On March 23, 2004, the Reverend Moon--George Bush's Paraguayan neighbor (see Bush & the Doomsday Compound)--was crowned by Congressional Representatives during a coronation in Washington, D.C., at the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
The Washington Post reported that some of the attending Congressional members later expressed outrage at the event, claiming they were tricked, but given Moon's history, how surprised should they have been? This was, after all, the man who founded a cult (his follower are, of course, the Moonies); was the subject of a Congressional investigation; served eighteen months in prison for conspiracy and for filing false federal income tax returns; and has ties to South American drug trafficking.
Moon's political influence is deep. In 1982 he founded the Washington Times, a right-wing newspaper. He has supported the presidential bids of Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43. He has enjoyed an especially cozy relationship with the Bush family: George Bush 41 has received over two million dollars from Moon and has spoken on his behalf on multiple occasions in numerous countries, and Neil Bush has spoken to the Paraguayan president Nicanor Duarteon on Moon's behalf.
All this talk of the Moon, politics and South America brings to mind the Iron Sky, an upcoming film wherein the Nazis, having established a moon base in 1945, return as conquerors in 2018.
To the curious, we recommend John Gorenfeld's fine reporting, including this film (a two-parter):
There's a good interview with Gorenfeld here which highlights the relationship with some more of Moon's unlikely bedfellows.
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