John Gorenfeld blogs, "Jane's Defense Weekly is reporting this week that Kim Jong-Il, unstable North Korean dictator may be able to target California with sea-launched missiles. His know-how, the Reuters story relates [I said his know-how, not actual launching platforms], comes from 12 ex-Soviet submarines that fell into his hands. They came with their original launch tubes and stabilizing gear intact. Where does Kim get those wonderful toys? Funny story: According to U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency documents from 1994 (which you can browse here), they were furnished by Reverend Moon. Robert Parry, the ace reporter who broke the Iran-Contra story, obtained these files through the Freedom of Information Act while writing his 2000 story, 'Rev. Moon, North Korea and the Bushes,' about Moon's gifts to the Communist regime. Read on, if you dare. "

US Newswire: "Intense media and public interest has arisen concerning an event held on March 23, 2004 at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Questions and controversies have swirled regarding the purpose of the event, what happened, who attended and why. Were dignitaries 'duped' into attending? What about the provocative claims made by Rev. Moon? How did such an event take place on Capitol Hill? Are the charges of anti- semitism, homophobia, etc., true?" LOL!! The event, which they can't bring themselves to refer to in this press release: Moon crowned himself "Messiah" and waxed psychotic before an audence that included several Congressfolk. So now the Press Club is hosting an "explain yourself if you can" event. This oughta be good! Hopefully Moon will be back on his meds by then.

Independent: "The US Senate was used for a bizarre ritual in which the Rev Sun Myung Moon, the head of the Unification church, was 'crowned' and declared himself the messiah in the presence of more than a dozen Republican and Democratic members of Congress, it was reported yesterday. 'Emperors, kings and presidents ... have declared to all heaven and Earth that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity's saviour, messiah, returning Lord and true parent,' the 85-year-old Korean 'Moonie' cult leader told several hundred guests at the meeting in one of the Senate's office buildings on March 23, according to the Washington Post. He also claimed endorsement from Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Hitler, who had all been reformed and reborn through his church's teachings - an idiosyncratic version of Christianity which rejects the use of the cross as a symbol and denounces homosexuals as 'dirty dung-eating dogs'. " How can ANYONE take the Washington Times seriously?

Washington Post:More than a dozen lawmakers attended a congressional reception this year honoring the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in which Moon declared himself the Messiah and said his teachings have helped Hitler and Stalin be "reborn as new persons." ...Moon has claimed to have spoken in "the spirit world" with all deceased U.S. presidents, Jesus, Moses, Mohammed and others. At the March 23 event, he said: "The founders of five great religions and many other leaders in the spirit world, including even Communist leaders such as Marx and Lenin . . . and dictators such as Hitler and Stalin, have found strength in my teachings, mended their ways and been reborn as new persons." The article did not mention the Bush family connections to Moon.

John Gorenfeld writes, "Should Americans be concerned that on March 23rd a bipartisan group of Congressmen attended a coronation at which a billionaire, pro-theocracy newspaper owner was declared to be the Messiah - with royal robes, a crown, the works? Or that this imperial ceremony took place not in a makeshift basement church or a backwoods campsite, but in a Senate office building?... Section 9 of the Constitution forbids giving out titles of nobility [but that didn't deter] conservatives, the traditional fans of Moon's newspaper: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA.), Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT), Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.). But there were also liberal Democrats like Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) and Danny Davis (D-IL)... Moon's groups have taken home grant money from the Bush Administration, which has given his anti-sex missionaries $475,000 in Abstinence-Only dollars to bring Moon's crusade against "free sex" to both black New Jersey high-schoolers and native Africans."

"Having recently celebrated his 84th birthday, the Rev. Moon seems rejuvenated and desiring to increase his visibility, while at the same time the master of mixed and often convoluted messages appears to be preparing his final farewell to America. Along the way, however, he is trying to plant the seeds of his political legacy - with help from some powerful political friends. On March 23, a group of the Rev. Moon's associates gathered at the Dirksen Senate Office Building. There, the Rev. presided over a ceremony presenting 'Crown of Peace' awards to a number of honored guests. Democrats Sen. Mark Dayton of Minnesota, Rep. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Rep. Sanford D. Bishop Jr. of Georgia; Republicans Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett of Maryland, Rep. Christopher B. Cannon of Utah, and Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania - received 'Ambassadors for Peace' awards. Decked-out in a campy floor-length cape, the Rev. Moon was presented with an ornate gold crown and a lifetime achievement award."

