Thinking Politics in Bush Country

This excerpt from Don't Start the Revolution Without Me! reveals some of my feelings about the Bush administration, but readers should not think that my criticisms of today's political world are aimed only at their spectacular failures. Democrats are no better than the Republicans. And corporate America, the religious right, and the media have all contributed to the quagmires we find ourselves in overseas and at home. That's why we need a political revolution, to take power from the political parties and their big money supporters and return power to the people.

*****

"I like to tell people, Laura and I are proud to be Texas -- own a Texas ranch, and for us, every day is Earth Day."

-President George W. Bush

Traveling across West Texas on Interstate 20, after you pass by Abilene and Big Spring, before long the big oil derricks loom on the horizon. Every direction you look, the landscape is all scrubby desert and completely flat -- except for the endlessly rocking motion of the black pumps. And as you close in on Midland, the dusty air is permeated by a propane smell. There's no escaping it, even inside the camper.

I turned to Terry and said, "I really don't see how people can live in this. But I imagine, like anything else, you become accustomed to it."

"They have my deepest sympathies," Terry said.

"This is about the last place on the planet I've seen that I'd want to live," I said.

I didn't remember until later that this was Bush Country. The elder George had come to Midland for the first Permian Basin oil rush in the '50s. George W. Bush grew up here, and later came back just in time for the second big oil boom in the 1970s. Midland was his wife Laura's hometown, and this is where they met. It's where the younger George declared himself a candidate for congress in 1977, when his dad was running the CIA. And Midland is where George W. has expressed a wish to someday be buried.

My first impression of him had been a positive one. After the Supreme Court awarded Bush the 2000 election, his people approached me to be part of his transition team. I sat in on three or four conference calls. I thought, this guy's going to be all right. He was very personable, a man it seemed like you could go out and drink a few beers and go fishing with.

Not too long after his inauguration, Terry and I went to Washington for the annual National Governors Convention. On a Sunday night, there's always a huge party in the White House. You're dropped off at a side entrance, and your security team goes to the basement and waits down there with the Secret Service until it's over. When it's your time to go into the ballroom, a military man in full dress uniform greets you. Your wife takes his arm, he escorts her, and you follow right behind. You stand in a line with all the other governors and their wives, waiting to meet the president and the First Lady.

I watched as the governors' names were announced and they shook hands, exchanged a greeting, and talked for a moment. Well, as the line progressed, President Bush glanced over and saw that Terry and I were up next. Before they could even say -- "Governor and Mrs. Jesse Ventura, Minnesota" -- Bush, with a big smile on his face, blurted out in front of everyone: "I have to meet the most patient woman in America."

Apparently George was up on all the controversy I was causing. Every time I'd open my mouth, I'd be in trouble. So I thought that was a great line. He didn't care about me, he wanted to meet the woman who could put up with me!

It must have been about a year later that Bush came to visit Minnesota. I took my son, Tyrel, to meet him. The president looked Ty in the eye and said, "So can you kick the old man's butt yet?"

"Oh, no!" Ty exclaimed.

And the President said, "I can't either." Referring, I presume, to George, Senior.

From these moments, I knew that Bush had a good sense of humor. But my first inclination that he was not a man of his word came that same governors' meeting in 2001. Monday morning is a business session, where all 50 governors sit down with the president. He discussed domestic policy -- where he sees it going, what he expects from you, and what you should expect from him. He stated at the time that he was a strong believer in giving more power to the states, which I applaud. He was going to be, he said, an old-style Federalist president. I believed him.

Yet just about every move he's made since that day has taken power away from states. Cases in point: 12 states have now passed laws to allow medical use of marijuana. The federal government under Bush says no way; it won't let the states do this. Two states have voted for dignity in death. If I'm living in Minnesota and terminally ill, I could have the option of moving to Oregon and fulfill my wishes not to prolong the agony. Again, the Bush administration says, oh no, you can't.

It's a shame that Bush has turned into what he has. That deception about returning power to the states was only the first of many, the foremost being how his administration lied to the American people in justifying our disastrous invasion of Iraq. Leaving the Midland region that day, I couldn't help thinking about our dependency on oil, whether it's from the Middle East or the West Texas variety. We should be taking the billions being wasted in Iraq and putting all this money toward renewable energy sources that won't destroy the planet. We should be doing everything we can to draw energy from the sun, the wind, and the water.

Comments

[SouthpawSass]

George W. Bush's problem is he's suffering from a syndrome known as "Glass half full, brain half empty." Not his fault really, it just happened.

