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Jesse takes on Modern Politians

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 3:47 am
by Greg_Cornish
You can't stop Jesse Ventura, and you probably can't even hope to contain him.

The former Minnesota governor and lifelong ramrod remains a font of fascinating thoughts and viewpoints, many of them expressed in his new book, "Democrips and Rebloodlicans" ($24.95, Skyhorse, 304 pages).

The title refers to Ventura's belief that the two major political parties resemble the urban gangs Crips and Bloods, right down to their colors. "If you notice, what's a blue state? That's a Democratic state," Ventura said in a phone interview. "And what's a red state? A Republican state. Those are the identical same colors as the Crips and the Bloods."

Ventura also posits that they're worse than those gangs, and the latest season of his TV show "Conspiracy Theory" might never see the light of screen, and there has been a subtle ad campaign to help get Mitt Romney elected, and the current political system has him suffering from "electile dysfunction."

And ... well, you get the idea, Here are more views from the ex-guv:

On the two political parties: "They're worse than the street gangs. They affect us all. The street gangs don't affect very many of us. And they [the politicians] just wear Brooks Brothers suits, that's how they get away with it. ...

"And believe me, they're all working together. There may be a divide among the people, but these two parties, it's like pro wrestling. In front of the crowd and in front of the media they hate each other and they're adversaries. But behind the scenes, they're working together for the ultimate goal of keeping their power."

On the American dream circa 2012: "It's dead. There is no American dream because you're seeing the middle class destroyed right now, and that was the dream, that you could have a job and have a house and have a family -- and it's deteriorating."

On the third season of "Conspiracy Theory": "We've done eight episodes that were filmed in November and they haven't aired yet. Normally they run in January. I don't think they're ever going to see the light of day because we're even more controversial on this third season than we were in the first two. I think the corporate upstairs is not gonna allow them on, they're ultimately gonna make the call and you know what flows downhill."

On what he would do if he were governor again: "Let's legalize sports betting. It's a $3 billion a year industry in Minnesota. If we took what a bookie gets, $300 million a year of new money, you've got a Vikings stadium in four years and it's paid for on the very back of the people who profit from sports anyway. And you also could fix bridges, fix roads, you could give more to education. Imagine if they put a sports book in the Mall of America."

On the recent heroics of his former unit, the Navy SEALs: "I hate that the SEALs are getting publicity. When I was in the SEALs, they didn't know we existed. They're doing to the SEALs what they did to the Green Berets. I would rather have them be completely clandestine, But see, they're doing it for promo. It's done by people who enjoy the wars to promote the wars."

On the current presidential race: "I can't tell the difference between [Presidents] Obama and Bush except for the color of the skin. And it may cost Obama the election and then we'll get a president [Mitt Romney, a Mormon] who believes in magic underwear. Jesus. To me, that should disqualify him alone. I don't want a president of my country who believes in magic underwear.

"And did you notice how four years ago, we started getting these Mormon ads on TV? They started right after the last election. They knew that [Mitt] Romney was going to be the candidate and so they started setting the table for him. They wanted us to get comfortable with Mormonism, which to me is no more nuts than all the rest of them."

On his own spirituality: "I believe in the teachings of [the late comedian] George Carlin. He worshiped the sun. So do I. Why? The sun brings me warmth. It grows my food. It brings me everything I need. And most of all it comes up every morning and I can see it, so that gives it great credibility."

Bill Ward