THE COMPANY REPUBLICAN OFFICEHOLDERS KEEP

Steve Benen (and others) are pointing out that Pat Robertson seems to be blaming Haiti's suffering, up to and including yesterday's massive earthquake, on a deal with the devil on the Haitians' part:

"[S]omething happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heal of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the French.' True story. And so, the devil said, 'Okay it's a deal.'

"And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other...."

Since Steve adds, correctly, that "Robertson remains a leading figure in the conservative movement and a prominent Republican voice, despite being insane," noting in particular Robertson's odd-couple alliance with Rudy Giuliani, I just want to point out that Governor-Elect Bob McDonnell of Virginia wants Robertson at his inaugural on Saturday:

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson of Virginia Beach, a longtime McDonnell ally, has been invited to the inauguration, and McDonnell said he thinks he will attend.

McDonnell, of course, attended Robertson's CBN University, now known as Regent University, and there wrote a master's thesis

in which he described working women and feminists as "detrimental" to the family. He said government policy should favor married couples over "cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators." He described as "illogical" a 1972 Supreme Court decision legalizing the use of contraception by unmarried couples.

McDonnell has since tried to distance himself from that 1989 thesis -- but not entirely from Robinson himself. Wonder if Pat's going to show up on Saturday.