OpEdNews - Article: Moon Over Hypocrisy

On the subject of crazy ministers, we see now that the rantings of Jeremiah Wright will be the never ending story that the rabid right and their water-carriers will employ to bring down Barack Obama.

This non-story will continue until Hillary Clinton wins the nomination. When that happens, you can be sure that those wing-nuts will quickly shift gears to harp endlessly on a subject they love more than life itself -- old and new Clintonian "scandals."

None of it will end until the American people are so perplexed and confused that they will vote for war-monger and George W. Bush wannabe, John McCain.

This method of battering a candidate with lies, half-truths and sound bites has proven to work in the past. The American people have come to depend on pundits to give them their opinions pre-digested. It is so much easier than finding out the truth and doing your own critical thinking on matters as vital and complex as war, global warming, the Middle East conflict, the economy, race relations and religion.

And although Obama is counting on American's to do what is right, they will more than likely do what they have been doing since the start of the dumbing down of political discourse -- whatever Rush Limbaugh and the wing-nut bobble-heads at Fox tell 'em to do, or to think.

"Besides the estimated $3 billion-plus invested in the Washington Times, Moon has spread money around to influential right-wingers, often coming to their rescue when they are facing financial ruin as happened with Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell in the mid-1990s. [See below.]

Moon also has paid lucrative speaking fees to political figures, such as former President George H.W. Bush who has appeared at Moon-organized functions in the United States, Asia and South America. At the launch of Moon’s South American newspaper in 1996, Bush hailed Moon as “the man with the vision.”

Moon has key defenders, too, in the U.S. Congress, such as Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 2004, Moon was given space in the Senate’s Dirksen building for a coronation of himself as “savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent.” [See The Hill, June 22, 2004]

Though primarily allied with the Republican Right, Moon has tossed money to some African-American ministers to gain favor with a key Democratic constituency.

Moon’s multi-billion-dollar political investments, in turn, have shielded him from sustained scrutiny since 1978 when he was identified by the congressional “Koreagate” investigation as part of a covert Korean influence-buying scheme. As a result of those findings about his finances, he was convicted in 1982 of tax fraud.

Ironically, however, as Moon implemented the influence-buying blueprint exposed by the “Koreagate” probe – investing in U.S. media, politicians and academia – he became an untouchable. He founded the Washington Times in 1982 and quickly put it into the service of Republican power."

And another article describes Moon's efforts to obtain access to power:

"To buy the access he craves, Moon has paid out millions in speaking fees to an array of powerful people, including the elder Bush, former President Gerald Ford and members of Congress. Through innocuous-sounding groups with names such as Interreligious and International Forum for World Peace, the Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles and The Women's Federation for World Peace, Moon passes out awards to various civic leaders, then invites their members of Congress to attend ceremonies where their constituents are honored. Last week President George W. Bush visited Philadelphia where he was hosted by a local supporter, the Rev. Herb Lusk. Three years ago, Lusk was among those on the dais with Moon, receiving the "National Service Award" from the Washington Times Foundation."

Among the dignitaries in Washington that have successfully been wooed by Moon is Senator Hillary Clinton who praised him and his work as late as September 2007.