Cut to the ritual. Eyes downcast, a man identified as Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) is bringing a crown, atop a velvety purple cushion, to a figure who stands waiting austerely with his wife. Now Moon is wearing robes that Louis XIV would have appreciated. All of this has quickly been spliced into a promo reel by Moon’s movement, which implies to its followers that the U.S. Congress itself has crowned the Washington Times owner.
But Section 9 of the Constitution forbids giving out titles of nobility, setting a certain tone that might have made the Congressional hosts shy about celebrating the coronation on their websites. They included conservatives, the traditional fans of Moon’s newspaper: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA.), Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah), Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) and Republican strategy god Charlie Black, whose PR firm represents Ahmed Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress. But there were also liberal House Democrats like Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) and Davis. Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) later told the Memphis Flyer that he’d been erroneously listed on the program, but had never heard of the event, which was sponsored by the Washington Times Foundation.
That’s just fuckin’ nuts. Why are the press so afraid of Moon and covering these crazy events?
Any real investigation of Moon, and more importantly, where his money is going, would lead to some serious repercussions within the journalism community. It’s not just his Washington Times, but the numerous right-wing think-tanks that he’s helped back and the products they produce, which are then consumed by the more mainstream press when they are penning their day-to-day journalism. I mean, do you, as a journalist, want to be told that a source you cited or referenced was funded by a crazy man who thinks he’s the messiah and mandates that married followers have a picture of him in the bedroom? No, you don’t want any part of that. Best to leave that sleeping dog lie.
I love the fact that our faith-based initiatives (not to be confused with our Feith-based torture) include funding the followers of this lunatic.
It’s a shame the left wing doesn’t have a better media presence-when I hear Soros get slandered (see David Brock’s Mediamatters.org for the lastest from Michael Weiner) I can’t help but think how fast they would shut up and move to something else if they had this crazy man pushed back in their face.
This, this… this is insanity. Republicans coronating a lunatic newspaper owner as the new messiah, and doing it on federal property? What the fuck is going on? How can this be allowed, and moreover, not covered?
Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.)
Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.)
Harold Ford (D-Tenn.)
Not just Republicans, but still, WTF!?![/quote]
Sorry, you’re right - I shouldn’t have overlooked that. Mainly Republicans, but I’ll ammend my statement to “congressmen and senators,” and raise you another WHAT THE FUCK?!
Moon’s more wired than Scaife. Fun fact: he initially got involved in politics, buddying up to Nixon, because the government was coming after him for fraud charges.
Some Democrats are on his wacko boat, but it’s almost entirely a GOP thing.
You’ll recall that, when I wrote my Gadflyer article, Rep. Curt Weldon’s office claimed that he didn’t speak at the coronation of Sun Myung Moon. First his secretary said, “I’m telling you, he didn’t go.” So I sent her some links. She then said Weldon planned to attend this awards show, but couldn’t make it due to his schedule. Then I sent her a photo of Weldon at the event. It showed him surrounded by Moonists. His involvement, she now said, was “limited to his attendance,” as if he’d just been on his way to a nearby committee meeting and poked his head through a curtain.
But here’s a new picture of Weldon giving a speech at the event! What’s that he’s pinning on Kadhafy? Did Kadhafy score one of Moon’s Ambassadors for Peace Awards while Weldon was leading a delegation to Libya to talk WMDs? If so, that would be pretty awesome, placing Khadafy in the same A.F.P. winners circle as neo-Nazi William Baker.
Fucking media apparently doesn’t think a batshit cultist being praised as the new US emperor by high congressional officials is important. God damnit.
Do you like the smell of your husband’s semen? Answer to Father. Does it smell good or bad? You may not like the smell of your wife’s stool, but do you smell your own? Why don’t you smell your own but you smell your wife’s? Because you are not totally one. You don’t smell your own because it is part of you. Do you feel your heart beating all the time? But actually it is beating all the time. Why don’t we feel that all the time? Because it is part of you, it is not separated. Have you seen your conscience? (No.) Have you touched it? (No.) Then how do you know that you have one? Because you feel it. Have you seen love? (No.) Have you touched it? (No.) Then how do you know that love exists? Because you feel it. Have you seen God? (No.) Have you touched God? (No.) How do you know that He exists? By feeling God. Oneness is the key. We shouldn’t be able to feel anything that is a part of us operating separately. When we feel some part of us operating separately, then something is wrong within oneself. Your being, consisting of millions of cells, is totally one, without any separation whatsoever and as an entire being, you are dealing with this universe. There should be no separate feeling. We shouldn’t be able to feel any separation among our body parts. What kind of factory exists about one foot below our mouth? That is where all waste matter is expelled from our body, and although it is so close in proximity to our smelling organ we don’t sense that at all. However, within our daily lives when we are even twenty feet away from somebody and smell their waste, we run away. It is like an object that is within your vision. Once this object gets closer and closer to your eye are you able to see it? No. Why not? Once it becomes so close to you and becomes one with you, then you should know what it is and accept it as it is.
