The Spirit of Strom Thurman

Of course I knew that Dick Cheney was trotting around the globe on what passes for a good will tour, but I hadn't heard that the plane he's traveling in is named "The Spirit of Strom Thurman" until I heard Bill Maher, and then Jon Stewart, comment on it. I'm surprised this didn't cause more of a ruckus. His comments at Thurman's BD party almost ruined Trent Lott's political career. How inappropriate is it for the VP to travel the world on official business in a plane named for the famed segregationist (who happened to be a miscegenist as well).