America, repurposed as a Monty Python sketch

You know, things could get actually worse in the Gulf than they already are. I mean, it's not like the recovery ships are catching fire or anything...oh, wait!

NEW ORLEANS -- A bolt of lightning struck the ship capturing oil from the blown-out BP well in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, igniting a fire that halted containment efforts in another setback for the embattled company in its nearly two-month struggle to stop the spill, the company said.

No big deal -- it was probably just the same storm that smited (smote?) the head of Jesus Christ earlier this week. Apparently, the fire (NOT pictured above) is out already, which is a good thing, although I'd been thinking a burning oil tanker would have been the perfect backdrop for Obama's speech tonight.