A Reminder Re: Sen. Holy Jim DeMint (R-SC)

An April 20, 2003 AP story "Fellowship finances townhouse where 6 congressmen live" is unfortunately no longer available on the ‘net.* However, since he's been shooting his mouth off, it seemed a good time to recall Sen. DeMint's (R-SC) unique Washington housing arrangement.

Holy Jimmy DeMint (R-SC) is so righteous he lives in a DC townhouse with 5 other Congress members. It's courtesy of a secretive religious group known as The Family AKA The Fellowship AKA The Fellowship Foundation AKA National Fellowship Council AKA Fellowship House AKA The International Foundation AKA National Committee for Christian Leadership AKA International Christian Leadership AKA the National Leadership Council.

I'm not much of a Christian nor am I a fan of organized religion. My perception is there's at least as many organized worshipers of any given faith up to no good as there are doing good works. So I dunno about you but I find it more than a little hinky that a "Christian" group requires more aliases names than your garden-variety grifter.

It also strikes me as odd that while spending his time in the Capitol, a bible-thumping homophobic Senator chooses to live with 5 other guys instead of his wife. For the uninitiated, it looks kinda gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

But what about Senators and Congressmen living rent free through the kindness of this lobbying entity? Because make no mistake about it, that's what The Family is. Under these circumstances i.e. getting a posh rent-free townhouse might make you powerfully inclined to vote in the interests of your "landlord."Surely something is wrong with that.

Nope. Miraculously, Jesus' involvement makes this A-OK. That's messed up. If The Family was a secular group, rather than a secretive religious group hell-bent on influencing Congress, "subsidizing" housing for member of Congress wouldn't only be viewed as inappropriate. It would be illegal.

"The Family" skinny per Sourcewatch.

-AF
*I have this article saved somewhere as a PDF for such an occasion. If I can find it, I'll try to figure out how to post it.