Will the Left distance itself from its crazy God-talker?

When Pat Robertson purports to speak for God, as he did recently in opining that Ariel Sharon's stroke was God's punishment for giving away Gaza, or as he did on 9/11, when he said it was America's punishment for just about everything, the conservative movement quickly disavowed any connections with Robertson. Despite that, the left (really, the MSM) had a lot of fun giving airtime to Robertson's ravings, as if he spoke for the majority of conservatives. I was thinking of that when I heard about the estimable Mayor Ray Nagin's speech today:

Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that 'God is mad at America' and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting. 'Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country,' Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day. 'Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves.' [Emphasis mine.]

Certainly, the MSM is off to a good and unbiased start by reporting this story. The question remains whether the pundits and the major liberal outlets (such as the NY Times) will run with this story, or just hope it dies a natural death.