Jesse Ventura Unloads: The Parties, The Chickenhawks, And His Revolution

Pro-Wrestler-turned-Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura went on Larry King Live Tuesday and unloaded on a variety of topics, including his take on the 2008 presidential candidates, what he's looking for in a commander-in-chief, and whether he plans on running for president. Ventura told King that 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.

Watch Jesse Ventura talk about the need for a revolution:

Jesse Ventura on the 2008 presidential field:

Larry King asks Jesse Ventura if he is going to run for President:

Ventura rips the Chickenhawks:

Related: Jesse Ventura: I Live With Those Brown-Skinned People Who Frighten Lou Dobbs

Comments

[ashleybaines]

I want more of these shoot em up independants... I loved Ron Paul - but the lemmings let the press destroy his chances....

Things have to get worse before they will get better.... I agree that Obama is the best - an outsider - somebody that might shake things up....

but then, the Israeli first contingent is the most powerful interest group in the country - they'll jfk him before they let him make peace in the Middle East.

Let's get on with the revolt...... I hate both parties

[win2kpro]

I agree with Jesse's statements except for one point. I WILL NOT waste my vote on a 3rd party candidate who cannot win in the system we have in place today.

Neither Hillary or Barack was my first choice as the Democratic nominee. Since my first choices (Biden, Dodd or Edwards) are not in the running for the nomination, I will vote for whoever gets the Democratic nomination to try to do my part to make sure Senator McSame does not get elected.

Since Jesse eloquently addressed "chickenhawks", if anyone missed it here is a great video regarding a new generation of "chickenhawks".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFGit_tZDqs

[KenGirard]

Suggestion: A third house with 200 seats which is seated by percentage of votes gained nation wide.
If a party gets at least 0.5% of the national vote, they get a seat.

Base the votes on voting for the party not a person. This allows the party to seat the best person, no matter where they live, or if they just lost out on a seat in a different house..Also means that if someone has to step down or is involved in a scandle they can easily be replaced.

Make it so that any party can run by getting at least 20,000 signitures from anywhere in the nation. This allows a group of one million people scattered across the nation to have a political voice.

[Tannim]

So your vote is about winning and not truly expressing your view? THEN WHY VOTE AT ALL?

A vote for winning is a vote for lemming.

[MetalCanuck]

Then you are just doing what they want and voting in crooks.

[nazgul]

Say whatever you like about the guy, he said very little one could rationally disagree with, and he correctly identified Obama as the best choice in the field, with the sole exception of "none of the above."

[skygod]

The greatest single problem with our political system is that we keep electing LAWYERS.
Lawyers are trained liars. Ever notice how easily most lawyers morph from defense attorneys to district attorneys, from defending to prosecuting. They are prostitutes by nature, selling their souls for power.

Thanks to the lawyers, we now have a society based on fear and almost 10 million people who either have been or currently are in prison or under supervision. They play with people's lives because they are mostly sociopaths who crave power over others.

WANT REAL CHANGE? STOP ELECTING LAWYERS!

[bdl0715]

In the last 60 years, we have elected 2 lawyers to the Presidency, Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton.

[rpence]

Uh, you're wrong. First, no one elected Gerald Ford. Richard Nixon was a lawyer and he was elected twice. I'm not sure if Ford was a lawyer or not. Didn't John F. Kennedy have a law degree also?

[KHAAANNN]

You have to understand WHY he got elected here in Minnesota (yes, I voted for him.)

We had the Democratic Senate Whip and Republican House Whip running against each other for Governor and everyone in Minnesota HATED them both. They were arrogant asses who felt it was their divine right to be elected, the public be damned.
Jesse came along and was a breath of fresh air so we elected him to give a big middle finger to BOTH parties, who then spent his entire term trying to destroy him and his party and stop every thing he tried to change for the better. They succeeded, along with a LOT of help from both national parties, who viewed the Jesse phenomenon with great fear (just like any other monopoly does when real competition emerges.) Jesse got so fed up with it he walked away from politics for a long time.
I didn't always agree with him, but at least he was relatively honest in office (unlike the current dip$hit Governor we have, who was the Republican Senate Whip. go figure........)

[MNmommy]

We're still suffering from his governorship.

I understand why folks voted for him (I sure as hell didn't) but it was a mistake.

His primary demographic also elected Michelle Bachmann - that should inform folks about WHO voted for him.

[DerekRC]

Enjoy your new gas tax MNmommy.

[djg55555]

Are you sure of these facts? In 1998, the year he won the governorship, he ran against Skip Humphrey, who was MN attorney general and Norm Coleman, who was most recently the mayor of St. Paul. He did not run against Tim Pawlenty, who is the current governor of MN, but you are right that Pawlenty is a poor governor.

