The images that emerged from Haiti following last week’s 7.0 earthquake have been shocking and heartbreaking.

I would venture to say, also, that said images barely hinted at the devastation that the quake — which rocked the capitol city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s most densely populated area —wrought upon the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere.

I daresay that most Americans, myself included, cannot even begin to fathom the scope of this catastrophe.

Early casualty estimates have ranged from 50,000 to half a million. For perspective, consider this: Even if the death toll is at the lower end of that spectrum, it would be 10 times the number of casualties that resulted from 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina combined.

Also consider that this occurred in a country that lacks even a tiny fraction of the ability the U.S. and other industrialized nations have to respond to a disaster of any type, much less one of such magnitude.

Of all the terrible world events in recent history, I fear this one could have the most lasting impact.

Certainly, I believe it’s the one that has the most potential to cause an entire nation to descend into chaos.

Life in Haiti prior to the earthquake was difficult at best. With conditions now exponentially worse, with necessities such as food and water in short supply and with unburied corpses littering the streets, one has to believe the conditions are ripe for anarchy to sweep the island nation.

It won’t be long, I fear, before the survivors in Haiti envy the dead.

Of course, in times of great crisis, there have always been, and always will be, people who will say incredibly stupid and insensitive things.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a pair of individuals with proven track records in that regard: Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson.

Limbaugh on Wednesday slammed President Obama’s response to the earthquake and also criticized the White House’s efforts to promote charitable organizations through which Americans can contribute to the relief effort.

“We’ve already donated to Haiti,” he said. “It’s called the U.S. income tax.”

The good news is that it would appear that El Rushbo, whom many regard as the de facto spokesman for the Republican party, is out of step with even with his fellow conservatives on this one.

Republican leaders in the House and Senate have praised Obama’s efforts. And, former President George W. Bush is planning to team up with his predecessor, Bill Clinton, for an effort to raise money for Haitian disaster relief.

And then there’s Robertson, the televangelist with a history of shooting his mouth off, with the resulting rounds striking him squarely in the foot.

On his TV show, the 700 Club, Robertson opined that the quake was divine retribution for a pact the people of Haiti supposedly made in 1791 to gain independence from the French.

If Robertson’s God is, indeed, one that kills innocent women and children for something that supposedly happened more than 300 years before they were born, it’s certainly a deity of which I want no part.

It would be nice if Robertson’s followers would rebuke his stupidity by sending the money they were otherwise going to send to him to the Red Cross or OxFam for Haitian relief.

Lord knows, those people need food, water and shelter a lot worse that Robertson needs another limo.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.