Politics takes a new twist

And you thought the Hustler Video Nailin Paylin was the furthest anyone could go.... well you were wrong. Some resident of LA decided to Hang Sarah Palin in efigy out side his home. Here is the story.

A Halloween decoration showing a mannequin dressed as vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin hanging by a noose from the roof of a Los Angeles house has sparked outrage among Republican supporters.

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The mannequin, which is dressed in brown wig, glasses and a red business suit, has been reported to police as a hate crime.

However, officers said the mannequin could not be considered a hate crime because it was part of a Halloween display.

Chad Michael Morisette, who lives in the house, defended the effigy, claiming it was art.


Mr Morisette admitted it would be out of bounds at any other time of year.

He said: "It should be seen as art, and as within the month of October. It's Halloween, it's time to be scary it's time to be spooky."

Sgt. Kristin Aloma of the sheriff's department said that since Sunday she had received five to 10 calls from residents offended by the display. Officials are monitoring the house to make sure the situation doesn't get out of hand, she said.

"I'm not defending this; I'm not criticising it. It doesn't rise to the level of hate crime," said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, who said he went out to the house himself to look at the display this morning. "Now, if there was a crime against bad taste . . . "

Mr Whitmore said that potential hate crimes are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. If the same display had been made of a Barack Obama-like doll, for example, authorities would have to evaluate it independently, he said.

The home's decorations also feature a doll of John McCain surrounded by "flames" in the chimney, and other more typical Halloween items, such as skeletons and spider webs.