[Ariadne]

He seems simpliistic to me to me. I have had this convesation in bars with tough guy types like him. A lot of what he says is true but there is more to it than that. I admit I only saw these clips and not the whole show but it seems like his service in government didn't make much of an impression on him. He still seems naive in a way. The people that talk third parties all seem so different that they would kill each other trying t come up with a party platform.

[MNmommy]

He is simplistic and simple minded. That's a fact, ayup.

He was a crappy governor too.

[Tannim]

That's politics is only made complex to confuse people. It's actually very simple.

Diplomacy: F--- your buddy.
Major Party Politics: F--- the people with your buddy.
Third Party Politics: F--- the major parties with the people.

The rest is just overblown rhetorical nonsense that can be boiled down to those three tenets.

[JScott]

Yup he might been groundbreaking and he like to talk talk talk but I think he quickly realized that governing is way different then pro wrestling, you have to govern the whole state, not just get good ratings for WWE programs that''s probably why he didn't wanna be governor anymore.

[sa]

bravo, ventura, bravo.

.

[nolalily]

Some people still mistake "blowhard" for knowledgable.

[primordialsoup]

Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Coulter fans, mostly.

[apduncan1]

Some people still believe anything George Bush says...

Rush's fistula is acting up, go and suck the pus.

[StoutHouse]

What did Ventura say that you can possibly disagree with? You might not like the way he said it, or maybe you take exception to his haircut and former life in the WWF, but the substance of his words was true in every sense.

[Tannim]

Yup. You're a blowhard, all right.

Sorry, you walked into that one.

[rudiy]

Many people at some level have some of the same thoughts to varying degrees. However reality sets in. Talk and criticism are cheap, why not actually get involved. I do not see an overwhelming change in government while or after Ventura left as governor.

[Tannim]

Blame the MN legislature. They blocked every reform he tried.

[MilwaukeeDan]

The only thing fresh about this is it was said in the MSM(CNN). Hope some of Larry's drooling audience got educated. Then there are comments here on huffpo about his hair, manner, ex proffesion ect, all the important things in leadership? Take a look at a $100 bill, guy looks like Ben Franklin, and I'll take Franklin over all these clowns now in DC.

[DrFelch]

What a sad day when it takes a former professional wrestler to actually say what needs to be said about our formerly great nation on television. Not a scholar. Not a leader. Not a prominent intellectual visionary.
A friggen former pro fake wrestler. We are well and truly doomed. It's like "Idiocracy". In that lovely film, they depicted a "President Camacho" who was a wrestler. Funny stuff, but not funny in real life, I'll tell you.

[HeresJohnny]

Thanks, Jesse, for a cogent analysis of our current political situation. It's refreshing to hear the truth being spoken by someone with a national profile. There is a political wind blowing out there that wants to form a third party, and many of the commenters have pointed to a likely group (Ventura, Ron Paul, Chuck Hagel, Mike Bloomberg, et al) that could get it started. If it were done the right way- local to national, instead of trying to field a presidential candidate right off the bat- it could become a true alternative to the duopoly. History suggests such a move is unlikely, but if it did come to pass, I'd be willing to join.

Joe Scarborough should be a bit more circumspect. A dead woman was found in his office, not Governor Ventura's.

[MNmommy]

Ventura? Cogent?

Bwah!

[worldorbust]

Okay, I'll be honest, I basically new only 2 things about this guy: 1) Gov. of Minnesota and 2) WWF crazy.

That being said, this guy'd get my vote in a heartbeat. If anyone didn't think it was refreshing to hear him last night, they have a problem. He even held his own against the so-called "all star" political panel of tools. We should start chanting here: "VOTE VENTURA!" , or since he's been in Baja for a while now, "VIVA VENTURA!"

[Not Blind]

Eloquence isn't Jessie's strong suit, but candor definitely is. Obfuscating and spinning reality into a "truth" is what we've had for nearly 8 years. Shrouds of secrecy, lies, unanswered subpoenas, destroyed evidence (documents, emails), have been the modus operendi of our government, and we all have suffered. Steel cages or steroids not withstanding, Jessie made his case and spoke the truth, which some may disagree with. We've gotten so far away from reality and truth, that we don't recognize it any more. Chickenhawks and lemmings are but a few disparaging adjectives of our nefarious rulers, who've proven themselves incompetent at everything but stealing our nation's money, finding plausible deniability, or just thumbing their noses at the law and people of this country.

[conservativeoriginalist]

I say we need LESS elegance and more candor. The language is so muddied with egotistical perspectives and political correctness that nobody can communicate effectively with each other anymore without being offended by some ridiculous extrapolation, which is what the debate topics turn into instead of the ideas.

I don't care if Ventura was a professional wrestler; that doesn't take away any validity from his words. But for those who don't know, he was also an actor, Navy SEAL (he's wearing a shirt to that effect in the interview), and Governor of Minnesota for one term.

[Enid]

Jesse

Get ready for the acid bath you will be having.