By Mark Anderson
CHANTILLY, Virginia—The Washington Post—whose top managers have long attended the hyper-exclusive Bilderberg Conferences each year and were thanked by Bilderberg leaders for never reporting on the conference—broke decades of silence and gave a respectable report on Bilderberg 2012 on the front of its Metro section June 2.
“Henry Kissinger and Bill Gates were chauffeured in.” the story in the Post noted, adding, “Outside the [security] barriers, dozens of protesters and conspiracy theorists—convinced that Bilderberg is a global cabal [of about 120 key members] that runs the world—waved signs and shouted into bullhorns.” And while the approximately 626-word Post story downplayed Bilderberg’s power and influence, the clunky article revealed that Washington lobbyist Vin Weber, “who has been a presenter at Bilderberg twice,” is an advisor to GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
The Post article also acknowledged that Donald E. Graham, the Washington Post Company’s board chairman and chief executive, is “on the invitation list” for Bilderberg 2012. But the fact is that Graham has attended for many years, yet until now there has been no known Post coverage of Bilderberg gatherings.
That the Post was finally covering Bilderberg first became evident when Post photographer Mark Gail showed up near the front gate of the stately Westfields Marriot hotel June 1, to cover what became a four-day demonstration of hundreds of boisterous protesters whose passionate message gave the arriving Bilderberg attendees something to think about—while these pampered plutocrats, as always, holed themselves up in a posh hotel behind a tight security perimeter, complete with armed guards.
This media breakthrough stems in part from a stepped-up effort by AMERICAN FREE PRESS to overcome the broad-based, tortuously long United States mainstream press blackout regarding coverage of the annual Bilderberg Conference—the infamous, highly secretive conference of the rich and powerful from government, central banks, the military, defense industries and various well connected corporations, top media moguls, etc., which often convenes in Europe but also met in Chantilly in 2008 and in 2002.
Other U.S. Bilderberg meetings took place in Lake Lanier, Georgia in 1997, Glen Cove, New York in 1990, Rye Brook, N.Y. in 1985, Princeton, New Jersey in 1978, Woodstock, Vermont in 1971, Williamsburg, Va., in 1964, and St. Simons Island, Ga., 1957.
The European press has been, and remains, ahead of the U.S. media in “outing” what used to be a totally secret conference of world planners whose inter-actions affect everyone on earth. Yet, the Post’s story and two stories by The Washington Times—on May 30’s front page and on June 1 on Page A8 with a large color photo of protesters—show there is finally a turning point regarding U.S. media coverage of a conference that has convened nearly every year since taking root in the Netherlands in 1954. And, as this story was filed, it was hard to guess just how far “the ripples in the pond” would go regarding more U.S. mainstream media coverage in the days and weeks ahead.
World Net Daily, a widely read online U.S.-based news source, ran a major story as Bilderberg attendees rolled into town for their May 31 thru June 3 conference. And various area television outlets and other newspaper offices—local, regional, statewide and national—were contacted by AFP, though it was tough to tell who would actually show up to cover Bilderberg.
Moreover, a Times of London reporter, from his New York office, contacted this reporter as well as veteran AFP “Bilderberg Hound” James P. Tucker, Jr. Moreover, the Guardian’s Charlie Skelton arrived in Virginia from the U.K. and continued his insightful commentary on Bilderberg that has greatly heightened awareness in the U.K and beyond. The Daily Mail of England also covered Bilderberg 2012.
And, of course, AFP’s print media and video crew, Alex Jones’s InfoWars.com news team and various independent videographers maintained aggressive coverage among alternative media for short-term news and long-term documentaries. Many brought new, portable technology that allows their video footage to be broadcast online in real time—a major challenge to the old-guard media.
As AFP has maintained—especially by way of Mr. Tucker’s doggedly persistent work to expose Bilderberg since 1975—Bilderberg’s very existence is proof-positive that fundamental decisions which gravely effect the destinies of entire nations are made behind closed doors, outside the “transparent” and “democratic” decision-making process we’re told we have.
Around Chantilly, several waiters, a bank teller and restaurant patrons were asked whether they knew about Bilderberg, while some overheard remarks among the AFP crew and other reporters about the conference. Some expressed considerable disgust and-or amazement upon learning about Bilderberg and reflecting on why they had never heard about such a significant conference of power brokers in their hometown.
Often, when people begin to realize that these secretive annual Bilderberg sessions set the basic direction of nation states’ foreign and economic policies, toward an unchallengeable world government, they seem motivated to spread the word. So, AFP’s crew naturally shared copies of this newspaper with them, while distributing the paper around the Chantilly-Herndon area.
Mark Anderson is AFP’s roving editor. Listen to Mark’s weekly radio show and email him at [email protected].
