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October 7, 2005
Jesse "The Body" slams party politics
By Ryan Hoover
Jesse Ventura emphasizes his point in his speech at
Lee
Chapel. Photo and video by Chrissy Hogan and Michael Fahey.
Although former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura may have resembled a character
from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, the tone of his speech at Lee
Chapel concerning the current state of American politics was far from
comical.
Ventura’s speech, entitled “Tell it Like it Is”, touched on many
controversial issues, from America’s two-party system to the War in
Iraq.
The former Navy SEAL and professional wrestler told the audience, mostly
comprised of W&L students and VMI cadets, of the lacking options in the
American political system.
“In your lifetimes, we’ve only seen two families produce a president,
Bush or Clinton," he said. "Are we a dual family monarchy here?”
Ventura also equated the two-party political scene to that of a grocery
store only selling Coke and Pepsi. Ventura said that third parties serve
as the “Mountain Dew” in the political spectrum.
Ventura quipped that “the two-party system is phenomenal because it
gives us one more choice than communist Russia.”
In addition to criticizing the lack of political variety, Ventura also
said that Democrats and Republicans utilize a governing system based on
“bribery.” Ventura claimed that a governor will not see a constituent
unless they give him or her a campaign contribution. In the private
sector, this is illegal, yet in politics it’s accepted.
Iraq was also a major talking point in the speech, as Ventura expressed
his opposition to the war.
“Our military was used, whether right or wrong, to go into a sovereign
nation, where we were not invited, overthrow a government and establish
the government of our choice, the same thing the Nazis and Russians
did,” he declared.
Saudi Arabia, according to “The Body,” was a more logical target than
Iraq, as they were responsible for the September 11 attacks.
Despite this criticism, the former special operations soldier was
adamant in his support of the troops. He proposed that the government
should face child abuse charges for sending 18- year-olds into combat in
Iraq to die when they aren’t treated as full adults at home.
“You can take a bullet for your country but you can’t have a beer,” he
said.
Ventura concluded his speech by fielding about 30 minutes worth of
questions from the audience.
Steph Wiechmann contributed to this report.
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Ventura's video highlights:
Politics system based on
bribery
How do we solve the gay
marriage debate?
"An apathetic public makes
bad government"
How would Ventura have dealt
with the Taliban?
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