I recall the late William F. Buckley, Jr. bragging on his ability to identify liberals. Take him to a party, blindfold him, spin him around, take off the blindfold, and he could unerringly point out the liberals.
It’s not bragging if you can do it. I have no doubt Buckley could do it. “Brag” is the wrong word. “Revealing” or “disclosing” would be more like it.
I thought of Buckley’s revelation when we attended the Guthrie Theater’s production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House this past Wednesday evening. The Guthrie has staged the version of the play adapted by Amy Kellogg Tracy Brigden is the director. Performed on the the Guthrie’s Wurtele Thrust Stage in a space that seats 1,100, the play was nearly sold out. The place was packed.
The star of the play is Amelia Pedlow (Ibsen’s Nora). She is a strikingly beautiful actress. The production was professional, but something is wrong when the audience laughs at Nora’s climactic declaration of independence, as it did Wednesday night. I think the audience was obtuse.
We got off on the wrong foot with the Guthrie’s recorded land acknowledgment. The recorded land acknowledgment is read by someone with the sonorous voice of a public radio announcer: “The Guthrie Theater would like to acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the Dakota People and honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who who have stewarded it through the generations, including the Ojibwe and other indigenous nations.”
The message is not only broadcast over the audio system before the play, it is posted at the link above and printed on page 3 of the program. Once is too much, but the Guthrie gives it to us several times just to emphasize that people like me don’t belong there.
The Dakota People have two federally recognized tribes in Minnesota — the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and the Prairie Island Indian Community. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community runs the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel and the Little Six Casino, while the Prairie Island Indian Community operates Treasure Island Resort & Casino. I would like to acknowledge that they have recouped the value of the land on which the Guthrie sits many times over. They continue to collect their winnings from the white man and others inclined to gamble at their casinos.
The director of the play is a left-wing moron. She writes in the program: “[N]o matter the era, the play always seems to have relevance as an exploration of women’s roles in society and the quest for equality. And it’s no different in 2025. We’re still fighting for women’s fundamental freedom like reproductive rights, pay equity and protection from job discrimination, and the Equal Rights Amendment remains unratified.” That last point is really a zinger in the world of the Guthrie.
Wanting to get the Buckley quote right, I asked Roger Kimball, co-editor of the Buckley compendium Athwart History, where I might have heard the revelation of his superpower to identify liberals. Roger didn’t know. He turned to former NR publisher Jack Fowler, his go-to source for all things Buckley, but Jack was stumped too.
I posed a second question to Roger. I told Roger I wanted to shout out “It’s not too late to give it back” in response to the land acknowledgment. I had an acknowledgment of my own. I acknowledged that we made a mistake buying tickets for the play, but my wife wanted to go. I asked Roger if it would have been wrong to shout out my advice to the Guthrie crowd. Roger responded:
Next time you are presented with a “Land Acknowledgment” and are tempted to indulge in an outburst, remember that Oscar Wilde said he could resist anything but temptation!
Thinking more about it, I turned to the Guthrie’s Code of Conduct at page 27 of the program:
• We are inclusive and respectful of all people.
• We are mindful of what we say and do.
• We honor the personal space and boundaries of others.
• We invite audience members to engage fully and be themselves.
• We mindful of the well-being of others.
I interpret the Code as authorizing my intended scream, but I’m sure that’s not the way the Guthrie sees it. The Guthrie fails to see the internal inconsistencies in its Code as it fails to see its the absurdity of its land acknowledgment, which I deem a violation of the Code. The tickets also warn against “Disruptive behavior: We reserve the right to escort disruptive patrons from the theater at any time.” I just want to be left alone.
Sitting in the Guthrie audience I felt the Buckleyite power. If there was a full house of 1,100 Wednesday night, 1,098 liberals were in attendance.
