Jesse Ventura said America has reached a fascist state...

[skooooo]

Flipping through news shows last night, I saw Ventura on Hannity and Colmes and stopped for a minute just to see what was going on. I was completely surprised by Ventura's statement. When Hannity pressed him on it, Ventura explained quite handily that corporations have taken over our government and that we were in fascism.

Anyone else see this? Wonder how that will set with the Faux news crowd.

[defendandprotect]

1. Love his explanation . . .

[wildbilln864]

2. I agree with him...

unfortunately. :banghead:

[midnight]

3. That would explain why nothing makes any sense about our

Health care, education, science, FDA administration, airlines, etc.......

[Divernan]

4. Unfortunately the vast majority of Americans could not define "fascist".

The dumbing down of this country has been very effective - and the blind, unthinking, unreasoning, over-emotional allegiance one saw to Mussolini, Hitler and other fascist leaders is reborn in the blind allegiance (those hard core 20-something percent) who still support Bush et al, and now, sadly HRC.

[skooooo]

6. That's why it's a good thing he explained it quite simply.

[hyphenate]

5. Ventura seems to have

a knack for telling the truth, blunt though it might be. He makes people mad with his comments, too, but he's just saying what's on his mind. One of my favorite Ventura quotes, which harkens back to some other philosophers, was "religion is a crutch for those who can't handle reality." As a mostly atheistic person, I found that intriguing, especially when it came to the people who got outraged by it.

[hiaasenrocks]

7. I think he was slammed on his head too many times while wrestling.

Some of the things he says are just plain stupid. I watched part of his interview on Larry King a couple of weeks ago.

He said Obama deserves credit for not voting for the Iraq war. Uh, Obama COULDN'T have voted for it; he wasn't in the Senate at the time.

He said he wonders why people as old as McCain can run for office when gov't employees are forced to retire at 65. Well, of all the reasons not to vote for McCain, that's the dumbest one. The presidency is a constitutional office, with no age limit. Not quite the same as the post office. So, yeah, there's a difference between a president and a gov't worker.

I found myself rolling my eyes at nearly everything he said. It was like going to a bar where you end up sitting next to a very talkative and lonely attention-seeking person. Sad really.

[Warpy]

9. Ventura is a classic stopped clock

although his track record is a little better than being right twice a day.

That's the problem with inconsistency. Too many people look at the lunacy and discard the truth along with it.

[JackRiddler]

10. Too bad he's not more presentable...

He's still saying more truth than anyone else on TV, in his embarrassing way. Maybe you need to get over your hang-ups about the real-existing working class from which he emerged.

[boobooday]

8. I believe they know that this charge has been made by many reputable people

So they bring on someone they can mock to air it, laugh at it, and dismiss it forever.

[JackRiddler]

12. Um, are you aware that this the former governor of Minnesota?

You're right, they like to choose clowns to attack.

But Ventura earned a spot in the media rotation by actually winning a statewide election as a 3rd-party candidate. Deal with it.

[boobooday]

16. I'm not putting down Jesse, and I am aware that he was governor

And they mocked him the whole time, like they do every third-party candidate/elected official. Whether it is warranted or not (and I happen to agree with what he said) the media treat him like a sideshow.

[Deja Q]

19. And misused his position in such a way we won't have another 3rd party candidate for centuries...

Which might be for the best, if they're all like he was.

:shrug:

[eShirl]

20. I don't care if he was king of the universe

he's still mockable.

"Deal with it."

[JackRiddler]

25. Of course he's mockable. Eminently so.

The point I responded to implied he was on TV because he was mockable. In fact, many others are equally mockable. In fact, he was more likely on TV because he was the former governor.

[bbgrunt]

11. Jesse speaks the truth. Too bad that so

many are so quick to dismiss him.

[JackRiddler]

14. Yup - and for such unfathomable reasons.

Basically: He's a wrestler.

Like Plato.

(Also: not a Democrat.)

But I guess we want professors.

Like Woodrow Wilson and Newt Gingrich.

[Auggie]

13. We're not there yet.

We still have too many freedoms.

[JackRiddler]

15. To see how many freedoms you have, try using them sometime.

When was the last time you made a speech on the street from a radical perspective? (Flag-waving wouldn't count, see? Freedom to wave the flag is not freedom.)

[frogmarch]

17. Jesse's right. He's not alone in

believing this. Anyone who doubts that America is not at least approaching a fascist state should read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine.

[Deja Q]

18. What's the source? I bet it's not Playboy magazine, them being tired of limp head too...

[JackRiddler]

26. What's the source?

For what?

The statement in the OP was:

"Ventura explained quite handily that corporations have taken over our government and that we were in fascism."

That's a general conclusion about an entire historical era. The source presumably would be observation of the current political economy as a whole. Perhaps you see it otherwise. Perhaps you don't think corporations are in charge of the government. Or perhaps you will quibble with the definition of this as fascism.

Enjoy your smugness. Remember, it's always about the messenger.

[creeksneakers2]

21. Ventura is right

The proof is all around but most can't see it.

[soothsayer]

22. We're in for four more years of fascism, according to political cycles.

But after that we'll have 12 years of really fabulous radical coolness---so hang in!

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. I hope you are right about the coolness, because my boys will be prime draft age by then. (8 & 10 )

[L. Coyote]

24. Those bozos will never parade a credible person making the same claim.

Sounds like a dog and pony and T-V wrestler show. Glad I never tune that channel.