Jeff Sharlet, author of "The Family, the secret fundamentalism at the heart of American Power," tells Rachel Maddow on the 4/8 Rachel Maddow Show that residents at the C Street house, the residence of Congressional members of a religious organization known as The Family, enjoy the benefit of domestic servants.
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SHARLET: I recently spoke to a young woman, young evangelical woman, she thought she would going to do an internship in Washington, but she found herself recruited into C street and turning down sheets for John Ensign, and she said it really sort of galled her that it wasn't just those congressman, it was also people like Oliver North, hanging around and she was expected to be at their beck and call..
MADDOW: And just to be clear, people who think they're getting sort of an internship are the people who are providing essentially maid services at no cost to the members of Congress for maintaining these facilities that they live in?
SHARLET: Sure. And there are men who are part of the family who live at the house where I lived for a while called Ivanwald who were brought over when I went over there. I was expected to be -- I was told that my job was to be there as a servant for these congressmen. So whether Tom Coburn is paying 800 dollars or twice that, that's the best bargain in Washington.
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Reminds me of this article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/business/03intern.html?scp=1&sq=intern&st=cse.
These people believe that they are "entitled". It is not just this group, in the early 90's we ran into an attorney affiliated with something called the "Christian Brotherhood", my girlfriend was trying to escape from an abusive husband. The courts and retained counsel bent to the directions of this attorney, one time in court when my girlfriend presented documents refuting the claims of this crusading attorney her attorney responded that the "courts allow a certain latitude" and "professional courtesy".
http://home.comcast.net/~styx.cml-lsm/01/Cases/OurIssues01.htm#brotherhoodattorney
The rhetoric of the Bush administration reminded us of those days in the early 90's, now at least they are being exposed - finally.
The point I am making is that these entitled are willing to do anything that they feel like, things like law, ethics, deception or theft does not matter to them - they are entitled.
I guess people need to pay attention a bit more to the Evangelicals and what they say is 'Christian-like'. Because according to them (now, away), if you are wealthy, it means you are blessed by God. Politics isn't the only thing that has changed in the past decade or so.
Righteousness is bestowed by the righteous. Wonder how that got started.
Great investigative piece. Really eye-popping stuff.
Please consider more segments about The Family and their relationship with those in power.
Ditto...more segments on "The Family". Interesting when the guest described the elegance of C Street and said "they don't have conferences on Moran's box spring", haha. Poor guy, he actually had to "buy his own box spring and matress"...boo hoo.
Keep up the great work on C Street and interjecting true transparency into what really goes on 'inside the Beltway, " Rachel! The Family's (Doug Coe's in particular) "power fetish" that Sharlet outlined in his book plays well with the general ethos of Washington culture. I think that's why The Fellowship has been able to flourish for so long.
For example, I was just floored when I heard Sec. of State Clinton's glowing remarks about The Fellowship. It is one of the most sexist organizations I have ever worked for. I worked at the Cedars in 1986. I thought I was joining a Christian community in order to strengthen my faith and develop a support system.
But as the young woman that Jeff Sharlet mentioned in this story discovered, I learned that women's service at C Street and the Cedars is more about cheap labor and creating wives and assistants for the men involved in the Fellowship. The guys at Ivanwald used to call us FAT WOGS. (Faithful, Attractive, Teachable Women of God)
I don't know if Jeff has covered this at all, but a lot of young people associated with the Fellowship end up working as Congressional Aides. That might be what this young woman was recruited for, but then was placed at C Street instead.
The defensive posture adopted by those who have responded so far seems to imply their understanding of the situation and a desire to spin it away. That surprises me. It would have seemed to me to be more politically expedient to have adopted another posture entirely, one that showed surprise, even shock, and a desire to get to the bottom of the situation and correct it. But then, not being a rich over-privileged white man, what do I know?
I dont claim to know anything about the prices of apts in washington. What I do know that even in the podunk town I live in it would cost you anywhere from 400.00 to 500.00 dollars for a one room apt, and that does not include maid services. As far as walking distance to work it doesnt matter where you live in this town you driving to your job. It really upsets me to think those guys think the people in this country are that stupid. Althought with some of the stuff that has happen lately I kind of have to wonder myself.
This whole C Street story completely baffles me. With the list of ethical issues piling up, I don't understand why it is still around. And as for the interns, as a college student who will be looking for internships in the near future, I feel bad for the interns who originally thought they would be getting valuable experience with top politicians, only to find that they have to make their beds. And I know nothing about real estate, but even I know that they are paying WAY too little, and their futile attempts to deny it would be funny if it wasn't such an important story. This story truly brings to light that no one should be above the law, but that isn't always the case in politics.
This has already been said, but thank you for making this story one of the top issues on your show. Hopefully, with continual coverage, there will be some kind of investigation into who is paying their rent.