Don't Start the Revolution Without Me!: From the Minnesota Governor's Mansion to the Baja Outback: Reflections and Revisionings

This is my first Jesse Ventura book and I am deeply impressed. This man is the real deal, honest, straight-up, with plenty of common sense. His ideal running mate is not John McCain or Robert Kennedy Jr. but rather the star of The Average American: The Extraordinary Search for the Nation's Most Ordinary Citizen. I would gladly serve these solid citizens in a staff capacity. The book lacks an index, while offering plenty of balanced outrage. This is a serious person who sees all that is wrong with America, and who would have no problem agreeing with the authors of Running On Empty: How The Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It; or Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders. A few of my notes from this captivating book and personality: + "Special interests have a stranglehold on our reality. Nobody is being told the truth." + Castro told him JFK assassination was an inside job. See Someone Would Have Talked: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Conspiracy to Mislead History for confirmation--CIA trained team of Cuban exiles in revenge for Bay of Pigs + Reform Party was bogus, Perot let his ego run away with his brain + Buchanan hijacked the Reform Party and looted its treasury to pay off his old campaign debts + Both political parties are gangs + Organized religion is a business milking people like cows for their milk (money) + Down on NAFTA + Bush-Cheney passing federal laws that prevent states from protecting their own citizens properly from corporate predation + 9/11 Commission a cover-up, just as the Warren Commission was--government lies to the people (e.g. Gulf of Tonkin incident, simply cannot be trusted + CIA has embedded case officers within state and local governments + Positive on Ralph Nader as an honest person bringing up issues the two criminal parties will not raise + Properly faults Bush-Cheney for ignoring intelligence and privatizing war while bankrupting the Nation---if not impeachable, should at least be commitable to an insane asylum (see my lists on impeachment and holding Dick Cheney accountable, at least take a look at Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency + There IS a ruling class, not sure of its composition, we have to take the country back from them + Electoral college is long overdue for termination. + O'Reilly, all of those talking heads are scripted, media is about generating cash through entertainment, not about informing the citizenry + FCC fines broadcasters and others but they are appointed, not elected, and not accountable for their subjective definition of what is obscene + "Revisionist history troubles me deeply." page 265. This is the point where I decide this guy is a serious and qualified candidate to be our president. + 27 years of Bushes and Clintons, time for an independent party nominee to win and lead + National Guard should stay home. +

This is a very fun book. Whether you love him or hate him, Jesse is an interesting fellow with lots of interesting points of view about politics and life. Here he talks about his days as Governor of Minnesota and after, looking back from his perspective while driving into semi-retirement to Baja, Mexico. Using that as his platform he talks about his political points of view and his thoughts on politics and politicians in today's society. He of course strongly advocates for a third party system and is rankled by the monopoly the Democrats and Republicans have on the democratic (or undemocratic?) process in America. This an interesting book from an unconventional politician (or former politician at any rate).

This book is REQUIRED READING for serious Americans. Rarely does a politician as unique as Jesse Ventura gain access to the real corridors of power. What he has to say about it is something every individual who cares abouth the future really needs to hear and understand. In many other countries, an option on the ballot at every election is None Of The Above, which is a vote of No Confidence by people who do care about their country enough to vote, but not for the available candidates. They could not allow that in the US because None Of The Above would win most of the elections and force the entire system into question! Only a virtuous rogue warrior like Jesse Ventura could beat that choice. Read this and learn why!

Jesse is rested, refreshed, reinvigorated, ready to handle the "media jackals" (his phrase), and it sounds like he's ready to make a run. His wife has recovered her physical health, and the family has now survived a mayorship, a governorship, and all the public clamor and whatnot that sticking to true independence brings. He's the greatest political maverick of this generation. You may not agree with a lot of what he says, but he will fight you most gracefully and graciously. He's no crybaby, and he's ready even to "play the bad guy" if that's what it takes to get some true debate going again. HE KNOWS HIS STUFF!! I think he would make a fantastic president -- if he's not assassinated first. He's laying his life on the line here. Are we ready? The book is a great page turner as Jesse rocks and rolls from one controversial subject to the next. He's assisted in his writing by acclaimed environmental and investigative journalist Dick Russell (o.k. I'll use "ghostwriter). And wife Terry gets to insert pages from her journal throughout this work, very effectively. It's wonderful to see a real team marriage, a couple who have nothing to hide. I'm plugging this book everywhere I go!

I've never read a book by Jesse Ventura, and while I followed his term as Governor of Minnesota with some interest, I never really delved into his political philosophy. To put it bluntly, Jesse Ventura is a No-B.S., straight shooter who has a genuine concern about our recent loss of the virtues that made our country great. When I say "virtues," I'm not talking about the pseudo-morality that masks fundamentalist zealotry these days, I'm talking about American Virtues like freedom of speech, freedom of thought and the right to be left alone to live your life without the government telling you what to do. In an entertaining and thought-provoking manner, the author explains his experiences in office and exposes the two-party system for what it is; Corrupt and Rotten to the Core. The idea of voting Republican or Democrat gives us the illusion of choice without meaningful difference or informed debate. Jesse Ventura proves that you don't have to be a political insider to make a difference in this country. If you're tired of the status quo in American Politics, pick up this book and get a breath of fresh air and a jolt of motivation to make a difference. I'd give it ten stars if I could.