<font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#00FF00">God, how embarrassing!!! I can't believe they actually sent a memo like this. While the former Texan did some back peddling. I don't think sending out a memo with someone's nick name is the norm or very professional.</font>


REGINA (CP) -- Saskatchewan's plan to petition the United States to reopen borders to Canadian beef stumbled out of the gate Wednesday when an internal government document flippantly referred to U.S. President George W. Bush as "Shrub."

"Re: Petition to President Shrub," is the title of the memo, dated Tuesday, and sent to NDP legislature members and candidates by party researcher Ted Bowen.

The memo was sent to media outlets by mistake.

"Shrub is Molly Ivins' dismissive nickname for President Bush," reads the P.S.

Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush is a 2000 book by Ivins, a Texas writer, and journalist Lou Dubose. It's a cheeky work that describes Bush as politically savvy but a shallow thinker and beholden to special interests.

When contacted about the memo, Bowen, an American with a thick southern accent, insisted that referring to Bush as a shrub is common where he comes from.

"In a way it's my heritage," Bowen said.

"Nobody calls anybody by their right name in Texas. Everybody has a nickname.

"It's the silly season. If that's news, it's news, but I should not have done it and I apologize."

Opposition Saskatchewan Party leader Elwin Hermanson labelled the memo "idiotic" and said Premier Lorne Calvert should apologize immediately.

Calvert launched the petition Tuesday before he headed for the Rolling Stones concert in Toronto as a way for Saskatchewan citizens to make a difference where politicians couldn't.

It was to be forwarded to Bush in the coming weeks.

Ranchers across Canada have been struggling since major exports markets were closed to Canadian beef after one case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was discovered in Alberta May 20.

The memo is the latest high level Canadian insult to Bush and Americans that cattle industry representatives say are not helping their cause.

A rose by any other name is still a rose.And shrub is the nicest thing to call George.

LMAO! What a lovely PM. You got to hand it to them Saskatchewanians. :D I didn't know they were that close with Bush. But if he's used to be called shrub why would he take offense? Of course this is probably one of the nicer things GWB has been called. [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

I heard a rumor that Bush asked Howard to change Australia's "Bushfires" to another name.

Sounds like an urban myth to me....