The Sunshine Empire

The news coming out of the disaster zone in Haiti continues to be grim, and the earthquake seems to have caused untold devastation and death. Yet as much as it is fashionable to mock and criticize the United States for its foreign policy, our altruistic tradition of assistance in times of tragedy is on display as we come to Haiti’s aid. In addition to immediate aid from Americans, one can always count on televangelist Pat Robertson to chime in and say something heinous and un-Christian when massive tragedy strikes.

This time he chimes in, insisting that Haiti deserved it. Much like when he said the United States basically deserved 9/11 due to gay people, nobody really takes the old senile man seriously. But I’ve come to wonder if this is more a calculated cynical act on the man’s part. He can’t really believe that due to a deal with the devil in the 1800′s, the Lord Almighty decided at this late date to smote them down. Every time he does make such a proclamation though, he gets immediate press. Now as much as the reality based community mocks his outrageous sentiment, the 30% flat-earth Bush crowd takes attacks against him as personally against they themselves. The hornets nest that he riles up has the opposite effect of galvanizing his supporters to new fund raising heights. Take the instance of Rep. Joe “You Lie” Wilson. When he made his childish outburst during President Obama’s health care reform address, his opponent in the coming 2010 midterms raised over $1 million on the web. Wilson also raised over a million, proof that his childish act worked to his advantage. Pat Robertson is often disregarded as a flaky old man, but there is much more cynical planning at work here, despite the repugnant nature of his sentiments.