Don't Start the Revolution Without Me! - Jesse Ventura [0]
I Ain’t Got Time to Bleed: Reworking the Body Politic from the Bottom Up
Do I Stand Alone? Going to the Mat Against Political Pawns and Media Jackals
Don't Start The Revolution Without me!
Jesse Ventura
Copyright © 2008 by Jesse Ventura
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 555 Eighth Avenue, Suite 903, New York, NY 10018.
Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 555 Eighth Avenue, Suite 903, New York, NY 10018 or info@skyhorsepublishing.com.
www.skyhorsepublishing.com
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
9781602392731
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ventura, Jesse.
Don’t start the revolution without me! : from the Minnesota governor’s mansion to the Baja outback : reflections and revisionings / Jesse Ventura ; with Dick Russell.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-60239-273-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Ventura, Jesse. 2. Ventura, Terry. 3. Governors—Minnesota—Biography. 4. Governors’ spouses—Minnesota—Biography. 5. United States—Politics and government—1989- 6. Minnesota—Politics and government—1951- 7. Ventura, Jesse—Travel—Southwest, New. 8. Ventura, Terry—Travel—Southwest, New. 9. Southwest, New—Description and travel. 10. Baja California (Mexico: Peninsula)—Description and travel. I. Russell, Dick. II. Title.
F610.3.V46A3 2008
977.6’053092—dc22
[B]
2007048884
Printed in China
To Doug Friedline,
A man who worked endlessly and ultimately gave his life trying to elect honest people to public office.
—Jesse Ventura
and
To our son, Tyrel, and our daughter, Jade, and to all the children of the future: Your freedom is at risk. Be wary.
—Terry Ventura
“I can’t be a politician. I don’t know how. I love the truth. I love to speak it, to recognize it. And that’s why many people criticize me behind my back. To be a politician, you have to take many factors into account, manipulate them, lie if it’s necessary. I’m no good at that. I’ll never be good at any of that.”
—Ernesto (Che) Guevara
Table of Contents
Also by Jesse Ventura
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
PROLOGUE - THE COUNTRY AT A CROSSROADS
CHAPTER 1 - The Need for a New Adventure
CHAPTER 2 - The Road to the Arena
CHAPTER 3 - Down That Texas Trail
CHAPTER 4 - Thinking Politics in Bush Country
CHAPTER 5 - Crossing Borders: A Curious Sense of Security
CHAPTER 6 - Breaking Down Barriers: China and Cuba
CHAPTER 7 - Transitions: Down Mexico Highway 5
CHAPTER 8 - Longing for Light Rail
CHAPTER 9 - Money, Sports, and Politics: A Universal Language
CHAPTER 10 - The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same
CHAPTER 11 - In the Eye of the Hurricane
CHAPTER 12 - At Conception Bay
CHAPTER 13 - Reflections on TV and Teaching
CHAPTER 14 - Thinking War in a Peaceful Place
CHAPTER 15 - Musing in Baja on Changing the System
CHAPTER 16 - A Character in Search of an Ending
EPILOGUE - Why I Didn’t Run in 2008 (And Still Might Someday)
PROLOGUE
THE COUNTRY AT A CROSSROADS
“Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time, and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the bread-stuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank.... You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out.”
—President Andrew Jackson, to a delegation of bankers in 1832
There’s an old saying: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Since this book was published in the spring of 2008, a whole lot has happened that has Americans wondering whether we’re about to plunge into another Great Depression.