Scott Wheeler - the executive director of The National Republican Trust PAC which is producing smear ads against Obama - ads which have already been debunked - used to write for Sun Myung Moon's Insight Magazine and as such has been another, as Atrios might put it, "SMMTB." (Sun Myung Moon Tittie Baby).
Moon, who knows what he is doing, said this to his leaders in 1989:
Through the Washington Times, Insight magazine, and the World and I, I have been preparing the foundation for you to influence America.
Wheeler is one of many right wingers Moon's organization has used to "influence" our political system over the last few decades. True, Moon has not left his media "independent" of his influence but always keep in mind -- Moon does NOT have to come in and bark orders to these publications - all he has to do is hire people like Wheeler or Pruden who share his right wing ideology to do his will. Moon simply hands them cash, winds them up and let's them go. Thus, the media entity itself does Moon's work. Beyond using his media to give him face around the world, Moon wanted a right wing America that would match his ideology and create fertile soil for the theocrats to have political clout; people like Lahaye and Falwell and their minions, who Moon also funded. Some keep saying the religious right's influence is waning. Even if you fall for that, keep in mind, the damage that has ALREADY been done to our nation.
I read where someone said that had not Moon come along and outspent anyone promoting the hard right in America some other "conservative" would have. That is simply ridiculous. No one has Moon's agenda, followers/operatives to supplement it and the "religion" to cloak it all with. In 1982, when Moon launched the WT, no conservative would have or did begin spending $3 billion propping up and subsidizing the right - with no hope of making the money back. Top that off, Moon used overseas cash to do it.
Moon has placed four of his children in leadership positions of various aspects of his movement. This will not die when he does, not close. It will be easier for them.
Note about quotes below:
Whenever Moon talks about using his media to "teach" the world about God, do keep in mind he sees himself as God incarnate, in ways greater than God. Moon has declared his words to be God's. In moonieworld, Moon is the arbiter of God's will. So when he says he wants his media to "teach" the world about God or show the world "God's truth," he means promote his(Moon's) front's efforts and promote his right wing ideology which is, ultimately, promoting Moon as THE MESSIAH!
You cannot separate the fronts from the promotion of Moon as the Messiah and his goal to guide the world. Moon's followers know that the Moon front group's or "Father's projects," as they refer to them, are meant to promote his ideology, gain acceptance for their movement and for Moon as the messiah - that is ALL they do.
The Washington Times has carried articles promoting Moon's "peace" efforts which were in fact promoting Moon’s efforts and fronts designed to subdue the planet. UPI, well, all I can say about UPI is that it is a full blown propaganda arm of the Universal Peace Federation(UPF), the front which is the culmination of Moon's grand plan. Beyond the numerous articles UPI has produced promoting some aspect of Moon's plot; UPI has its own channel on UPF TV.
"Segye Ilbo" mentioned below is Moon's paper in South Korea.
First we have Moon speaking to his "leaders" - (note he said he was building a wire service 11 years before he bought UPI. Moon knows exactly what he is doing - he isn't the clown people like to believe him to be. He's been doing this methodically, step by step. Does everything work out perfectly, no, but he is relentless and is making his goals.)
Moon to his "leaders":
So please take spiritual dominion in your states. You can proclaim spiritually to the government leaders, "I am the elder brother, you are the younger brother." Teach them what you have learned. I invited many congressmen and senators to come to conferences to be educated. Though they may not proclaim openly, many of them support me. Through the Washington Times, Insight magazine, and the World and I, I have been preparing the foundation for you to influence America.
I am building up a media center, including a television studio and a wire service. Why? Because I want to be rich? No--to educate Americans in God's truth. And who will be the future managers there? You. I created a new research department at the Segye Ilbo in Korea, and they are researching all affairs that have to do with the Unification Church throughout Korea. Through that, we can more know quickly about all situations affecting God's will and deal effectively with them. I don't have one country completely united with me, but I have influential organizations equal to one country's power. [Sun Myung Moon - Leaders' Conference - November 23, 1989]
From the WP on the WT 20th anniversary bash:
During the sermon, [Moon] set the course for the Times' next 10 years: "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." [Moon Speech Raises Old Ghosts as the Times Turns 20 - Washington Post/May 23, 2002]
Moon knows what he is doing:
I influenced America through the Washington Times and so many different activities. Do you want Father in America. (YES !! The ministers responded)...The Last Days are coming to America. Be careful. Those that oppose Rev. Moon will perish. Since I came here, I didn't get anything from America. [Sun Myung Moon, Sun Myung Moon - September 13, 2002 "The Last Days Are Coming to America."]
quoting Ann Louise Bardach:
Charlotte Hayes, who wrote a hilarious and snarky memoir in The New Republic entitled "I was a Moonie Gossip Columnist," still laments the loss of the generous expense account she had at the paper. "This is on the Rev.," Hayes, a thoroughbred conservative, would tell sources as she lunged for meal checks. "The [Washington] Times," she added drolly, "is a place for free market conservatives to escape the free market." [From "Moonstruck: The Reverend and his Newspaper" by Ann Louise Bardach, an article that was originally to have appeared in Vanity Fair in 1992 but was killed. The article finally saw print in 2004 when included in the book Killed, Great Journalism Too Hot to Print by David Wallis.]
Quoting James Whelan the first editor of the WT:
They (the Moonies) are subverting our political system. They're doing it through front organizations--most of them disguised--and through their funding of independent organizations--through the placement of volunteers in the inner sanctums of hard-pressed organizations. In every instance-- in every instance--those who attend their conferences, those who accept their money or their volunteers, delude themselves that there is no loss of virtue because the Moonies have not proselytized. That misses the central, crucial point: the Moonies are a political movement in religious clothing. Moon seeks power, not the salvation of souls. To achieve that, he needs religious fanatics as his palace guard and shock troops. But more importantly, he needs secular conscripts--seduced by money, free trips, free services, seemingly endless bounty and booty--in order to give him respectability and, with it, that image of influence which translates as power. [James Whelan - 1991 CAN panel discussion on Moon's media]