IMPENDING GAS PRICE SPIKE. Gustav forecast to enter the Gulf this weekend. Even if Gustav's eventual track dodges New Orleans or Houston, and makes landfall along a low-population stretch of shore, the impact on oil and gasoline supplies will not be so fortunate.

Offshore rigs are being evacuated and refineries along the Gulf will be shut down. As with Katrina, gasoline prices will spike across the country. Whether the Republican convention were this week or next, the spike will linger. And remember: this is not a worst case scenario, it is a virtual certainty, if Gustav realizes forecast models. Should the storm actually hit a major metropolitan area (God forbid), well then, I'll leave that to your imagination, but I think we all know the drill.