Don't Start the Revolution Without Me! - Jesse Ventura [55]
“No, sir, we’re all done.”
In that case, I wanted to send them back with something to think about. “Well,” I said, “I have something that I want to tell you, and I’ll leave it up to your discretion who should hear this. You take it to whoever you think is appropriate. A need-to-know basis.”
They feigned being very surprised and said, “Governor, we don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
I said, “Well, here’s what I’m talking about. If you or your people ever put a tail on me again, and don’t tell me beforehand, and I discover it—you’re gonna find the tail floating in the river.”
They looked at me in seeming astonishment. They looked at each other and pretended they didn’t have a clue as to what I was talking about.
I said, “That’s fine. If you don’t get it, you can take it and tell it to somebody who does. I’m sure somebody upstairs, above you, knows exactly what I’m talking about—if you don’t. So you be the judge. Like I say, take it to where it needs to go.”
I’ve often wondered how far it went. Did it get to George Tenet, who was director of CIA at the time? To George Bush? Dick Cheney? Or maybe it didn’t even leave the room. Maybe they didn’t even bother with passing along my little message, I don’t know. But at least I got it off my chest, and let them know that the next time they try to fool me, they ought to do a better job.
One other unique thing happened out of my trip to Cuba. At the turn of the year that Christmas, a FedEx messenger came and delivered a calendar. In it were twelve beautiful photos of Cuba—and it was autographed by Fidel Castro. How the Cubans managed to get this to me at my home address, I have no clue, but apparently their intelligence network within the U.S. must be fairly good. Since Fidel is not allowed to use our mail system, he had to send it by private courier.
Then, shortly before I was to leave office, Castro sent an emissary to the governor’s residence. He wanted to reassure me about something. “Always remember, governor,” the man said, “a friend to Cuba will always remain a friend to Cuba.”
When I was there, Fidel himself had been very strong in inviting me back. He’d said, “The next time you come, you come as my guest and you bring your family and your children.” I bet I’d have a pretty nice place at the beach if I went on vacation! It’s just strange to me that I’m not able to do that, not legally.
I don’t look forward to Castro’s death, because I fear there will be a massive amount of turmoil in Cuba, and the Cuban people have suffered enough. But they have the strength to face it, I believe.
I was appalled that President Bush and our government turned down Castro’s offer of sending doctors, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I thought that was one of the most arrogant, stupid decisions that I’ve seen this president make. When your enemy holds out an olive branch, it takes a far better statesman to accept it than to reject it. Had I been president, those doctors would have been warmly received. And a personal letter of thank you would have gone to Castro and the Cuban government. Have we ever helped them when they’ve been hit by a hurricane? I don’t think so.
The man is brilliant. Was Fidel doing that for political reasons, or as an act of kindness? That’s the question we’ll never know the answer to. But you know what? Having met Castro, I’d give it 50-50. I think it was both kindness to the people of New Orleans, because he has personally lived through something similar in Cuba, and it was also a brilliant strategic political move on his part. A way of showing “I’m a dictator with a heart.”
CHAPTER 7
Transitions: Down Mexico Highway 5
“It was mid-February and U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, a Minnesota Republican, was among 24 members of the House and Senate accompanying President Clinton on a state visit to Mexico. Shortly after he stepped off the plane and moved down the receiving line, the Minnesotan got a surprise that interrupted the formality of the situation.
“The congressman