John Gorenfeld writes, "The last time Moon said he was giving up on America, taking his ball, and going home was 1992. That was when the defeat of Bush Sr. soured his feelings for a country he henceforth denounced as 'Satan's harvest.' This weekend, he's announced he's jetting -- while rolling back the date of completion for his Taliban-esque 'Fatherland' to a Blade Runner-ish 2012. Is he envisioning a two-term John Kerry presidency as a long time out for Moonie access to the White House? From a Mar. 24 appearance of conservative media mogul Sun Myung Moon, the following disjointed ideas: 'True Father spent 34 years here in America to guide this country in the right way. Yesterday was the turning point. Now I'm going back to Korea.[...] Thirty years ago, Christianity agreed with Father how to save the world. Now it's right I received the crown...[...] The reality is, if America doesn't follow heavenly ideals, it will perish. Homo marriage abuses blood lineage.'"

Michelangelo Signorile writes: "Can you imagine the owners of the New York Times--or the Los Angeles Times or Cleveland's Plain-Dealer--pining out loud for the mass extinction of an entire group of people? Let's say they envisioned the incineration of all gays, claiming it was God's plan and had their words posted on the web. At the very least, sensation-stalker Matt Drudge would link to the comments immediately, rightly whipping it into a major story... Drudge's openly gay compatriot, Andrew Sullivan, would no doubt take up the cause as well, attacking those nasty homophobe publishers on the left, railing on his web site about what hypocrites liberals are. But if the paper in question is an influential conservative daily--one that pumps up both of these right-wing gasbags regularly, and one that publishes Sullivan's work--then the rantings and ravings of its demagogic owner don't seem to matter." Especially if it's rightwing sugardaddy Reverend Sun Myung Moon!

From the Brown Daily Herald: "So Moon's clearly a problem, but how connected is he really to the Republican Party? Well, he's a major contributor to scores of conservative think tanks, including ones that aided the presidential campaigns of Reagan and both Bushes. The Heritage Foundation has even employed a good number of top-ranking Moonies. The elder Bush has, since his retirement, given a number of speeches at Moon's organizations, for which he received thousands of dollars in payment. Moon and Daddy Bush are apparently quite chummy... Admittedly, there's no smoking gun that would suggest Moon is behind the scenes, explicitly making policy in the Bush White House. Of course, there's no smoking gun that would suggest that Global Crossing or Halliburton are making decisions in the Bush White House either -- there's just a trail of money to the corporations, just like there's a trail of money to Moon."

John Gorenfield writes: "As you may recall, United Press International was the home of legendary reporter Helen Thomas until it was bought by the Moonies in 2000. Now, the editors of Rev. Moon's publications claim a Christian Science Monitor-ish separation between church and newspaper. But today, UPI has announced that its new editor is to be Michael J. Marshall, who used to run Moon's The World and I, and, well... Cut to May, 2003, in a 'Workshop on Journalism and Media.' Your host: media mogul Rev. Moon. The following scene, transcribed here at a Unification Church website, occurs. Moon is ticking off the seven reasons he's the Messiah, and talking about how to get the word out in the press, when suddenly... 'REV. MOON (addressing Marshall): Are you with World and I? Can you follow what I'm saying, do what I'm saying, the contents? For how long? MICHAEL MARSHALL, EDITOR: I will commit to follow forever. REV. MOON: Forever, for life. Great.'"

Michael Daly writes for NY Daily News: "The pistol Othniel Askew produced from the scant concealment of his light summer suit to kill Councilman James Davis was a Kahr MK-40 semiautomatic 'pocket rocket' designed and manufactured by the son of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon to be at once 'super-compact' and super lethal. 'It's a unique design,' a spokesman for Kahr Arms of Blauvelt, Rockland County, said Friday. 'It's carved out its own niche.'"

From Reuters: "The Washington Times [owned by Rev. Moon] said Tuesday it regretted publishing what it said was a forged letter in the name of a U.S. ambassador and was working with the State Department to track the origin of the document. The letter, in the name of Stephan Minikes, ambassador to the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, accused U.S. career diplomats of disloyalty to the objectives of the Bush administration. We have been ... informed from the highest level at the State Department, and we accept as true that the ambassador was not the author of this letter,' editor in chief Wesley Pruden said in a written statement."

"Bennett's involvement with a 'megalomaniac cult leader' -- I was referring to none other than Sun Myung Moon. One of the things that makes Bennett a paragon of anti-virtue has been his role in the attempt by the American right to rehabilitate Sun Myung Moon -- a truly evil man.... That didn't prevent Bennett from giving credibility to Moon by accepting a generous speaking fee to appear before a Moonie front group. Let's discuss just a few of Moon's transgressions against humanity: ...he developed 'purification rituals'-which conveniently involved deflowering naive young women (Ironically, the Bush regime is paying $450,000 in taxpayer money to the depraved billionaire for abstinence education)... (Bush also named Josette Shiner, a Moonie and former head of Bennett's Empower America to the post of deputy U.S. trade representative; ...Bennett hired someone from an America-hating cult to run his group that has the name 'Empower America'?)." Moon has paid millions to Bush Sr. and Falwell.

