By far, the nastiest hit job on Minnesotans was done by the Coen brothers (who grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis) in the film Fargo. I was so embarrassed I couldn’t sit through it, and made my wife get up and leave the theater with me.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

“I can’t stand to watch it.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Let’s get drunk.”

The problem was that the portrayal of Minnesotans was dead on (forgive the pun). We actually talk that way. Moreover, we’re that greedy and backstabbing. Minnesota-nice only applies when you’re talking to someone face-to-face. Behind their backs, we’re free to destroy them in any way we please.

It took me years before I could actually watch the film all the way through. But we’re not all that way. Take the last series of elections. Despite electing Michelle Bachmann twice and sending Norm Coleman to the Senate, we never once fell into the Bush column. We are, by and large, discerning folks.

I mention the Coens because they’re the last of my triumvirate of Minnesota critics. They make Garrison Keillor and Dick Guindon (below) seem mild by comparison. I guess growing up in St. Louis Park wasn’t all that much fun.

(cartoon by Dick Guindon)

One of the joys of opening the pages of the old Minneapolis Tribune was checking out Dick Guindon’s latest cartoon. No one captured the weird spirit of Minnesotans better than Guindon. (By the way, this weirdness is on display in the ballots that Coleman and Franken have challenged, like the famous Lizard ballot. No one quite knows what in hell to make of it.) Beneath our conventional facades lurk breathtakingly funny maniacs. I really do miss this guy, and have since 1981 when he left Minnesota for Detroit. A pox upon him! No, two poxes!

(cartoon by Dick Guindon)

By the way, the caption says, “‘It’s not losing. I can take a loss. It’s losing to a gay bar.’”