My politics tend to be random. The Republicans I know consider me too liberal. The left-wingers say I'm to conservative. Where is a fence straggler to go? Luckily for me someone invented newspaper columns and that has given me an outlet for my political confusion.

    If you agree with a thing or two I say, great. If you agree with everything I say, that scares me. As free thinkers living truly random lives, we all must create our own philosophical and political beliefs. So, think.... don't follow. Listen... don't obey unconditionally.

    I have to admit when Ventura first won the gubernatorial race, I was in favor of giving it a chance. At the time, I wrote....

    "It's a mistake."
    That's what I kept hearing Tuesday night as election results started pouring in.
    Personally, I was under the impression that however the gubernatorial election ended that night it would be a mistake.
    While it's a personal decision, I am willing to admit that I couldn't bring myself to vote for any of the top three candidates. But now that it's all over, I think the right choice may have been made.
    Still, I'm occasionally hearing the nay-sayers trying to tell me it was a mistake and we'll regret it.
    "But he's a former wrestler."
    So was Abraham Lincoln and his past life didn't seem to interfere too much with the way he decided to govern.
    "But, he's an entertainer."
    So was Ronald Reagan. Not really a great one, but then, look at Jesse's acting job in "Predator."
    "But he doesn't have government experience."
    The same can be said for a lot of lawmakers across the country.
    Our own Sen. Rod Grams had little hands on experience before we sent him to Washington. He was also an entertainer of sorts as a talking head on the nightly news.
    "But everyone's laughing at us."
    So what. Minnesotans have often demonstrated that they have a sense of humor. Look at "Fargo;" look at Garrison Keillor.
    The fact that David Letterman and Jay Leno are joking about it could actually be a benefit to the state.
    After all, our governor is nationally known. Who can name the governor of Maryland?
    How will it help?
    Imagine Gov. Ventura going to the nation's Capitol in search of funding for a new education program. He needs to get through the doors of a few out-of-state Congressmen.
        Who's going to get in first, "The Body" or some right-winger from
the east coast?
        If nothing else, he getting Minnesotan's noticed.

    Unfortunately, those words soon proved too true. Mr. Ventura went to Washington and I had to open my eyes and admit my fellow Minnesotans were fools as our governor proved he was one of the best....

    Like most Minnesotans, I want to be proud of our state, even though there are, at times, things that make us want to hang our head low.
    People celebrate Spam as if it were the food of gods. Still, I hold we hold our heads high.
    The movie "Fargo" depicted us as an odd bunch, but most of us survived with some dignity.
    More than 30 percent of our voters elected a pro-wrestler as governor. Yet, I said "Give it a chance."
    Then, he opened his mouth.
    Now, I'm wondering what type of housing is available in Lake Mills, Iowa.
    In the past week, "The Body" has successfully completed his name transition. Not to Jesse "The Mind" Ventura as he hoped, but to Jesse "The Ego" Ventura.
    Through a series of national broadcasts, the governor has made Minnesotans feel a shame that The Artist Formerly Known as Prince couldn't top.
    First, he said "yes" to a "Meet the Press" interview with the likes of California Gov. Gray Davis and New Jersey Governor Christine Todd-Whitman.
    While speaking on one of the most high-brow Sunday morning news shows, our governor was sandwiched between two of the brightest governors in the nation. Davis pulled a coop of sorts by taking the state head seat from California Republicans and Whitman is considered by some to be a shining star in the GOP.
    Then comes Jesse.
    Sure, Jesse thinks he deserves to be mixing with the likes of Davis and Whitman. He also thinks voters elected him based on the issues and not his pink boa.
    Unfortunately, Ventura came across as a train wreck. I'm sure everybody outside Minnesota had to stop and watch, but those of us involved had to feel the pain.
    How much is rent in Northwood, Iowa?
    After his "Meet the Press" embarrassment (for us, not him), Ventura spoke in front of the National Press Club. For a guy who's nearly declared war on the media, he's hanging pretty tight with the press people.
    Anyway, everything at the press club shindig seemed to go fine. After all, he merely repeated his "How great am I to become governor?" speech. We've heard it, but evidently there are a couple of reporters not listening last January.
    While Ventura's "How I was elected" story is harmless, he decided to proceed with telling people what he's done in the past weeks.
    He said he was proud of his first gubernatorial proclamation - naming it Rolling Stones Day in Minnesota.
    Maybe I can find a nice house just south of Emmons.
    Then he told the story of how he was getting chummy with President Clinton. That's when the Jesse we know and (cough) love came out.
    Jesse "the Ego" is at his best when he's name dropping. He's buddies with Bill and Hillary, Arnold and Maria, Mick and Keith and a host of others living outside Minnesota.
    When's he going to brag about who he knows here?
    After the Ego popped up at the National Press Club, it didn't seem like it could get worse.
    Then came the Late Show with David Letterman.
    That's where the governor reached an all-time low, bad mouthing his Irish constituents. These are people he supposedly represents and he went on national television and called them a bunch of drunks.
    The crime of it all, though, is that the Ego has no idea he did wrong.
    ''If I offended anyone, I apologize,'' he said. ''The David Letterman show is a show of comedy. It's a show that has Top 10 lists and is generally considered comedic and that's the light in which I did the show.''
    He said it's not his fault, it's ours for not seeing how funny he is.
    Instead of acting like a leader of the state, he's acting like a junior wrestler out to make a name for himself, or a kid riding his bike with no hands and yelling "Look at me!"
    Unfortunately, we are looking.
    And, so is the nation.
    Would the commute from Mason City be too long?

