Attention Irish Immigration Authorities

A busy week for the entry of undesirables to the Republic. A couple of days after Cliff May made it to the Phil at Trinity to debate the GWOT/GSAVE (of which we have to hope to have further accounts soon), Friday's Irish Times (subs. req'd) brings news that the Rev. Moon might be popping up in the city to appear at a "Moonie" conference:

The "Reverend" Sun Myung Moon, the Korean-born founder of the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP), is due to speak at a "peace" conference in Dublin today on what would be his first visit to Ireland.

The 85-year-old has been banned from travelling to a number of countries in the past, including Britain and Germany, due to concerns about his financial affairs. He was convicted and jailed for tax fraud in the US in 1982 ...

The IIFWP has admitted that a private function will be held for its members in a Dublin hotel this evening. However, it said Moon's attendance had yet to be confirmed.

Now while the concerns of objectors are legitimately focused on the cult aspect of the Moonies, the politics are just as atrocious. The Rev Moon has tight links to the Vast Rightwing Conspiracy via his organ, the Washington Times. For some insights into the type of characters he has working there, check out this selection of posts on his editor-in-chief Wes Pruden by the non-repulsive Roger Ailes.

And if you think this is just a fringe operation in terms of mainstream Washington politics, how about this? --

More than a dozen lawmakers attended a congressional reception this year honoring the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in which Moon declared himself the Messiah and said his teachings have helped Hitler and Stalin be "reborn as new persons."

At the March 23 [2004] ceremony in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) wore white gloves and carried a pillow holding an ornate crown that was placed on Moon's head. The Korean-born businessman and religious leader then delivered a long speech saying he was "sent to Earth . . . to save the world's six billion people. . . . Emperors, kings and presidents . . . have declared to all Heaven and Earth that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent."

Details of the ceremony -- first reported by Salon.com writer John Gorenfeld -- have prompted several lawmakers to say they were misled or duped by organizers. Their complaints prompted a Moon-affiliated Web site to remove a video of the "Crown of Peace" ceremony two days ago, but other Web sites have preserved details and photos ...

The event's organizers flew in nearly 100 honorees from all 50 states to receive state and national peace awards. The only "international crown of peace awards" went to Moon and his wife.

Some Republicans who attended the event, including Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (Md.), said they did so mainly to salute the Washington Times, a conservative-leaning newspaper owned by Moon's organization. "I had no idea what would happen" regarding Moon's coronation and speech, Bartlett said yesterday.

He reads the paper for its political leanings, but not its broader lunacy.