Pat Robertson Has a Blinding Flash of the Obvious

Evangelist Pat Robertson has made the news again, this time with a "word from the Lord" that sounds an awful lot like a blinding flash of the obvious:

The Rev. Pat Robertson says God has told him that storms and possibly a tsunami will hit America's coastline this year.

The founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network has told viewers of "The 700 Club" that the revelations came to him during his annual personal prayer retreat in January.

"If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms," Robertson said May 8.

He added specifics in Wednesday's show.

"There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest," he said.

Since hurricanes are practically a sure thing in any given year, I'm sure that the "coasts will be lashed by storms" is a pretty safe bet. He might have gone out on a limb a bit with the tsunami prediction, but a bland prediction wouldn't have gotten him any news coverage.