(2007-01-02) — President George Bush today weighed in on the controversy over the treatment of Saddam Hussein in the final moments before the former Iraqi president’s hanging last Saturday.

A cellphone video of the scene on YouTube.com, and elsewhere online, records several male voices in the death chamber shouting insults at the soon-to-be-late former dictator.

Mr. Bush, who has previously hailed the execution of the tyrant as another step in Iraq’s march toward freedom, said today that perhaps those who insulted Mr. Hussein should have been “penalized for taunting.”

“I think the ref should have thrown the flag,” said Mr. Bush. “There’s a certain professionalism and protocol you expect when a man who slaughtered your friends and relatives is about to die before your very eyes. I believe they probably hurt Saddam’s feelings and the ref should have given them 15 yards of rope, backed them up and made them take the down over.” — Scott Ott / ScrappleFace