Don't Start the Revolution Without Me! - Jesse Ventura [68]
But because of the split between the two houses, the legislation didn’t get anywhere. In 2000, I walked into a Senate Transportation Committee to offer personal testimony. “I know this is not the way things are usually done,” I told the legislators. “But I am absolutely committed to breaking the twenty-year-old LRT logjam that has produced millions of dollars in studies but not one foot of progress.”
The light-rail line also would have linked up to a commuter rail I was trying to get from St. Cloud, sixty miles northwest, to Minneapolis. It would have connected two veterans homes, meaning that veterans wouldn’t have to drive to the state-of-the-art facility in Minneapolis. They could just jump on a commuter rail to downtown, switch to the light rail, go right to the hospital, and probably get home that night. I couldn’t sell the Speaker on that reasoning, either.
Today, it’s finally moving forward. That’s because the current governor, also a Republican, needed those votes along the I-94 commuter rail line from St. Cloud to Minneapolis, and so the House Speaker finally gave in and came on board. Expected to cost $7 million a year, the light rail system ended up turning a $1 million profit its first year! It’s safe to say that, if I hadn’t fought off legislators on both sides of the aisle who wanted to eliminate any funding for it, the first line would never have been laid. The sad part is, had politics not entered into it, the system would already be finished.
Call me naïve. I’d thought that, once the elections were over, it was time to go to work until the next one, when we get political again. Unfortunately, with the Democrats and Republicans, it doesn’t work that way. They’re political 24/7. First on their list is the party and what benefits it. Second are the special interest people, the funders who pay their bills for them. Third on the list might be what’s best for the people.
We stay at a campground facing the bay called Rancho Grande, and are on our way again by 8:00 a.m. The next stretch of road, while still unpaved and bumpy, is in much better condition than what we’ve already weathered. Our goal now is to reach the Transpeninsular Highway One, which is about forty miles from where we spent the night.
At about the halfway point, we come upon two topes. A tope is a speed bump. We don’t have them on main drag roads in the U.S., but Mexico does. Every little town you come to—even some junctions with a single house—will have multiple speed bumps to make you slow down. You can’t blame them. Most towns have many children, and a lot of dust. Anyway, as we crawl over these two topes, there stands one of the most unique houses I’d ever seen.
It’s was called Coco’s Corner. Coco has bronze, super-tanned skin, white hair and a white beard, and a prosthesis on one leg, though he’s not shy about wearing shorts. He’s a jovial old gentleman, and speaks enough broken English to get by. You can camp at Coco’s Corner for the night if you desire, in a big open spot.
Test firing the trusty Stoner machine gun during my Navy career.
This is why I will never be president. I wore a fringe jacket and a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt to my inaugural celebration. For one fleeting moment, everyone in Minnesota became “Experienced.”
Warren Zevon was a warrior from the land of the midnight sun. Here, Warren and I are selling our souls to rock and roll.
e most I have ever done to conform to society’s standards.
The Governor and the First Lady of Minnesota on inauguration day in the governor’s office.
Our first brush with “Green.” We had a wonderful time at the vice presidential residence with Vice President Al and Tipper Gore.
I always enjoyed the lively political discussions with President Clinton.
Governor Ventura and the Minnesota delegation to Washington, D.C. Left to right: Gutknecht, Oberstar, Kennedy, McCollum, Ramstad, Luther, Dayton, Sabo, and Wellstone.
The beginning