Davis has been representing the Illinois 7th district (which contains downtown Chicago, the West Side of Chicago and a few immediate suburbs directly west of Chicago) since 1997. Before that he was Commissioner of Cook County, Illinois (1990-1997) and before that he was a member of the Chicago City Council (1979-1990). Davis' district includes some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the nation (Chicago's super wealthy financial district is located in the 7th), most cultural neighborhoods (most of Chicago's world famous museums and colleges are in the 7th) as well as some of the most poorest, gang ridden neighborhoods in nation as well (many of Chicago's infamous projects are also found in the 7th). With its population mostly made up of African Americans (who make up 62% of the district) and White liberals, the 7th is one of the most Democratic districts in the nation. Like most urban congressional districts, Republicans are far and few between and Davis won re-election in 2006 with 86% of the vote.
As congressman, Davis has been one of the most progressive members of the House. Recently, Davis was successful in getting the Second Chance Act passed with bi-partisan support. Basically, Second Chance funds programs to help convicts reenter society after release from prison. Being from an urban district, Davis has spent much of his time in Congress lobbying hard for its success, and its final passage in both houses was a victory for urban activists.
However, in recent years, a very bizarre side of Davis has come to light. The best example of this bizarre side was the night he took part in the coronation of the Rev. Sun Myong Moon.
In case you don't know who Sun Myong Moon is, he is an eccentric billionaire from South Korea (though he now spends most of his time on his estates in suburbs of NYC). Moon is also the founder and head of the Unification Church, one of the most bizarre cults in history, famous for its members taking part in mass weddings, and also for its members going out into the streets begging for money as a way to raise funds for the Church. Moon - who claims to be the new messiah sent to finish Jesus' mission - also spent a year back in the 1980's in a US Federal prison on tax evasion charges. Since then Moon has become a huge donor to the Republican Party and social conservative causes. Lately Moon, now approaching 90, has been traveling around the world giving ranting speeches about people's "love organs"(that's the term Moon really uses, just google Moon's name with the term). In one speech Moon told male followers to always remember to pinch their "love organ" at least once a day with a pair of pliers. Moon also loves to talk about the shape of our "love organs". In a speech given at a dinner in Washington DC attended by a large number of conservative politicians and journalists, Moon actually stated: "The human sexual organs are shaped as concave and convex" (you can see the actual footage of this speech here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QuDK5mmOvA&feature=related ). If you want to know more about the eccentric Rev Moon, you can find plenty of websites exposing him and his very strange teachings.
Anyway, back on March 23, 2004, one of the most strange events in recent history took place as Rev Moon was crowned "King of Peace" in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. The event began very innocently as an award ceremony as peace awards were given out to many in attendance. Also in attendance was Rep. Davis and probably about 6-8 other Congressmen and Senators (the Moonies claim that 81 members of Congress were there but footage they themselves shot show no more than six or so recognizable members of Congress). About halfway in the evening things took a strange turn as Moon declared a reconciliation of the world's races and religions, and people representing all groups got up on stage and reconciled by hugging each other. As the evening continued (you can see footage of this event on youtube), Congressman Davis joined in as he went up on stage and read a poem Moon had written as a teenager. At another point in the evening, a rabbi got up on stage and basically declared Moon to be the Messiah. Finally it was declared that Moon and his wife were to receive the International Crown of Peace awards, and as such, would now be known as the "King and Queen of Peace". Then Moon and his wife were dressed in fancy robes and then crowned. Davis took part in the coronation as he brought out Mrs. Moon's crown (wearing white gloves and very much looking life a footman in a European royal court), and is seen in footage to be bowing before Rev. and Mrs. Moon. Moon then went on to give a long ranting speech in which he declared himself to be the true Messiah and it was time for the world's governments to recognise him as so. Moon - who has stated that if given the chance he will purge the world of homosexuals in the same way Stalin got rid of his enemies -has also declared that every dead president has become a follower of him in the Spirit World.
Here we see Congressman Davis arriving with Mrs. Moon's crown.
This is the official picture taken at the event. Congressman Davis can be seen third from the right of Mrs. Moon.
Anyway when the event was exposed some time later, Davis was naturally questioned about his role in the event. While the few other congressmen who were in attendance stated they had been duped into attending (and the footage the Moonies themselves shot seem to confirm this for at least several of them), Davis' very public role in the evening prevented him from taking a similar path. Davis under questioning admitted that the Moonies have contributed to his campaigns in the past and the reason why he attended the dinner was to honor the Moonies commitment to world peace (when asked to name a single initiative Rev Moon has started to end wars Davis could not name one). Davis - who is a Deacon in the Missionary Baptist Church, - said the Moonies simply asked him to take part in the ceremony and he agreed. Davis then went on to say that the coronation of Rev and Mrs Moon was not that important and was the same thing as high school students crowning a king and queen at the prom (since the coronation, Moon has been making more and more appearances wearing a crown). Sometime after the event, Davis actually praised Rev. Moon on the House floor and entering some of his statements praising Rev Moon into the Congressional Record.
After the fallout of this Davis' bizarre side was exposed again when he took a trip to Sri Lanka paid for by the Tamil Tigers, a group the US government has long considered to be a terrorist organization. Since the 1980's, the Tamil Tigers has waged a war of Independence in Sri Lanka, fighting to establish a Tamil state on the Northern side of the island. In their fight, the Tigers favorite means of fighting include using suicide bombers (until the 2000's they dominated in this field), child soldiers, and blowing up crowded buses (again, until the 2000's they also dominated in this field). The trip, which took place in April of 2005, took Davis and an aide into the parts of Sri Lanka under the control of the Tigers. Davis said he took the trip at the requests of ethnic Tamils living in the Chicago area to see how they were recovering from the Tsunami that had struck back in December. Davis said he thought the group who funded it were simply associated with the Tigers, and not an actual branch of them. Further investigation revealed that Davis has ties with several known shady people of Tamil origin, a couple of whom have been charged with trying to steal technology from the US military. Once again, Davis has claimed ignorance of all of this.
So what lies in the future for Congressman Davis? This spring he destroyed his competitor in the primary (which in a district with almost no Republicans, is the real election for who gets to sit in the House of Reps.), winning with almost 128,000 votes cast while his opponent, Robert Dallas, got a mere 12,000 votes - Note: remember the turnout for this primary had more to do with it being on Obama's home turf (he lives in a nearby district in Chicago's South Side) than with the popularity of Congressman Davis. Perhaps the new congressional term will reveal a new bizarre side of Congressman Danny K Davis.
No comments:
Post a Comment