By Dave Shiflett (Bloomberg) – Not everyone believes the world is spinning out of control. Alex Jones, an Austin, Texas radio talk show host, is dead sure that what many of us mistake for economic and political chaos is actually the handiwork of a group of elitists moving ever closer to world domination. His strange yet engrossing story is the subject of “New World Order,” a documentary airing on the Independent Film Channel (IFC) May 26 at 6:45 p.m. New York Time. At first glance Jones resembles Christopher Hitchens, though when he starts talking you’ll likely notice a profound difference. Jones and a committed band of fellow travelers believe 911 was “an inside job” orchestrated to sow panic and reliance on an increasingly repressive government. They believe JFK was killed by “the military industrial complex” and that Halliburton is constructing a gulag of concentration camps capable of holding 50 million Americans. At the controls are members of the Bilderberg Group, whose members include Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller and dozens more bigs from the worlds of politics, finance, and media. So far as Jones and company are concerned, the Bilderbergers’ wingtips conceal cloven hooves and they expend much time and effort stalking and filming the supposed puppet-masters (who are also said to control both major U.S. political parties and the “mainstream media”). Ambitious claims, but any measure, and while few viewers are likely to be converted they may be amazed and sometimes amused by the 83-minute film. Some of the most interesting segments feature the faithful taking their gospel to the streets. Jones plays his bullhorn like a Stradivarius and he and his mates attract plenty of attention when insisting the Trade Center towers were brought down by planted explosives. New Yorkers are a hard sell, however, with one barking “get the f*** out of my country.” Geraldo Rivera is a bit more subtle: when Jones and his cadre heckle him and a couple of Fox blondes as they broadcast live, Geraldo slyly flips them off. A group of sidewalk strollers in New Orleans listens more tolerantly, perhaps because most are nursing beers. The film doesn’t attempt to debunk the conspiracy theories and includes sympathetic treatment of some enthusiasts, including a young man who was driven to the movement by his opposition to the Iraq War and his is belief that the media does not give ample coverage to the mayhem. This segment includes horrifying night-vision footage of the machine-gunning of three apparent infiltrators; the bursts reduce their bodies to small piles of rubble. Filmmakers Luke Meyer and Andrew Neel also show Jones’s playful side as he sings along with a Jerry Reed song and delivers amusing analysis at the Washington Monument, which he calls a “giant power talisman” that elitists believe channels dark power into their evil, conspiring souls. Yet when his microphone goes on, Jones can display an unsettling ferocity and there is highly developed paranoia on display as well. One activist explains that the red and blue dots on some mailboxes (generally believed to have been put there by mail or newspaper carriers) are actually government markings to indicate status on a hit list. Red dots mean “they take you out immediately and shoot you in head” while blue dots mean you are sent off to the Halliburton concentration camps, which makes standard issue Bush/Cheney hatred seem like a schoolgirl crush. Near the end, Jones rejects the idea that conspiracy theorists embrace their all-encompassing beliefs so they will feel that at least someone or something is in control. They believe they’re really on to something. Many viewers will likely retain their view that the world continues to fly by the seat of its well-worn pants, thank goodness. And no, I am not now nor have ever been a Bilderberger. (Dave Shiflett is a critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)
