Pat Robertson can always be relied on for incisive commentary on current events, and now he has declared that Ariel Sharon's stroke is divine punishment for having ceded Gaza to the Palestinian Authority:

"God considers this land to be his," Robertson said on his TV program "The 700 Club." "You read the Bible and he says `This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, `No, this is mine.'"

"No! Mine!" Sometimes God takes the form of a six year-old boy fighting with little Timmy from next door over a blue Power Ranger action figure; this is so that we can better understand Him.

You have to admit this is the most likely scenario. If an overweight 78 year-old with arguably the world's most stressful job has a stroke, surely it is God's punishment for screwing Him in a real estate deal. What other explanation could there be?

There are always those among the heathens who would challenge the Word of Robertson, but Robertson's vast Christocapitalist organization has a ready response for them:

Robertson spokeswoman Angell Watts said of critics who challenged his remarks, "What they're basically saying is, `How dare Pat Robertson quote the Bible?'"

"This is what the word of God says," Watts said. "This is nothing new to the Christian community."

No, sadly it isn't.