Can't stand the suspense?

Are you on the edge of your seat about the coming war? You've got ten more days of suspense. Unless that's just disinformation. If I were Paul Wolfowitz, I would launch the attach on the ninth day. That'd show 'em!

The March issue of Harper's has a riveting article about a secret evangelical society -- sort of a Protestant Opus Dei -- called "The Family." Many senators and congressmen have been members; the purpose of the group seems to be to get right-wing Christians as much access as possible to the powerful occupants of the White House and Congress. The article, which isn't online yet, depicts the organization's leader, Doug Coe, telling this anecdote, which has clearly been repeated many times, judging from the number of times it's already been published on the web. This archives contents list of the organization's papers at Wheaton College provides some background. The group's only public event is the annual National Prayer Breakfast, which both Bush pere and fils, as well as Joe Lieberman and many other presidents and politicians, have spoken at.

This started me on a search that reminded me that the internet is an amazing thing. Here are some of the things I found: Broken-glass Republicans would crawl through broken glass if it would get Clinton out of office. A paranoid description of the supposed ties between Coe and the New Age movement. And this article by Jim Wallis, leader of the liberal Christian group Sojourners, mentions Coe as an example of right-wing Christian influence in Washington.