MORE PROOF THAT PAUL KRUGMAN READS BLOGS, and a feather in Atrios’ cap:

The Internet commentator Atrios, who played a key role in bringing Mr. Lott’s past to light, now urges us to look into the secretive Council for National Policy. This blandly named organization was founded by Tim LaHaye, co-author of the apocalyptic “Left Behind” novels, and is in effect a fundamentalist pressure group. As of 1998 the organization’s membership contained many leading Congressional figures in the Republican Party, though none of the party’s neoconservative intellectuals.

I would have thought, though, that “fundamentalists” — even though their agenda differs from mine, or from Paul Krugman’s — have as much right to form “pressure groups” as anyone else. Does Krugman disagree? It appears that he does. Or am I wrong here?

UPDATE: Rand Simberg emails to note another fundamentalist pressure group with a troubling degree of influence over some members of Congress — several members of Congress, he says, actually belong to the group and one runs under its banner. Meanwhile Tom Maguire emails that Atrios’ weekend mention of the topic is called (with a nod to Mickey Kaus) “Assignment Desk.” Krugman’s not just reading weblogs — he’s getting his marching orders from them! All power to the blogosphere!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Marc Ambinder of The Note wrote this article on the CNP last year. Turns out that “the council doesn’t really control the world.” Of course not. Everyone knows that the world is controlled by The Power Of The Blogosphere.