Wayne Madsen writes: "When Bush added North Korea to his list of 'Axis of Evil' nations, the influence of the self-declared reincarnation of Jesus Christ, the 'Reverend' Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church, loomed largely over the White House decision-making process... Bush, a self-described 'born again Christian' who has maintained close links to Moon... In 1996, former President Bush, who has taken millions of dollars in speaking fees from Moon, spoke before a Moon audience in Argentina and declared Moon to be a 'man of vision'...Bush [Jr.] seems to value Moon's commitment to family values. Bush named David Caprara, the head of Moon's American Family Coalition, as the director of VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America)...It should be noted that while Bush [Sr.] was head of the CIA, Moon was organizing a number of pro-American and anti-communist rallies and front organizations around the world. Moon was a convenient agent of influence for the CIA and Mr. Bush."

When the Rev. Jerry Falwell's university faced bankruptcy, Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church bailed it out with millions in loans and grants. It is Moon who said he would "absorb" decadent American freedoms and that American women were whores. He's also a big backer of the Bush family, of course, and publishes the ultra rightwing Washington Times.

The Washington Post Reports: "At Tuesday night's celebration of the Washington Times' 20th anniversary, its founder, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon delivered an impassioned, hour-long evangelical sermon in Korean saying he established the newspaper "in response to heaven's direction...The Washington Times is responsible to let the American people know about God." Later, he added: "The Washington Times will become the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world." By this point, several Times staffers had exited for the Hilton's bar, either because the party was alcohol-free or -- possibly -- because they needed a stiff drink." According to one staffer, many were "embarrassed," some "humiliated." Others described the speech as "painful to watch." In the wake of this performance, Phony-in Chief Welsey Pruden is still babbling to all who will listen about the paper's lack of rightwing religious bias!

Joke time! "What do you call a gathering of 3,000 people, a self-aggrandizing lecture by Dr. Laura Schlessinger and an hour-long sermon from the Rev. Sun Myung Moon? The Washington Times 20th-anniversary bash." (Washington Post) "What do Dr. Laura, the Washington Times, Enron, the Republican Party, and George Bush have in common? They've have all been keep artificially alive by regular huge infusions of corporate cash!" (Dems.com) "What does the Washington Times call a speech entitled 'The Life of Jesus as Seen From God's Will, and God's Warning to the Present Age, the Period of the Last Days'? A nonreligious editorial stance." (Unknown News). Biggest joke of the year: "The Washington Times" self-description as a "successful, unbiased" newspaper when it has only survived through billions in "religious aid."

Peter Roff writes in the Washington Times: "One only need surf over to a variety of web sites including Buzzflash, Bartcop, Democrats.com and others of the left-of-center variety to see the often-profanity laced vitriol, the derision with which the president and his administration are viewed. These web sites belong to individuals and groups that are generally anonymous, certainly not elected officials in the public eye. Perhaps they should be given some latitude for their abrasive style of communication, as they are not accustomed to the niceties of life and language inside the Washington Beltway." Oh, you mean like that displayed by Rev. Moon's Washington Times and Insight Magazine that served as conduits for illicit and destructive leaks by Ken Starr's office? You mean the disinformation and outright lies propagated by Moon's media outlets? Meanwhile, the rightwing rank-and-file are led around like good little Moonies.

In a response to Roff's criticism of Democrats.com, Bartcop and Buzzflash, Buzz featured a GOPAC training memo to show the kind of language GOPAC members have used against their opponents. In reply, Roff wrote to Buzzflash that "the document to which you refer was created long before I arrived at GOPAC and - until now - I do not believe I had ever seen a copy. It certainly was not part of the training materials provided by the group during my tenure as you suggest in your current commentary. Please correct these latest errors of fact." But in his original article, Roff made an "error of fact" about us. He wrote that we are among a group of "web sites [that] belong to individuals and groups that are generally anonymous." All Roff had to do was look under our "Company" menu item to find out who owns Democrats.com - try that at WashingtonTimes.com! Roff's own problem with facts belies his use of plausible deniability about the GOPAC memo.

