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/gossip/12226851.htm

Among those with concerns was the Providence (R.I.) Journal, whose editors removed the offensive word from the strip's final panel.

Hey, CGAV, can you reproduce the above description for review?


bush*s pet name for a grown man = turd blossom = offensive word

[InternalDialogue]

20. On a thread from yesterday,

I recall reading that Trudeau refused to edit this one for anyone's consumption. The papers that chose not to run it didn't get a different version.

Look back down the list for yesterday's thread if you need more than that.

[fob]

22. Read the story again, Gary didn't provide an alternated (edited) version,

some papers took it upon THEMSELVES to edit it. That's what I wanna see.

[InternalDialogue]

28. Your phrase "the actual edit"

is why I posted that Trudeau didn't supply one.

I hadn't seen what individual newspapers had chosen to do either.

[fob]

35. Aha. I see the confusion, by "actual edit" I meant what the papers

did, not that there was an "approved edit" which I can see could easily be taken as what I was asking for.

Sorry 'bout that.

:toast:

[sam sarrha]

19. that is a registered site.. dont you have a copy of the cartoon..

[jefferson_dem]

21. LOGIN DETAILS -

LOGIN: hgdhgdfghdfg
PW: 1998

[cyberpj]

37. here

http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20050726

[raysr]

31. Great to have

such an intellectual president with quaint texas names for his staff. I like "Shit Bag" better.

[PurityOfEssence]

32. "acceptable" is what's in your contract.

He should be talking to his attorney if he's unclear on the subject.

Ethically, I stand shoulder to shoulder with artists on this question, but from a business sense, they have to understand contracts and abide by them. Frankly, I'd be surprised if he doesn't have some clause to keep people from tampering with his stuff, he's hardly a newcomer to this gig.

[Fiendish Thingy]

33. While I don't approve of censorship, this is great!

How many more people now know: 1) who Karl Rove is, 2) that he outed a CIA agent, and most importantly, 3) that he has been nicknamed "Turd Blossom" by the President?

Did CNN use the phrase "Turd Blossom" in their report?

[cyberpj]

38. DOONESBURY Cartoon Strips and other fun stuff at Slate:

http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20050726

[nine30]

39. Not Turd Blossom , just TURD