We're not making this up.

    As reported in the Washington Post: Reverend Moon declares himself Messiah at Senate offices, March 23, 2004.

    Crowned on Capitol Hill.

    Click to watch The Daily Show's piece on Moon's coronation.

    The Washington Times.

    Moon owns the the influential conservative newspaper, which he's funded since 1982.

    Citizen Moon.

    At the paper's 1997 celebration at the Washington Grand Hyatt, Moon proclaimed that "free sex is centered on Satan!"

    Perfect strangers.

    Moon (on stage in Seoul, 1992) is famous for his mass weddings, in which he orders followers to marry spouses of his choosing.

    And many more.

    1995: George and Barbara Bush celebrate the birthday of Mrs. Moon (center). The man in glasses, Bo Hi Pak, was Moon's top aide.

    "Why not come to our bicentennial rally?"

    In the late 1970s, Moon was such a sensation that John Belushi portrayed him on Saturday Night Live skit, with Dan Ackroyd as a deprogrammer.

    "You're not doing the Lord's work...you worship this son of a bitch."

    When students left their families to join Moon in the 1970s, desperate American parents turned to Ted Patrick (right), the first deprogrammer.

    Bailing out the Right.

    The late Jerry Falwell told Esquire that Moon "is like the plague," before accepting $3.5 million from his church.

    Meeting Dad's friend.

    As shown on South Korean television, George W. Bush poses with Moon's current deputy, Rev. Kwak.

    Cheney and Kwak.

    The veep and his wife were also there.

    Her former master.

    Long-time church operative Josette Sheeran (in 1997), ostensibly no longer a Moonist, was named by the current White House to State Department and U.N. posts.

    "Our American members are willing to die."

    The leader of the American Unification Church, Michael Jenkins, seen sermonizing in 2007.

    Faith no more.

    On Easter, 2003, Moon rewarded African-American ministers for removing crosses from their churches and following him. John Kingara of Worcester, MA (right) obeys.

    Funeral for the cross.

    To repent for the "false faith" of Christianity, a Moonie delegation buries a cross in Jerusalem, 2003.

    "God forgives Richard Nixon."

    February 1, 1974: Moon and a president who could use a friend.

    Like Ike.

    June 25, 1965: A confused Dwight Eisenhower agrees to meet an anti-Communist "cultural group" led by Moon.

    Imaginary White House.

    Moon's newest palace opened in 2006, near Seoul.

    President's brother.

    Neil Bush visits the Paraguayan presidential palace with top Moonie officials in 2008. Moon owns 1.5 million acres nearby.

    "Dreams that God himself never dreamed"

    Mr. and Mrs. Moon in their element, 2006.

    Access

    In Net sermons, Moon (speaking here in Nov. 2007) describes access to the Bush family. Turns out he may not be imagining it.

The second edition of the offbeat political expose previously known as Bad Moon Rising. Available on Kindle and print-on-demand later in 2011.

The New York Times compared it to an act of the Roman Emperor Caligula. One night in 2004, at one of Washington's worst dinner parties, members of Congress brought a shining crown and robes to a billionaire mystery man who calls himself the True Father.

The place: The Dirksen Senate Office Building. The VIP: Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Moonies.

Here for the first time is the unnerving, absurd and politically-embarrassing story of Reverend Moon, publisher of the Washington Times, but better known as a 1970s cult leader, the L. Ron Hubbard of the East...yet today a strange Washington institution to whom D.C. insiders shamelessly pay homage, as Moon jet-sets around the world with members of the Bush family and gives maniacal speeches better suited to Marvel Comics than Politico.

Years ago, Moon was widely considered a dangerous madman, the next Jim Jones. He inspired TV specials with names like "Escape From The Moonies." His cult separated college students from their families, persuaded them to take to the streets by the hundreds to sell flowers and underwrite Moon's mansions and yacht. So completely did they surrender to Moon that he even assigned them spouses at fabulous stadium weddings.

Naturally, most people who remember Rev. Moon and the social turmoil that followed him think he disappeared, died, was deported. In fact, as you will read in King of America, Moon is richer and better-connected than ever. And an all-star cast of Washingtonians show up in his story.

The joke is that Moon fits in just fine.

* * *

In 2004, author John Gorenfeld scooped the Washington press corps when he exposed a creepy dinner party on Capitol Hill. With lawmakers participating, the Times publisher held a ritual coronation for himself as the "King of Peace." Wearing a majestic cape and coronet, he declared himself Messiah. The New York Times editors compared the event, sponsored by a U.S. senator, to an act of the Roman emperor Caligula.

That, as you might imagine, was just the tip of the iceberg.

We could go on. The Chicago Tribune has reported that Moon controls the U.S. sushi industry. He does business with Kim Jong-Il. Moon now officially regards himself as Emperor of the Universe, claiming the imagined endorsements of dead U.S. presidents.

Weird sex and weirder violence, influence-peddling and blasphemy...The author invites you on an arresting journey into 40 years of political decline, told through the saga of Moon and his senseless relationships with figures ranging from Jerry Falwell to Pat Boone.

Read about the state of America in King of America. Then laugh. Or cry.





BELOW: Gorenfeld chats with Lizz Winstead, creator of the Daily Show, on her off-Broadway show Shoot The Messenger

Web design by John Gorenfeld
Published in the United States of America by Ink Syndicate
Copyright 2009
All rights reserved

Where's Bad Moon Rising?