takingchances42
Multicellular Life Form
- Joined
- May 22, 2002
- Posts
- 1,223
One of the votes that I am most proud of casting was when I voted for Jesse Ventura for governor of Minnesota. Unfortunately, he is not running for re-election this fall, the political scene will be the poorer for that.
He is well known, both nationally and (I believe) somewhat internationally as the flamboyent former professional wrestler who is never afraid to speak his mind. Yes, he is the most entertaining governor my state has had. But that is not why I will miss him.
I wonder how much the rest of the country realizes who he really is, and why he got elected. What he was is the most powerful threat to the status quo that this country has seen for a long time, even more so than Ross Perot. He actually spoke the truth about things, his real opinions, no matter how unpopular it might make him. How radical in a politician. I will miss that honesty.
More importantly, he never took a special interest contribution. I forget the exact amount, but he set a limit per contribution that he would accept somewhere in the $50 to $100 range. In Minnesota, in the last four years, no lobbyist has ever had access to the governor that an ordinary citizen doesn't have. No deals have been made for government decisions in exchange for campaign contributions. Government policy decisions, at least at the governor's level, have never once been sold during his time in office.
What a radical change from the corrupt status quo. What a complete threat to the current power structure. Which is why the Republicans, Democrats and media have gone for his throat from day one. Attacking him continually over one thing and another, but never mentioning the real threat that he posed -- there was one government in the US where honesty was the policy, and government decisions were not for sale.
In general, I liked his socially liberal and fiscally conservative policies. He genuinely believed that the government had no business in people's bedrooms or pocketbooks, and tried to reduce the intrusiveness of the government in people's lives. He believed in individual responsibility. I didn't agree with everything, and vehemently disagreed with his anti-environmental stance. I didn't care for the time he spent selling Jesse instead of working for Minnesota. But even that was a refreshing change from the usual politician selling political favors at one fund raiser after another.
He would have been a good president. But in the end he turned out to be too rational. He didn't like the effect of being a prominent politician on his personal life, and decided to leave the process.
I am curious how much of the real Jesse made it out to the rest of the country. What he really did in Minnesota, instead of the caricature that I sometimes saw in the national media, focusing on his personality rather than powerful change he made in government. Would you have voted for Jesse for president?
He is well known, both nationally and (I believe) somewhat internationally as the flamboyent former professional wrestler who is never afraid to speak his mind. Yes, he is the most entertaining governor my state has had. But that is not why I will miss him.
I wonder how much the rest of the country realizes who he really is, and why he got elected. What he was is the most powerful threat to the status quo that this country has seen for a long time, even more so than Ross Perot. He actually spoke the truth about things, his real opinions, no matter how unpopular it might make him. How radical in a politician. I will miss that honesty.
More importantly, he never took a special interest contribution. I forget the exact amount, but he set a limit per contribution that he would accept somewhere in the $50 to $100 range. In Minnesota, in the last four years, no lobbyist has ever had access to the governor that an ordinary citizen doesn't have. No deals have been made for government decisions in exchange for campaign contributions. Government policy decisions, at least at the governor's level, have never once been sold during his time in office.
What a radical change from the corrupt status quo. What a complete threat to the current power structure. Which is why the Republicans, Democrats and media have gone for his throat from day one. Attacking him continually over one thing and another, but never mentioning the real threat that he posed -- there was one government in the US where honesty was the policy, and government decisions were not for sale.
In general, I liked his socially liberal and fiscally conservative policies. He genuinely believed that the government had no business in people's bedrooms or pocketbooks, and tried to reduce the intrusiveness of the government in people's lives. He believed in individual responsibility. I didn't agree with everything, and vehemently disagreed with his anti-environmental stance. I didn't care for the time he spent selling Jesse instead of working for Minnesota. But even that was a refreshing change from the usual politician selling political favors at one fund raiser after another.
He would have been a good president. But in the end he turned out to be too rational. He didn't like the effect of being a prominent politician on his personal life, and decided to leave the process.
I am curious how much of the real Jesse made it out to the rest of the country. What he really did in Minnesota, instead of the caricature that I sometimes saw in the national media, focusing on his personality rather than powerful change he made in government. Would you have voted for Jesse for president?
