02 April 2008

Jesse Ventura Redux

Jesse Ventura was, successively, a professional wrestler, a Hollywood actor (notably in "Predator"), mayor of a small suburb of the Twin Cities, and then - to everyone's amazement - was elected governor of Minnesota in 1998. Running for the Reform Party, he defeated seasoned politicians in the Republican and Democratic parties, then served a generally successful term as governor. The biography on Wikipedia is comprehensive and accurate.
He's back in the public eye now as the author of a new book, and was recently interviewed on Larry King Live. This Huffington Post link has six minutes of the interview and a trenchant summary of his current views: "he thinks it's time for a revolution in the United States, that we are a nation of "lemmings," and that the only difference between the two major political parties and street gangs are that the politicians wear Brooks Brothers suits. After blasting the two-party "dictatorship" in America, he gave his opinion of the three presidential candidates (hint: it wasn't very favorable). And he reserved special judgment for the "chickenhawks" who he said marched the country into war in Iraq."
These are interesting comments coming from a decorated Navy Seal who did active duty in Vietnam. This is the same old Jesse Ventura I remember - fearlessly outspoken and unafraid to swim against the tide of political correctness. If you liked him before, the interview in the link above will reinforce your opinion of him (and if you didn't like him before, the interview will reinforce that opinion as well).

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