[research]

Jesse: The conservative have always been the ideology of the wannabe robber barons and emperors at least as far back as Hooverville.

[clevelandchick]

You hit the nail on the head, bravo.

[castlerider]

Thanks Jesse,
There's something I wish the talking heads would begin to discuss, and I wish someone, someone, perhaps like you would bring up, just to aggravate and piss 'em off for starting the conversation; and it is this:
Many people believe that had Al Gore won, Gas prices would still be no more the $1.75 a gallon, at the most. It seems likely to assume this, because had he won, he would have pushed automakers for better gas mileage, would have immediately worked to develop alternative fuels, and would have been very careful about keeping America's debt down, and the budget balanced. So the question becomes: How can we ever get Gas prices down again, and if not, why is America even tolerating this idiot in the very slightest manner, after he has done so much to destroy our ecenomy and well being ?

[sa]

bush announced today
that he and cheney
will be going to iraq
in january '09,
immediately after there service
as the president and vice president
that led us into iraq.

they believe so much in this war
and their reasons for going there,
that they are willing to risk their lives.

not only that,
bush has pledged
his new son in laws
to serve valiantly in his cause.

we are fighting the good fight,
and bush/cheney are proving
that they weren't in this just for the money -
they thought it was the right thing to do -
that is why they are now risking their own lives,
and the lives of their loved ones.

it is a great american battle.

that is why there is going to be a draft.
because this is for AMERICA,
not just the priviledged in charge
sending poor mother fuckers off to their deaths.

bush/cheney have proved they are true to their words.
if they didn't do as such,
one could only conclude
they were guilty of war crimes,
if not, crimes against their own humanity.

[iamFrank]

Jesse, your statement has a profound ring to it that reverberates to the citizens of this country. Our elected officials have lost sight of the oath of office that they swore to uphold and the needs that their constituents have, to the business of working in and running a successful government to create and ensure the laws of the land and the well being of our country.
I did not vote for President Bush but in his only heartfelt speech he made with the backdrop in the ruins of the Twin Towers, made me want to re-enlist at the age of 44, and his impression on me was very positive, a man that will get the job done. With pride and deep set emotion he vowed to do the right thing, without deviation, to honor the memory of the innocence people of all cultures that died at the Trade Center.
Today, the criminal is still at large and President Bush and the pork barrel congress and senate have cemented Iraq to the feet of the American taxpayer, now with the rest of the world wants to push us over-board. I have to form my opinion and relationship with President Bush from the media where on the other hand you have an access to political leaders of this country that the average man doesn"t, and are able to voice your concerns, approvals or disapprovals and to be an advocate of the voice of the people to the bitter end.

[iamFrank]

Part 2:
Jesse, the elected officials SHOULD be doing a lot of things in respect to being financially responsible with the regards to how they are wasting taxpayer dollars; i.e., Healthcare, Social Security, Energy plan, Medicare, Domestic infrastructure and NAFTA just to mention a few. The government in good conscious cannot ignore the fact that they have looted set-aside stable working funds that supported the hard working Americans. Enabled loop holes for corporate America to remove themselves to cheap labor markets without penalty or reprisal from the government, only to cry wolf or sit in silence when states are strapped with massive unemployment.
I cannot get senior healthcare and social security on an IOU. They also know that in the past twenty years they have passed major bills into law that are not working for the better benefit of this country and its citizens. The diminutive vision of this government is a reflection of something that happen in France with a remark "Let them eat cake!"

[BushBites]

Jesse:

The Dems are anti-corporatist (or at least try to be), attacked by the Religious Right and have certainly lost the favor of the Corporate Media. They're also against the war.

A lot of them just don't have the cajones you do. Join the Dems and try to give them some guts. The Dems need more people like you and Jim Webb.

(BTW: I think the Midland Fumes got to W.)

[USAisEVIL]

Pure bullshit. The Democrats did nothing to stop the war in 2003, though many many people knew it would be a disaster. They coldly calculated that it would cost them votes, so rather than be honest and address the insanity of the war, they went along. Two years ago they had no shame in campaigning on ending the war, and capitalized on the votes of many foolish people who trusted them to end it. Since then they have funded your mercenaries every time Bush asked them to. Are you a fool or a liar, BushBites?

[research]

The DLC half of the dems a corporatist.

DLC=Clinton=Lieberman=corporatist=fascist=war crimes forever

The state primary is the place to vote for anti-DLC anti-war crime dems.

Some needs to make a chart of the congresses to help us understand who's part of what gangs.

