Hurricane Herman's gusts still full force

He's Hurri-Cain Herman!

Some people come and go lightly. Others have a way of leaving upheaval in their path. And then there is Herman Cain.

Roaring to the front of the Republican field. Blowing away far more experienced candidates. Throwing off little tornadoes of outrage, explanation and doubt: The media's out to get him, he says. No, Rick Perry is. There was no settlement for sex harassment, just an agreement, that's all. By whatever name, this category-5 Herman would never harass anyone!

Swirling winds are nothing new from the Hurri-Cain.

Back in July, he and I had some fun together on the Fox Business Network's "Stossel" show. Not fun like drinks and dinner with the Restaurant Association gang. But head-shaking Herman fun nonetheless.

With a huge gust of passion, he explained that night how abortion is a private matter between a woman and her family -- AND how it should be outlawed by the government in every single case.

Either position, of course, has its own logistical consistency. But only Herman Cain could fit the both of them inside a single berth.

So who could surprised when here he was again, blowing every which way in this harassment debate, knocking over anything that showed up in his path. Not bound by tradition or decorum. With his own vision, his own path and his own plan. Throwing the whole political world into unpredicted upheaval, the Hurri-Cain strikes again.

CATEGORY HERMAN

1. Shaking up the clueless media.

2. Sweeping the other candidates away.

3. Confusing the pros and the pundits.

4. Evacuating political tradition.

5. Drowning the voters in logic and love.

ASKED AND UNANSWERED: Generous Santa gesture or cheap political stunt? Just one last thing for Steve Bellone and Angie Carpenter to argue about . . . Not X or Y -- how 'bout Generation Basement? Who has a better term for all those 20- and 30-somethings the Census Bureau found in Mom and Dad's basement? . . . Nassau spent the week with an actual, approved budget? And how did things feel different to you? . . . Whooping cough in Centereach? For croup's sake, are all the old diseases back again? . . . Is "Long Island Medium" Teresa Caputo surprised her TLC "reality" show's been renewed for a second season? Even if she's shocked, could she possibly admit it? . . . Really? After all the uproar over gold-plate school-superintendent salaries, Syosset's Carole Hankin is raking in $506,000 in total comp? So says the Empire Center for New York State Policy . . . "Smoking saves lives"? Will some tobacco company try to hire that 22-year-old Hempstead robbery victim whose cigarette lighter deflected an oncoming bullet?

THE NEWS IN SONG: Don't get blown away: The Scorpions, "Rock You Like a Hurricane,"

http://tinyurl.com/hurrock.

Email ellis@henican.com

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LONG ISLANDER OF THE WEEK

THE CLEANER-UPPERS

We weren't hit as hard as Connecticut was. Or poor upstate New York. But last weekend's Long Island Snow-and-Slush Fest was freakishly early and bad, bad enough. And across the week that followed, we learned again: There are a thousand moving parts to cleaning up, shoveling out and getting back to life. And one major lapse is enough to leave 3 million miserable. From utility workers to neighborhood kids with shovels and brooms, is it too much to hope for? That we might really have learned some things from the past few tough ones? Yes, we might actually be getting better at this.