Oversensitivity is the order of the day, lately. You can’t mention nooses now without arousing the anger of some crazy militant black person. In a recent discussion on the Golf Channel, a broadcaster made a joke (an admittedly tasteless one, but a joke nonetheless) about the only way to beat Tiger Woods involving a rope and a tree branch. Of course, this required immediate dsiciplinary action because black people (and in this case, out of convenience for offense, Tiger is black, not some bizarre mix) are to be protected and coddled like little children.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Golf Magazine ran a cover, and on the cover was a picture of a noose because, well hell, that’s what got the Golf Channel person fired.

What happened?

The editor of Golfweek magazine said he was overwhelmed by negative reaction to the photo of a noose on the cover of this week’s issue, illustrating a story about the suspension of a Golf Channel anchor for using the word “lynch” in an on-air discussion about how to beat Tiger Woods.

“We knew that image would grab attention, but I didn’t anticipate the enormity of it,” Dave Seanor, vice president and editor of the weekly magazine, said from the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla.

“There’s been a huge, negative reaction,” he said. “I’ve gotten so many e-mails. It’s a little overwhelming.”

Among the critics was PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who said he found the imagery to be “outrageous and irresponsible.”

“It smacks of tabloid journalism,” Finchem said in a statement. “It was a naked attempt to inflame and keep alive an incident that was heading to an appropriate conclusion.”

An attempt to inflame? Where was all the worry about inflaming when the hairtriggers immediately suspended Kelly Tilghman in a complete overreaction to an off-the-cuff remark?

It’s amazing how all of a sudden even the mere mention of a noose can be considered appropriate. This is classic thought police material, folks.