Holy shit, I thought Pat Robertson had flipped when he called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez,

“If he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it … It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don’t think any oil shipments will stop.”

which Chavez humorously dismissed with offers of medical and fuel aid to the U.S. poor,

“The level of poverty in the United States also worries us. We offer not only to cover 6 million people with medical care over the next ten years, but to train over 200,000 doctors over the 10 years.”

and for which Robertson later offered a half-assed “apology”.

“I didn’t say ‘assassination.’ I said our special forces should ‘take him out.’ And ‘take him out’ can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time.”

Riiiight… [I also enjoyed William F. Buckley’s editorial on the matter, including a look at the U.S. government’s involvement with assassination of foreign leaders in the past.]

But apparently Robertson was only warming up, because now he has publicly claimed that Hurricane Katrina was God’s way of expressing its anger at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for its selection of Ellen Degeneres to host this year’s Emmy Awards.

“By choosing an avowed lesbian for this national event, these Hollywood elites have clearly invited God’s wrath. Is it any surprise that the Almighty chose to strike at Miss Degeneres’ hometown?”

Wow. If that weren’t enough, apparently the 9/11 attacks are Ellen’s fault too.

“This is the second time in a row that God has invoked a disaster shortly before lesbian Ellen Degeneres hosted the Emmy Awards. America is waiting for her to apologize for the death and destruction that her sexual deviance has brought onto this great nation.”

Well, if Robertson is right, things don’t look good for America. A recent study indicates that more women are experimenting with bisexuality than a decade ago, paving the way for even more lesbian celebrities.