Nothing could be more disturbing than the footage of the unimaginable suffering and destruction in earthquake-devastated Haiti.

Still, the attempts by a couple of commentators to make political hay out of the catastrophe come revoltingly close.

President Obama seems to have acted in timely and appropriate fashion in marshaling U.S. assistance to the stricken Caribbean country. One would think this would be a time for everybody to put partisan sniping aside and pull together. But not right-wing radio commentator Rush Limbaugh.

No sooner had Obama announced the launching of U.S. disaster relief efforts than Limbaugh went on the air to rant that it was only an attempt by Obama to ingratiate himself politically with African-American voters - "in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country."

The latter creepy comment, an allusion to some unfortunate and recently revealed phraseology once used by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is offensive at several levels. And there is a special irony here, since it has been only a couple of weeks since Limbaugh and Obama's other find-any-excuse detractors were criticizing him for taking too long to comment on the Christmas day airliner bombing attempt.

A Pact With the Devil?

But leave it to televangelist Pat Robertson to come out with a remark so outrageously weird as to make Limbaugh's sound sensitive by comparison. The travails that Haitians are currently undergoing, Robertson "explained" on his "700 Club" show, came because God is punishing them for a two-century-old pact their ancestors made with none other than Satan himself.

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti that people might not want to talk about," he pontificated, twisting this tragedy to fit his own religious agenda. "They were under the heel of the French. ... 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 Prince.' True story. And so the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another."

True story, eh? Presumably Robertson has a copy of that fateful, brimstone-scorched contract somewhere. He made similar comments about the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, portraying both disasters as God's punishment on a sinful populace.

Class Act by Bush, Clinton

How refreshing, against such a backdrop of hateful spewings, to see the actions of former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Responding unhesitatingly to a plea by Obama to spearhead private fundraising for the Haitian earthquake victims, the two former political enemies appeared together on all five Sunday TV news talk shows, projecting just the right image of bipartisan good will and unity.

"The fundamental question for the country is, 'Do we care?'" Bush said on ABC's "This Week." The answer, he said, is yes. Besides the simple human compassion involved, he said, America has powerful interest in helping establish a stable democracy in Haiti. Clinton, who has a long history of good works in Haiti, warmly agreed.

Given a chance to respond to the accusations that the administration is playing the Haiti nightmare for political advantage, Bush quickly and firmly replied, "Now is not the time to focus on politics."

Good for him. Were you listening, Rush and Pat?