It’s really stunning to me that this shit isn’t front page news. We’ve got senators and congressmen from both parties CROWNING SOMEONE AS THE FUCKING MESSIAH. Gee, you think maybe that’s FUCKING NEWSWORTHY, PEOPLE?
Calm down, people. It’s just the good Reverend helping people to become Enlightened. He tells me that I’m just $5,000 away from entering the Fifth Circle of Initiation… I’ll get to enjoy the bevy of spotless virgins when I hit the Third Circle, so I’m definitely looking forward to that.
You guys are being silly here. I’d say you were being Trollish, but I’m not sure who you’re trolling so that can’t be it.
Yes: This should have received more traditional media coverage. Not frontpage, but on some page.
No: This is not LITERALLY crowning Rev. Moon as the Messiah or the leader of the United States. I’m sure you guys know that which is why you are trolling and not idiotic. Or perhaps this event has made quatoria and McCullough as crazy as Moon himself.
So some guy who donates to the Republicans and spreads a conservative message wants a ceremony “crowning” him. Fine, thinks the Repubs, we like his money, we want to encourage him to continue the funds and propaganda, so we’ll cater to his apparently deep rooted vanity. Hell, why not? Its a couple hours of our time. Highly paid prostitutes aren’t as efficient, and our hands are clean!
All this ceremony does is (perhaps) increases in Rev. Moon’s mind his Messiahdom and encourages him to continue funding the Republicans. The rest is glittery insanity.
Because its glittery insanity, and a bit different from the usual money-making dinners that politicians attend, its worthy of news coverage. Barely though, and I can certainly see an argument for not covering it at all if more traditional fund-raising events that do the same thing are not. Obviously any media that focuses on politics should cover it.
I wonder if the Republicans will do this for money and continued favored propaganda what won’t they do? Prostitutes can turn away customers they don’t like. Can Republicans?
Hopefully some big Republican donor will ask a few senators to dress up in tutus and sing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” next time. I once again state that this should receive non-frontpage media coverage.
Brian, when I posted my “Oh don’t worry about it” post, I was being sarcastic. Extremely sarcastic. You appear to be serious. What the fuck is the matter with you?
Even pretending to bestow nobility upon some nutcase most definitely is a newsworthy event. Whether the Congressmen are doing it for the money or they truly believe… either way, it’s important. Unless there’s a whole lot more to this story, those Congressmen who are participating in this aren’t fit for office, and their constituents need to know that so that they can vote them out of office.
Perhaps you need to go back to your communications degree and learn the value of symbolic communication. Oh wait… don’t bother. You probably won’t understand it the second time around either.
I swear, it’s people like Brian, even more than the Reverend Moon, that makes me question the value of having a democracy that has no voter qualification test.
I was talking mainly to quatoria and McCullough, those who took the Moon event seriously (or seemed to). You should be asking that question of them. And since you appear NOW to be taking it seriously, you should ask that question of yourself.
Brian: “Yes: This should have received more traditional media coverage. Not frontpage, but on some page.”
Brian: “Obviously any media that focuses on politics should cover it.”
You’re completely wrong. I’m sure both parties have done even more extreme (and more dangerous and illegal) things for money than this. Politics in Washington is a Bloodsport. Just because most money transactions are more private and less ostentatious doesn’t make them any less effective.
This isn’t symbolic communication. This is catering to a very vain man. Its doing the same thing that is done for LESS vain donors/allies in a way suited to a strange personality.
There has been no communication of ANY type to anyone except perhaps Moon himself that he has been coronated in any way regarding him as the Messiah and/or him as the leader of the United States.
Have you ever roleplayed? You know, Dungeons and Dragons and the like? Or I suppose you don’t because you believe it Symbolically Communicates that you are a 19th level Wizard.
Come on, man, cast that Fireball! Symbolically!
But hey, don’t take my word for it. Send a letter, send an email, whatever, to these representatives and ask them if they think Rev. Moon is the Messiah or the leader of the United States, or at least in some symbolic sense he is. I will gladly eat crow if it turns out they do!