[CC1]

Seems to me the only fool here is you. You care nothing about the evil done by other nations such as Russia and China. Racist troll.

[SouthpawSass]

I became a Democrat in 1980, the year I was old enough to register to vote. Both my parents were Republicans. After Watergate and God forbid, Governor Reagan running, I chose the Democratic party. I was proud to be a part of it. I thought they actually stood for the little guy, the poor, the minorities, the blue collar average Joe's of the world. The Dems were the good guys. But, prior to that time in my life, I also believed in Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny.

As a Democrat I feel I can say this with some certainty. The Democrats suck. Not as much as the Republicans suck, but suck nonetheless. They've proven their worth to the little guy, the poor, the minorities, the blue collar average Joe's. The are not the party I first joined.

Where have all the good guys gone? Don't know, but if you look on the back of a milk carton, you may see the spine of the Democratic party pictured, missing since 1984...

[MooseShady]

Taking a quote from you Jesse I'm Impressed ! And I don't impressed that easy!

[doctorj2u]

Jesse,
You learned the same thing the people of New Orleans and the Gulf South learned - whatever comes out of Bush's mouth is meaningless. Promises of help that never arrives; promises of support that evaporate as soon as they are spoken. It has caused me to hate my own country and I am heart broken over it. George will be gone soon but NOTHING can change the fact that when we NEEDED our government, it abandoned us, even as it spoke all the right words.

[Not Blind]

That George Bush is not completely honest is an understatement. It's amazing there are even 18% of our citizens who still believe anything he says. Aside from stealing office in 2000, Bush's oath of office was a complete lie. Bush did not preserve or protect the Constitution of this country, but has subverted, circumvented and re-defined every part of it to claim his de-facto unilateral executive powers.
Bush began his assault on the Constitution, beginning with the warrantless wiretapping program with AT&T in February, 2001. He's lied repeatedly about the FISA law, the NSA's authorization for illegal surveillance, and now seeks to bury his complicity by insisting upon retroactive unconditional immunity for telecoms (to keep them from testifying).
Bush was well-warned of an imminent attack on the U.S., but did not want to prevent it, as it provided justification for his "Patriot" and "Protect America" acts, which stripped most legal, civil and human rights from within our society, and in terms of our approach to foreign relations. The administration sent Powell to the U.N. with lies, faulty intelligence, skewed facts, distortions about Iraq to garner support from other nations for our preemptive strike, before weapons inspectors were able to complete their task. As is now evident with recent memos, Bush and his cabinet (Rumsfeld, Cheney, etc) authorized the use of torture, and began shipping detainees (including some American citizens) to prisons in foreign countries to be tortured, while claiming "we don't torture."

[totalliberal]

He can't stand that McCain is behind the war. I'd say that as an ex Navy SEAL he has earned the right to say that.

[mm29464]

Hey W,

It wasn't the Federalists that believed in giving more power to the states, that would be the anti-Federalists and Jefferson.

[happytrails]

You are right about Federalism. This just goes to show how bad our education system is and how little a degree from Yale or Harvard mean.

[Zankee]

Republican or Democrat.., two sides of the same coin; what we are confronting cannot be construred as a seperation of applied reason and, or, purpose, "their goal is our hole"..,and I believe they found it...! Our Failure to maintain a vigilance over our entrusted responsibility to "guard" against tyrany -as being experienced now- , has allowed the dark unified selfish ambitions, and perversions of man, to acquire the "upper hand" of influence and control.., like a "thief in the night".

If you want to know your predicament.., check out "youtube.com"; Search: "Warning to the world Parts 1-9"; denial may be your initial response.., this is normal...it'll pass in short order....

Remember.., in the words of Zipper "Bill": "It all depends on what "is" is."....

[unionnomore]

When I left Minnessota they had just announced that the Mississippi River was 100% polluted from its beginning in Lake Itasca State Park to its mouth.You didn't do anything about.The University of Minnesota suffers from a consistent underfunding and is steadily declining in academic stature.You didn't do anything about that.The states school system was declining in every catergory when you took office and when you left.My conclusion is that you're just an ignorant blowhard from the nordern suburbs who was too scared to run for reelection and take your comeuppance.

[Rucio]

Get some facts straight.

1. Texas is the U.S. leader in wind power, due to George W. Bush and his pal Ken Lay of Enron. It's a great way to move public funds into private accounts, with the approval of the yuppie left.

2. Oil is not used to generate electricity (less than 3% comes from burning oil, and most of that is the sludge left over from refining gasoline).