As usual, 
Waldo Jaquith's been doing some fine work over at his blog. This time it's about Republican Virginia House Delegate Jeff Frederick (R-Prince William) and his "mystery fundraiser" with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX). Waldo's digging deserves more attention, so I'm mentioning it here as well.
It turns out that the ethically- and legally-challenged DeLay held a fundraiser for Frederick on April 19, but, according to Waldo, the State Board of Elections is missing one thing: "any evidence of the party." Waldo concludes that "[e]ither Del. Frederick?s campaign is violating Virginia election law, or this was the lamest fundraiser ever. " So which is it, Del. Frederick? Time to put in a call to Chris Piper over at the State Board of Elections' compliance section?
Also, while we're at it, we might as well resurrect my July 2 piece, "Jeff Frederick: Right Wing Extremist." 'Nuff said. Go Hilda!
Generally speaking, most people would try to hide their affiliations with extremist groups. But not the 52nd District's House of Delegates representative Jeff Frederick, who touts the fact that he is an "active member" in the secretive, far-right-wing Council for National Policy (CNP). Notice that I haven't linked to this group's website? That's because they don't HAVE a website, or just about anything else publicly available about them. This is one super-secretive group! Luckily, others - ABC News, for instance - have looked into CNP, and what they have found is disturbing.
Let's start with some excerpts from the ABC News story of September 30, 2004, "Inside the Council for National Policy: Meet the Most Powerful Conservative Group You've Never Heard Of."
When Steve Baldwin, the executive director of an organization with the stale-as-old-bread name of the Council for National Policy, boasts that "we control everything in the world," he is only half-kidding.Half-kidding, because the council doesn't really control the world. The staff of about eight, working in a modern office building in Fairfax, Va., isn't even enough for a real full-court basketball game.
But also half-serious because the council has deservedly attained the reputation for conceiving and promoting the ideas of many who in fact do want to control everything in the world.
[...]
CNP was conceived in 1981 by at least five fathers, including the Rev. Tim LaHaye, an evangelical preacher who was then the head of the Moral Majority. (LaHaye is the co-author of the popular Left Behind series that predicts and subsequently depicts the Apocalypse). Nelson Baker Hunt, billionaire son of billionaire oilman H.L. Hunt (connected to both the John Birch Society and to Ronald Reagan's political network), businessman and one-time murder suspect T. Cullen Davis, and wealthy John Bircher William Cies provided the seed money.
[...]
...at thrice-yearly conventions, the CNP has functioned as a sausage factory for conservative ideas of a particular go?t: strong affirmations of military power, Christian heritage, traditional values, and leave-us-alone-get-off-our-backs legislation.
[...]
...The CNP helped Christian conservatives take control of the Republican state party apparati in Southern and Midwestern states. It helped to spread word about the infamous "Clinton Chronicles" videotapes that linked the president to a host of crimes in Arkansas.
Interestingly, almost no "current and former members" ABC contacted for its story would speak on the record about CNP. "Those who did respond to telephone and e-mail messages declined to talk about their interest in the organization. More than a dozen did not respond at all."
Who belongs to this group? According to the Institute for First Amendment Studies, it includes people like Christian Coalition founder Pat "God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew? Robertson, Iran-Contra convicted felon Oliver North, anti-feminist and anti-gay right-wing activist Phyllis Schlafly, "cult of" Amway founder Richard DeVos, Chuck Missler (an anti-Muslim bigot and "Idaho radio host who has predicted an imminent invasion of Jerusalem by forces guided by the Antichrist"), anti-Catholic Bob Jones University President Bob Jones III, John Ankerberg ("who believes that biblical prophecies were literal promises and are coming true"), Rutherford Institute founder John W. Whitehead, Rev. Jerry "Tinky Winky is Homosexual" Falwell, Tom DeLay, and the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. This is the group that Jeff Frederick proudly belongs to.
What does CNP do? Formally, the group is "an educational foundation registered under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code." In practice, "the role of the CNP appears to be that of a policy and funding conduit for the Religious Right projects, both political and religious...to propagate the idea of transforming the United States back to it's 'godly' heritage... [plus] a raw capitalist and expansionist policy coupled with an aggressive authoritarian approach to governance. " Charming.
And this is the group in which Jeff Frederick boasts an "active" membership. It's not surprising, then, that Frederick is an anti-tax extremist strongly backed by people like Tom DeLay and Florida Rep. Katherine "Cruella DeVil" Harris. Oh, and let's not forget our good friend Jerry Kilgore, whose PAC was, according to Democracy for Virginia, "the second-largest donor to Frederick's 2003 campaign, giving him $10,000." Finally, it is highly revealing that the largest current donor to Jeff Frederick's campaign is none other than GSX Strategies, his own company. Now that's impressive!
Fortunately, Frederick has a super strong opponent in Hilda Barg, who popular Virginia Gov. Mark Warner is strongly backing. Among other things, Barg has 18 years of experience on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, was a small business owner, and believes strongly in improving public education, human services and transportation infrastructure. With all that going for Hilda Barg, combined with Jeff Frederick's far-right-wing extremist views, something tells me that the 52nd District incumbent's days in office are rapidly drawing to a close. On the bright side, after Frederick loses to Barg in November, he will be free spend all his free time with the CNP. That is, if they'll still have him as a member.