Just in time for Black History Month, President Bush made a statement about the spate of hanging nooses in the autumn of ‘07.

“The era of rampant lynching is a shameful chapter in American history,” Bush said at a black history month event at the White House.  ”The noose is not a symbol of prairie justice, but of gross injustice.  Displaying one is not a harmless prank. Lynching is not a word to be mentioned in jest.”

Bush then went on to talk about the historical significance of the noose in American history as not just a symbol of terror but a very real tool by some white American against African Americans. 

Hmmm….

Well if he knows all this then perhaps he (and congress) shouldn’t have a problem with categorizing the noose as a symbol of hate speech, similar to cross burning and swastikas.