Time to Bleed Now?
by Robert Yoho, Associate Editor
"Eye on Conservatism"
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Now
that Jesse "The Body" Ventura (right) has announced that he will not seek a
second term as Minnesota’s governor, it is time that we looked at what his administration
has wrought.
Jesse Ventura has been a boil on the body politic.
Some of us initially welcomed Ventura’s flamboyant entry into politics. We thought that this political newcomer wouldn’t automatically embrace the political dogma of antiquated tax and spend policies. Jesse boldly proclaimed he wouldn’t raise taxes and he talked like a man who would tighten the purse strings of government.
For a man claiming to be an outsider in the arena of politics, Jesse quickly became everything he decried in others. In no time at all, he began behaving like the typical liberal, career politician. He talked about accountability in government, but he refused to hold himself accountable for the outrageous and inflammatory statements he made in the press. He failed to take responsibility for the drunken parties of his son in the publicly owned governor’s mansion. Moreover, Ventura broke his promise not to raise taxes at the same time he blamed everyone else for Minnesota’s budgetary woes.
With Gov. Ventura, the buck stops elsewhere!
Like the pink, feathered boa that he used to wrap around his neck in the ring, the governor’s office was little more than a prop to be worn in public. Ventura used his elective status as an instrument of his own pleasure and a lucrative revenue source. Like a dog returning to his vomit, the dignity of his office was not enough to keep Jesse from appearing at Worldwide Wrestling events and being a football color commentator for the now defunct XFL.
I also don’t find it surprising that he also supported Sen. John McCain’s candidacy for president. Neither Ventura or McCain are content to stay out of the limelight. They both like to pontificate about their distaste for those never named but always sinister "special interests." And the pair of them body-slammed their future political fortunes by foolishly attacking and alienating those in the religious right.
Like Bill Clinton, Jesse Ventura has no one but himself to blame for the fact that his administration became a laughingstock. It was Jesse who squandered his opportunity to be taken seriously. Despite his earlier career as a professional wrestler and Hollywood actor, the citizens of Minnesota gave him their initial support.
They ignored his past career, figuring that is was merely a symptom of youth and something he had put forever behind him. The people of Minnesota gave him the benefit of the doubt because they thought he would take the job seriously. And who could blame them! After all, a professional wrestler doesn’t seem that outrageous when you consider these are the same people who re-elected Paul "Welfare" Wellstone to represent them in the United States Senate.
Despite Ventura’s shortcomings, I still believe that career politicians do not have to be our only legitimate choice for public office. However, the actions of Jesse Ventura have made it much more difficult for other outsiders who will eventually choose to follow him in that field. Furthermore, the damage he has done to the Reform Party and the future of the third party movement may be irreparable.
It has long been my opinion that the Reform Party has become a homeless shelter for the politically unstable. Ventura’s involvement in it has done nothing to change my mind.
As much as they want to preserve the traditional two-party system, Republicans and Democrats have done no lasting damage to the legitimacy of the third party movement. Those prominent individuals who have chosen to carry its standard, men such as Ventura, Ross Perot, and Pat Buchanan, have often inflicted the greatest harm upon it.
Jesse Ventura, the author of "I Ain’t Got Time to Bleed" is certainly an imposing figure of a man. However, his actions in office have greatly whittled away at his stature and the state of Minnesota is now bleeding because of it. ***
© 2002 Robert Yoho
COPYRIGHT © 2002 BY THE AMERICAN PARTISAN. All writers retain rights to their work.
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