In Molly Ivins’ latest column she mentions that John Ashcroft is a member of the Council for National Policy, an organization that I hadn’t heard of. Apparently it’s a group of politicians, money men, and hardcore idealogues from the religious right who meet three times a year to work on their public policy agenda. They don’t have a Web site and don’t publish policy papers, because they’re a secret organization. Neither the membership list nor the meetings are open to the public. Sounds pretty nefarious doesn’t it? Fortunately, the Institute for First Amendment Studies is keeping an eye on these guys.