Veteran journalist Judith Haney writes, "Peter, let me ask you a question just between us 'peers'. Why are you working for the religious cult leader, Reverend Sun Myung Moon, who owns UPI and The Washington Times? I know of no respectable journalists who will work for him or any of his companies and organizations. So why do you work for him Peter?" Indeed, Roff writes for the UPI, from which Helen Thomas resigned the day after Moon took over. Check out the truly disturbing quotes by this dangerous cult leader and rightwing benefactor. While Moon has expanded his power over the Republican Party during the past two decades, the Media has refrained from exposing Moon, so most Americans know nothing about his extreme views. It's up to us to tell them about Moon and why he is such a danger to our country. A good place to start is with the links below Haney's column. Moon has paid George and Barbara Bush up to $10 million. And he gave $3.5 million to bail Jerry Falwell out of debt.

From the Boston Globe. "The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the leader of the Unification Church, has weighed into the bizarre tug-of-war between his church and the Vatican over the Roman Catholic Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, who was married by Moon in May. A Unification Church spokesman, the Rev. Philip Schanker, said yesterday he had spoken by telephone to Moon, who expressed his support for Milingo's wife Maria Sung after her husband dropped from public view Aug. 8...Milingo and Sung were paired up by Moon and married in a mass ceremony in New York, scandalizing the Catholic world, whose clergy are not allowed to marry…But after meeting Pope John Paul II and a flock of reporters, the African prelate vanished from public view, sparking a strange struggle between the Vatican, his wife and her entourage of Unification Church members." Moon is of course the cult leader and Bush/GOP sugar daddy who has paid Bush Sr. and Barbara up to $10 million (Enter 'moon' in our .Compass search engine).

Writes renowned cult watcher Steve Hassan: "Moon, a 77-year old Korean billionaire and convicted felon who served 13 months in federal prison for tax evasion and conspiracy in the 80s, owns the Washington Times newspaper, Insight magazine, The University of Bridgeport (CT), and The New Yorker Hotel. His empire was investigated in 1977-78 by Congress as part of Korean CIA activities in the U.S. Moon's stated ambitions include establishing a one-world government run by Moon and his leaders. His vision of Heaven on Earth includes absorbing all world religions into Unificationism as well as abolishing all languages except Korean. Members ritually pledge every Sunday morning, before an altar of Moon, to fight for the Fatherland (Korea)…The Rev. Al Sharpton recently had his vows renewed and was given the power to renew others' marriage vows." Moon is called a 'unifier' -- which is eerily similar to Bush's claims of being a 'uniter.' Moon has paid the Bush family up to $10 million after all!

Moon told a lieutenant "part of our strategy in the U.S. must be to make friends in the FBI, the CIA and police forces, the military and business community . . . as a means of entering the political arena, influencing foreign policy, and ultimately establishing absolute dominion over the American people." Of course, these plans also include the US media. Representative Jim Leach of Iowa declared that the Unification Church has "infiltrated the New Right and the party it [the New Right] wants to control, the Republican Party, and infiltrated the media as well." Moon not only owns the Washington Times, Insight Magazine and now UPI, but he has former employees (if not adherents) in other media positions, such as Fox News Tony Snow and allies like the stealthy Ralph Reed. Moon's Washington Times writers have authored right-wing hatchet books. The glassy-eyed Bill Sammon has just come out with the hilariously titled: "At Any Cost : How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election"!

According to counter-cult ministry New Covenant Publications, "Rev. Al Sharpton is another one also now being used by Sun Myung Moon to further Moon's agenda. He is very involved in seeking to persuade Christian Ministers to participate in this up-coming Unification Church 'Blessing Ceremony.' One of the main strategies of the Unification Church in promoting their 'Blessing Ceremony' is to target Christian Ministers hoping their influence would persuade whole congregations to participate." Also - from the Moonie 'True Parents' site (tparents.org): "Reverend Sharpton, father, husband, mayoral candidate and President of the National Action Network became Co-chairman of the Coalition for Harmony. The Coalition for Harmony was founded by [the Unification Church's] Rev. Joong Hyun Pak and Rev. Simon T. Levine in 1990."

Political websites are buzzing over a Time magazine interview of Reverend Al Sharpton, in which he ponders a run for the Presidency in 2004. Said Sharpton: "I feel that the Democratic Party must be challenged in 2004 because it didn't fight aggressively to protect our voting rights in Florida. I think we need to look at running a black in the primary. I have said I would be available to do it." Well, what do you know -- Sharpton criticizes the Democrats for the election theft by the Republicans! Could it be that Sharpton is part of a broader agenda that includes major Bush benefactor Reverend Moon? Check out this item from the Providence Journal: "The Rev. Al Sharpton, a national black political leader from New York City who is a Baptist minister, renewed his marriage vows in 1997 in a Unification Church ceremony [From the Providence Journal, Mar. 19, 2001]." This year Reverend Moon went on a 50-city speaking tour of mostly African-American congregations.