mirror of
https://github.com/nhammer514/textfiles-politics.git
synced 2024-12-12 17:24:29 -05:00
54 lines
4.2 KiB
XML
54 lines
4.2 KiB
XML
|
<xml><p>THE <ent type='ORG'>BOHEMIAN</ent> CLUB</p>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p> For two and a half weeks every July, two thousand of the top
|
||
|
|
movers and shakers in business and government attend the <ent type='NORP'>Bohemian</ent>
|
||
|
|
Club's summer encampment. Although highly selective, the club has
|
||
|
|
a national membership and is among the most prestigious of
|
||
|
|
affiliations in neoconservative circles. Its membership is known
|
||
|
|
to include <ent type='PERSON'>Ronald Reagan</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>George Bush</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Gerald Ford</ent>, William F.
|
||
|
|
Buckley, Jr., <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Borman</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Justin Dart</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>William Randolph Hearst</ent>,
|
||
|
|
Jr., <ent type='PERSON'>Caspar Weinberger</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Charles Percy</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>George Schultz</ent>, Edward
|
||
|
|
Teller, <ent type='PERSON'>Merv Griffin</ent>, and a large proportion of the directors and
|
||
|
|
chief executive officers of the Fortune 1000. <ent type='PERSON'>Daniel Ludwig</ent>, the
|
||
|
|
richest private citizen on earth, is a <ent type='NORP'>Bohemian</ent>. Conspiracy nuts
|
||
|
|
think <ent type='ORG'>the Bohemian Club</ent> meets each summer to plot to take over the
|
||
|
|
world. These guys ALREADY run the world.
|
||
|
|
The club's name harkens back to its founding in 1872 by
|
||
|
|
artists and journalists in <ent type='LOC'>the Bay Area</ent>; the club proper is at 624
|
||
|
|
Taylor Street in <ent type='GPE'>San Francisco</ent>. The annual summer camp is held at
|
||
|
|
"<ent type='NORP'>Bohemian</ent> <ent type='ORG'>Grove</ent>," an isolated site in <ent type='GPE'>Sonoma County</ent>, <ent type='GPE'>California</ent>,
|
||
|
|
near the town of <ent type='GPE'>Monte Rio</ent>. To get there, you cross the bridge
|
||
|
|
over the <ent type='NORP'>Russian</ent> River and take the second left.
|
||
|
|
Signs warn off trespassers, and the <ent type='ORG'>Grove</ent> is guarded during
|
||
|
|
the encampment. Visitors must have invitations and sign in and
|
||
|
|
out; cooks and other workers have to wear ID badges. The club (and
|
||
|
|
hired staff) is all male. There are no black <ent type='NORP'>Bohemian</ent>s and just
|
||
|
|
one <ent type='NORP'>Asian</ent>; the former <ent type='NORP'>Philippine</ent> president <ent type='PERSON'>Carlos Romulo</ent>.
|
||
|
|
The club does a good job of avoiding publicity, although in
|
||
|
|
1980 <ent type='PERSON'>Rick Clogher</ent>, a writer for <ent type='ORG'>MOTHER JONES</ent> magazine, managed to
|
||
|
|
slip in to the encampment for four days with the help of an
|
||
|
|
unidentified insider. Brooding over the <ent type='ORG'>Grove</ent> is a giant rock that
|
||
|
|
looks like an owl. <ent type='PERSON'>Clogher</ent> discovered that the rock is concrete,
|
||
|
|
covered with moss to look natural. <ent type='ORG'>The Cremation</ent> of Care ritual
|
||
|
|
takes place in front of the owl when, on the first night of camp,
|
||
|
|
robed members burn a doll representing <ent type='ORG'>Dull Care</ent>.
|
||
|
|
<ent type='NORP'>Bohemian</ent> <ent type='ORG'>Grove</ent> includes 122 distinct camps in its 2700
|
||
|
|
acres. The camps have whimsical names such as <ent type='LOC'>Whiskey Flat</ent>,
|
||
|
|
<ent type='LOC'>Toyland</ent>, Owl's Nest, <ent type='LOC'>Hill Billies</ent>, and Cave Man's, and each one
|
||
|
|
has its own kitchen-bar building -- there is a lot of drinking --
|
||
|
|
and sleeping quarters. The members of some camps sleep in tents;
|
||
|
|
other camps have redwood cabins. Daily "Lakeside Talks" on
|
||
|
|
geopolitical topics are given by prominent speakers, both members
|
||
|
|
and non-members. It is claimed that <ent type='PERSON'>Richard Nixon</ent> and Ronald
|
||
|
|
<ent type='PERSON'>Reagan</ent> conferred during the 1967 encampment, <ent type='PERSON'>Reagan</ent> agreeing not
|
||
|
|
to challenge <ent type='PERSON'>Nixon</ent> for the presidential nomination.
|
||
|
|
The highlight of camp is the <ent type='ORG'>Grove</ent> play, which is written
|
||
|
|
exclusively for the club. All the female roles are played by men
|
||
|
|
in drag. The 1980 play was an adaptation of the <ent type='NORP'>Greek</ent> myth of
|
||
|
|
Cronus and Zeus supplemented with fireworks, smoke bombs, and a
|
||
|
|
light show. (One can only wonder if <ent type='PERSON'>Reagan</ent> ever starred in a <ent type='ORG'>Grove</ent>
|
||
|
|
play. He certainly has more acting experience than most club
|
||
|
|
members.) The polished productions cost the <ent type='NORP'>Bohemian</ent>s as much as
|
||
|
|
$25000 -- for one performance.</p>
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
<p> xperience than most </p></xml>
|