That didn't take long

After the tragedy in Haiti, Pat Robertson *said (see below) that it was God's judgment for a supposed pact with the Devil back in the 18th century. I suppose God must not have learned about the deal until only recently. Perhaps he wasn't cc'd on the original correspondence.

National Review does a good job pointing out the fallacy of this kind of reasoning. NR probably didn't need to, but it's worth reading just the same. I would quibble with the writer's implication that Robertson is hard of heart and deaf to people's suffering - after all, Robertson's "Operation Blessing" is out there helping people as we blog, as Operation Blessing has for many years in response to suffering, but that being said, he deserved the thrashing he got.

Christian Broadcasting Network is in damage control, releasing a statement that he didn't really say what we all know he said.

Pat Robertson should really be irrelevant by now, but I guess he can't keep himself from reaching for the spotlight. You would think after being burned so many times, he'd stop.

Here's another thoughtful critique from a blogger.

(*Note: some Robertson defenders have rushed to point out that Robertson never actually used the term "God's judgment." Congratulations. They are all winners in the Bill Clinton "What the Meaning of Is Is" Award for Achievements in Grammatical Technicalities.