-Caveat Lector- Ventura’s Honesty Violates the Public’s Demand for Hypocrisy - After Bill Clinton, Why is the Public Outraged at Jesse Ventura? By Mary Mostert, Analyst, Original Sources (www.originalsources) October 5, 1999 So far, the year 2000 presidential campaign has been pretty boring for most people. Candidates on both sides of the fence are walking very carefully through the changing mine fields of public opinion, saying as little as possible to try to make sure they offend no one. Today, in an apparent effort to wake up the electorate, the Cato Institute is sponsoring "a more mature debate, October 5, 1999. The Cato Institute "will host Beyond Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug Policies in the 21st Century. Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, who has become a leading advocate for drug decriminalization, is among the speakers scheduled for this day long conference. The event will be broadcast live via the Cato Web site. The drug war has proven to be a costly failure. Drugs are as easy to obtain as ever. And yet, alternative drug policies are ignored by our political leaders." However, it appears that Reform Candidate Governor Jesse Ventura of Minnesota has upstaged the erudite Cato Institute's "mature debate" with some pithy comments on the same subject in a Playboy Magazine interview. In the process, Ventura has given both Republicans and Democrats a new target to shoot at. Friday's edition of the St. Paul/Minneapolis Pioneer Planet headlined the report of Ventura's Playboy Magazine interview with: "Outrage greets Ventura interview." It followed that with: "Governor says he has no plans to apologize." Patrick Sweeney, staff writer for the Pioneer Planet, wrote: "In a storm of angry reaction, state political leaders and many average citizens rebuked Gov. Jesse Ventura on Thursday for his remarks in a Playboy Magazine interview. Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe called on Ventura to apologize to Minnesotans for his comments about religion and sexual harassment, and the head of the state Republican Party said the governor should consider resigning." What did the governor say that brought about such a reaction? He said: * that organized religion is a ``sham and a crutch for weak-minded people.'' * that if he were reincarnated he would want to come back as a brassiere * that he has smoked marijuana and sees nothing wrong with that. He also said no one should be imprisoned for either prostitution or drug offenses. * that he did not condone, but could understand, the widespread sexual harassment that was reported at the Las Vegas convention of Navy aviators * that he has no plans to apologize to anyone for anything he said in the interview. ``I did the interview, and I said what I said in it,'' he said. ``If people don't understand what I meant, I'm not going to apologize for it In a news conference, Moe urged Ventura to apologize, and to do so in national television interviews he has scheduled next week with Barbara Walters and David Letterman. ``Use the opportunity, Governor, to get some good publicity for the state,'' Moe said. ``Don't talk about the things you talked about, because they don't reflect Minnesota values.'' Now, let's see if we can sort out Minnesota's concerns and its values. Basically they have a governor whom they voted for, who is saying that there is nothing at all wrong with what the majority of the Minnesota Congressional delegation voted on when the question was Bill Clinton's behavior in office. Ventura's statements merely validated what the Minnesota Congressional delegation has been supporting in the impeachment of Clinton. The seven Democrat-Farm-Labor members of Congress from Minnesota, of the ten member delegation, all voted against Articles of impeachment on Perjury Before Grand Jury and Obstruction of Justice, in spite of the overwhelming evidence of both perjury and obstruction of justice. The President of the United States has shown by his immoral conduct - illicit sex, adultery, lying (which he admitted), that he rejects religion - in spite of his occasional Bible thumping. We know he has smoked marijuana and the records show that Clinton's Arkansas was awash in Cocaine:" First Brother Roger Clinton and Arkansas political kingpin and Clinton Campaign contributor Dan Lasater both served time in prison for trafficking in cocaine. A banker and key Clinton backer, Lasater was pardoned by Gov. Clinton after serving a fraction of his sentence. Roger Clinton was arrested in the rotunda of the Arkansas State Capitol during Clinton's first term as governor. Many independent sources confirm that Governor Bill himself had "a nose like a vacuum cleaner" when it came to cocaine. So, Minnesota's values clearly have not been offended. The voters of Minnesota voted for a President who is a known drug user, liar and woman harasser, not once, but twice. On sexual harassment, the State of Minnesota's majority in its Congressional delegation has not only voted for Clinton to remain in the White House, they have done so in spite of his being ordered to pay nearly a million dollars for harassing Paula Jones, a state employee when he was governor of Arkansas. And the women of Minnesota are bent out of shape because Ventura says he'd want to be reincarnated as a "brassiere?" What, do you suppose, would Bill Clinton like to be reincarnated as, considering his kinky sex habits? Dede Wolfson, co-director of the Minnesota Women's Consortium, a lobbying group representing some of Minnesota's women's organizations, is representative of the confusion being expressed by Minnesota's feminists. She said she often views Ventura's "deeds as governor quite differently from his words." For example, Wolfson likes Ventura's " support for education, his strong opposition to restrictions on abortion and his appointment of a number of women to high-profile jobs. ``He does things that are really good and we are really pleased with, and then he says things like the Tailhook thing,'' Wolfson said. ''It makes you think he doesn't understand sexual harassment and discrimination.'' This is typical. So far Ventura has not been accused of either sexual harassment, or drug use. Yet, there was irrefutable proof presented, part of it by Clinton himself, that he DID lie to the Grand Jury and he DID harass Paula Jones. Clinton's refusal to release his medical records, which were loudly demanded of all Republican candidates, was never strongly challenged by the pro-Clinton media. And, his sexual harassment was adjudicated and a fine levied. That leaves Ventura's outspoken honesty which appears to have caught the entire nation off-guard. Apparently there are some who would like to cut his use of the First Amendment's Freedom of Speech off at the pass. Modern politicians are not supposed to be outspoken characters who simply TELL the public what their views are. The public appears to prefer hypocrites who say one thing and then do the opposite. That, apparently, is why they love Bill Clinton. It's OK if one's governor or president is a woman chaser and harasser, a liar, a drug user and a lewd fellow totally devoid of moral character, as long as he PRETENDS to be something else. What is inexcusable and what caused a 17 point drop in Ventura's popularity was telling the truth about drug use, harassing women, etc. For a politician to tell the public the truth is considered downright un-American these days. 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