Would he lie?...
On The Right
William F. Buckley, Jr.
11-September-1995
Newt Draws Fire
NEW YORK
[...]
Then there is the frolicking in the woods.
Miss Dowd noted that Mr. Gingrich would spend the weekend at the Bohemian Grove, ``the exclusive men's club in northern California. . . . The camp is a saturnalia of juvenilia, with a lot of old white rich guys running around naked and in sheets, costumed as Druids. They drink dawn-to-dusk gin fizzes, relieve themselves on redwoods, and put on theatricals where they dress up like women.''
Well yes, but if you are playing the part of a woman in a theatrical, what should you dress like? Miss Dowd might as well have written that she doesn't understand why the people in the Metropolitan Opera chorus go around clutching spears.
About five years ago, CBS's Leslie Stahl did an interview with me about women joining the Century Association. A few minutes into the discussion she interrupted herself. ``Would you be willing to talk about the Bohemian Club?''
Well, I said, it isn't something we're supposed to talk about. . . .
``Well,'' Miss Stahl pressed, ``what about this business of going around naked?''
I lowered my voice. ``In the years I've been going to the Bohemian Club,'' I whispered, ``I have seen men naked only in the shower, and now I'll tell you something in confidence.'' Her eyes hungered for my revelation. The camera whirred. ``The Admissions Committee of the Bohemian Grove does not like to admit to membership people who shower with their clothes on.'' Miss Stahl simply smiled, gamely.