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Just how crazy have our politics become when the front page of the Washington Post finds members of Congress bowing down to a conservative newspaper publisher dressed up like King George III, and no one seems to care?
This is the hilarious and appalling epic story of Reverend Moon, publisher of the Washington Times and 1970s cult leader, the L. Ron Hubbard of the East...today a strange Washington institution to whom D.C. insiders shamelessly pay homage, as he jet-sets around the world with members of the Bush family, gives maniacal speeches about being the Second Coming and hosts some of the Beltway's worst dinner parties.
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, put them out on the street selling flowers, paying for Moon's mansions and yacht. Moon's control over their lives was so total, he even chose spouses for them.
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 Bad Moon Rising, Moon is richer and better-connected than ever. And an all-star cast of Washingtonians have sold their souls to him.
The joke is that Moon fits in just fine.
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In 2004, author John Gorenfeld scooped the Washington press corps when he exposed a creepy dinner party on Capitol. 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.
Bad Moon Rising takes you into the underbelly of the Religious Right. Which is surprisingly, scandalously entwined with Moon and his business empire—an untold chapter in American political history.
He's the man Washington power-brokers don't want you to know about, who has been coming to their rescue for years. And from his seat of respect, he is launching odd, multi-million dollar campaigns of his own to replace Jesus (whom he considers a failure), and attack the wall between church and state...his church, that is.
There's more. The Chicago Tribune has reported that Moon controls the U.S. sushi industry. He does business with Kim Jong-Il. And he now officially considers himself Emperor of the Universe, claiming the imagined endorsements of dead U.S. presidents.
Strange sex and violence, power and blasphemy...The author invites you on an arresting journey into 40 years of political decline, seen through the strange story of Moon...as he schemes to become a part of the revolution that has produced the Bush family, Jerry Falwell, Left Behind author Tim LaHaye, Richard Nixon, an overseas gangster or two, a smattering of corrupt Democrats, and the men who built the Religious Right...with more than a little help from Moon.
Read about the state of American democracy in Bad Moon Rising, and you won't know whether to laugh or cry.
Bad Moon Rising. Buy it for a conservative friend, and blow someone's mind.
