It occurred to me this morning to wonder why no one on the fringes of the Religious Right seems to have capitalized on the destruction in New Orleans as the result of Hurricane Katrina. This would seem like a golden opportunity to publicly attribute the devastation to the wrath of God. After all: alcohol, revelry at all hours of the night, boobies….

Hell, even the mainstream-far-right Reverend Jerry Falwell managed to go on the 700 Club on September 14, 2001 and say, “I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped this happen.'”

With that (not to mention Pat Robertson’s recent comments about assassinating Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez) as the standard, how much of a pair would it require for someone to imply that The Big Easy (even the nickname is sinful!) had it coming?

Sometimes these folks show more common sense than I normally give them credit for.

New Orleans,
Home of pirates, drunks and whores
New Orleans,
Tacky overpriced souvenir stores
If you want to go to Hell, you should take a trip
to the Sodom and Gemorrah on the Mississipp—

–Song from “Oh, Streetcar!”, a musical adaptation of A Streetcard Named Desire
From The Simpsons Episode 8F18, “A Streetcar Named Marge”

UPDATE: Our roommate Shawn suggests that I may be jumping the gun, that the wingnuts are waiting until the event is passed before making their comments. He could very well be right.