Don't Start the Revolution Without Me! - Jesse Ventura [98]
TERRY: That’s one of the things I really liked about him, because I am a reader, and here was a man who read! In his wrestling days, the first thing he would say in the morning was: “Who’s got a newspaper?”
It’s little things like that that you think won’t get to you but, when you’re in a position like I was, all those little things become a big thing.
TERRY: See, we weren’t seasoned. We didn’t have the backup, and we didn’t have professionals around us. Everybody that worked for him, they were all like us: We can change the world. You can’t go into politics with that attitude. You are a fool if you do. You have to go into politics saying, “This is going to be the hardest job I’ve ever had in my life. I’m going to have to fight to stay alive, fight to get every single inch of ground”—and then hope to heck there’s somebody behind you holding onto it when you’re gone.
Just remembering makes me want to go and lie down for a while.
Even more important than placing term limits on politicians, I believe they should have term limits on Capitol reporters. Some of those guys have been down there in the statehouse basement for twenty-five years; they hardly ever see the sun! It would be a good policy, on the part of newspapers, to do a rotation. Move these people to another beat when they become too comfortable and entrenched. In the end, they don’t take an objective point of view. They start feeding into their stories what they want to see happen. They get overrun, I think, with the feeling of power—just like career politicians do.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press had an editorial writer named Steve Dornfeld. Probably 90 percent or more of his editorials were negative toward me. Weeks after I left office, Dornfeld left the newspaper and became communications director for the Metropolitan Council, which is overseen by a new Republican governor. To me, that’s a clear example of how aligned our media are with the two parties. The media are very comfortable with a two-party system, and don’t want to see it changed.
I actually did my best to help out the media when it came to an infringement on its First Amendment rights. I’d just gotten out of office when the infamous Janet Jackson incident took place at the Super Bowl, where Justin Timberlake ripped off her top in front of the TV cameras. I happened to catch in the paper one day that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had fined CBS half a million dollars for that. I also learned that Fox had drawn a million dollar fine for running some sort of “indecent” program. My curiosity was piqued. When the networks write out these checks to the government, where does the money go?
I called the FCC headquarters in New York, explained who I was, and asked my question. I was then transferred six times. No one could answer me. I thought, this is ridiculous, it should be public information. How come these people either can’t tell me, or won’t? Finally, I was told that someone would be calling me back. The next day, a fellow did. First he got defensive, thinking I was accusing the FCC of a “take the money and run.” I assured him this wasn’t the case, I simply wanted to know.
Then he dropped the bombshell: that $1.5 million in fines went into the government’s general fund. This might not cause the hair on the average lay person’s neck to stand up, but it should. The general fund is the trillion dollar elephant—what the entire federal government runs off of, where all your tax dollars go. When you pay taxes, you also elect public officials. But this is taxation without representation. The FCC consists of appointed officials; therefore it’s their definition of what is obscene. If you, as the public, disagree with them, you have no means to remove them. This is the government’s ability to levy fines anytime they want, because the FCC holds these stations hostage. If they pull a station’s license, they’re out of business. So I find this a clear case of dictatorship, in the world of communications and free speech.