Somebody needs a handler

In case you were wondering whether televangelist Pat Robertson could top some of his older zingers (such as defining feminism as a "socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians"), the answer is one big YES.

Speaking of the humanitarian disaster in Haiti, he had this to say:

[S]omething happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. Napoleon the Third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, "We will serve you if you get us free from the prince." True story. And so the devil said, "OK, it's a deal." They kicked the French out, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free.

But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor...

You can watch it here.

(Actually, Pat, leaving aside the whole foam at the mouth/howl at the moon/whackadoodle devil part, I think the trouble was with the first Napoleon and they handled it themselves with a little help from yellow fever--but that's not the point right now. It might be time you considered getting a little help in the messaging department.)

MEANWHILE, BACK IN REALITYLAND. Many governments and good groups from around the world are trying to come to the aid of earthquake survivors in Haiti. As I mentioned yesterday, the American Friends Service Committee is one of these and you can click here if you want to support those efforts.

TALKING SENSE on politics is E. J. Dionne here. (Sorry about the weird word order thing.)

ANOTHER LATE ANNIVERSARY. Jan. 11 was the date of President Franklin Roosevelt's talk on the need for a "Second Bill of Rights" that dealt with economic issues.

A DEAL has been struck between labor supporters, the White House, and congressional leaders about the proposed tax on high end health care plans in the Senate's health care reform package.

TORTURING THE NUMBERS UNTIL THEY CONFESS. The WV Department of Health and Human Resources wildly exaggerated the costs of Medicaid expansion as part of health care reform.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED