Elite Bilderberg 2011 Meeting Draws Scrutiny
by Alex Newman
A secretive cabal of some of the world’s most influential people known as the Bilderberg group will be meeting from June 9 to the 12th in St. Moritz, Switzerland – but this year, more attention than usual is being afforded to the gathering in the world press. The shadowy organization – made up of about 120 central bankers, top CEOs, academics, European royalty, big bankers, high-ranking politicians and even representatives of the establishment media – has been getting together once a year since the mid-1950s. The group of “leading citizens,” as attendees are described on the group’s purported official website, gets its name from the Bilderberg Hotel in Holland where the first meeting was held in 1954. Until recently, almost the entire international media establishment maintained an apparent information blackout of the yearly gatherings. Despite the fact that representatives of some of the world’s largest news outlets are always present at the conference, the vast majority of event coverage has generally come from the alternative press. The rise of the Internet and widespread media choice, however, appear to have had a major effect. This year, the Bilderberg conference is attracting far more scrutiny than past gatherings – in line with a steady trend over the last few years of increasing awareness surrounding the affair. Several major media outlets around the world have already picked up the story. And news of the gathering is expected to continue making headlines in the coming days as the conference kicks off Thursday. Some of the mainstream press coverage thus far, however, has focused primarily on downplaying the meeting’s importance and painting its critics in a negative light. In a June 8 BBC article, the government-funded media outlet attempted to ridicule concerns about the Bilderberg meeting and the massive power wielded by attendees. Citing various authors, the state reporter desperately tried to link critics of the secretive meetings to “anti-Semitism,” a psychological feeling of alienation or powerlessness, and even belief in a world “governed by alien, reptilian shape shifters” expounded by a former sports journalist named David Icke.
“In fact, many conspiracy theories surrounding cabals hint at an anti-Semitic worldview,” the BBC Bilderberg piece claimed, citing the discredited Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Eventually the article quotes one expert who acknowledges that there could be some kernel of truth to Bilderberg theories about power-hungry conspirators out to rule the planet – and that there is indeed a “very strong move” to erect a one-world government. But the piece closes with yet another quote blasting critics of the cabal, with a newspaper columnist claiming that a “strong belief in the Bilderberg Group means believing in a fantasy” and is “anti-scientific.” Of course, not believing in the Bilderberg group would be to deny reality and the facts, but presumably the columnist was referring to thinking that the meeting is powerful or nefarious. Other mainstream reports, however, were more friendly to Bilderberg critics. “It's a shame the attendees are still so phobic of attention, seeing as how this year there's shaping up to be more press interest than ever. People and the media have finally started noticing this quiet little conference at the centre of the storm,” noted a piece in the U.K. Guardian, pointing out that the cabal played a crucial role in the creation of the European Union. While very little information is ever publicly released following the conferences, general topics on the agenda have been compiled on an official website cited by numerous media outlets. In 2007, for example, the first item on the list was “The New World Order.” And with some of the most powerful people on earth attending the meeting, most objective analysts realize that the group wields enormous collective influence. June 11, 2011 Copyright © 2011 The New American
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