Gustav

Here's "hoping" that Hurricane Gustav doesn't affect populated areas or cause great devastation, loss of life and property. But we all ought to realize that what we "hope for" doesn't appear to affect storms and weather patterns.

It seems like a big deal, even though it shouldn't, whenever someone suggests that a hurricane has some discernible cause relating to current events. Such as "God is angry with New Orleans for having a gay rights parade," or "God is angry with the Democrats," or "God is angry with the Republicans." All of that ought to be seen as hogwash. When Focus on the Family prayed that God would send a torrential downpour and rain out Obama's speech, and it didn't happen, that's something to mock. Even if there had been a torrential downpour, it would have been a real stretch to give Dobson credit for it. It'd still be something to ridicule, to think God is simply man's puppet to be worked for partisan dirty tricks!

When people say such things, of course they can be serious. When you hear John Hagee say such things, you know he's serious, because that's the kind of outlook he has. But when you hear someone like Michael Moore say it, you know he's joking, because his true outlook is nothing like that. So it's a matter of fake outrage when the right-wingers try to spin comments someone like Moore makes as something that makes any difference to the situation. It's just trying to score points with potential victims, which is disgusting.

None of this is to suggest that humans have nothing to do with the severity of hurricanes. I don't know much about climate change as it relates to humanity. But it would be hard to believe we could just endlessly pollute the environment and not expect some bad effects. The thing is, though, it doesn't have to do with humanity's actions this week or next week or whether a parade is held.

I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that nothing bad happens. For all the good that hoping, hoping, hoping is likely to do!