Please answer my stupid question about DU style

[HamdenRice]

Maybe I missed the explanation somewhere -- but why do so many posters not use Bush's name? Why do they refer to him as *** or B***? Is this some kind of reverse google bomb? A way of avoiding the post being indexed by search engines?

[WilliamPitt]

1. Think baseball

Maris had an asterisk after his name for years in the record books, denoting that his achievement was not fully earned and not to the merits.

Bush*

[pagerbear]

2. I always thought it was because

...it was less likely to turn up in searches that way.

[Ironpost]

3. In my case I can't stand to type his name

listen to him speak or look at his ugly smirk.

[Paradise]

12. ditto! nt

[Vickers]

4. It's a show of respect

Oops! I meant disrespect.

:P

What WilliamPitt said.

[nostamj]

5. and there's always the resemblence

between the * and a certain puckered part of the anatomy...

[Eric J in MN]

7. an asterisk looks like a star to me. not sure what it looks like to you

nt

[lectrobyte]

10. I think Vonnegut used that "* = a-hole" in Breakfast of Champions

Ignoring the meanings, it's quicker to type * than bush. As if typing "bush" into a search engine isn't going to give you 865,202 hits on pr0n anyway.

[Eric J in MN]

6. It's based on the Doonesbury comic strip.

Because Bush stole the election, his Presidency is illegitamate.

Bush is in the office of the President, but an asterisk is used as if to say "Look below for more information on the supposed election victory."

[stellanoir]

8. If memory serves an asterisk is historically put next to the name

of any President who won the electoral vote but lost the popular vote. Gary Trudeau of Doonesbury fame (yay) is often credited with resurrecting the asterisk in reference to *.

So the baseball analogy is totally apt.

Besides, it does feel better to not type *'s name. . .lest we forget for a nanosecond how he gained his office through totally unprecedented chicanery.

[Null Pointer]

11. That's what I thought it was

Because of Doonesbury.

Also, an astrisk, to me, symbolizes a blip - something insignificant. In the context of history, that's what GWB will be.

[Bandit]

9. Justice Bryer in his dissenting opinion of the Bush* vs Gore decision

said because of how it came down Bush* would always have an asterisk after his name. I took him at his word.

[Lindsey]

13. I've referred to him as * since he was selected

I even call him "asterik" when discussing him. I do it because there should be an * next to his name and then an explanation regarding how he ended up on Pennsylvania Ave.