    Since then, our fine governor has made a steady practice of placing his foot firmly in his mouth. Heck, he can even do it while wearing combat boots. His most recent error had most Minnesotans hanging their head...

    The governor almost got me killed last week.
    Driving down Main Street on my way to the office Wednesday, I was    listening to National Public Radio when a reporter mentioned that the Honorable Jesse Ventura had a suggestion on how the Littleton, Colo., massacre could have been prevented, or at least limited.
    All ears, I turned up the radio.
    Then, I hear the governor thought the tragedy might have been lessened if someone in the school - aside from the unhinged youth - had been armed.
    A moment of shock hit me. I looked at the radio in disbelief. I made sure I wasn't in bed dreaming.
    I almost didn't see the red light.
    Luckily, I stopped in time. Otherwise, the governor would probably be pointing to my early death as evidence that public radio should be outlawed.
    Ventura's comments Wednesday were horrifying.
    He never did explain who should have been carrying the extra firepower. Teachers? Principals? Custodians? The lunch lady?
    Maybe each classroom could have a semiautomatic rifle in a special case. "In case of rampage, just break glass."
    Granted, Ventura rescinded his comments a day later, saying he regrets his comments.
    "I believe that, except for uniformed police officers, a school is no place for weapons, and that the carrying of concealed weapons in schools is not the answer to this terrible problem," he said Thursday.
    Ventura's comments and hasty retraction the following day carry the proverbial "good news and bad news."
    The good news is he's learning. The bad news is it isn't fast enough.
    Ventura is a loose canon of undetermined political ideology.
    Some say they respect that.
    "He says what's on his mind."
    Others say it's dangerous.
    "He doesn't have anything on his mind."
    In the long run, Ventura has to learn to think before he speaks or his words will, at best, make Minnesota the laughingstock of the nation. At worse, it will make us despised.
    Ventura is our spokesman. What he says, many outside Minnesota will assume is the voice of the people.
    If he says he wants more guns in our schools, others will determine Minnesotans are in favor of armed posses roaming the halls.
    But, Ventura pulled his words.
    That's got to count for something, right?
    Likely, it means his political advisors pulled him into a side room and red him the riot act. The nation is grieving as promising lives were cut short and the governor pushes a "conceal and carry" message.
    Open mouth, insert foot.
    The fact that Ventura listen to criticism and pulled his words is a good sign. He is finally listening.
    In the past months, we have come to expect poorly placed comments like that to be followed with, "I was misquoted" or the ever popular, "I was just giving it to them."
    I think the governor finally is beginning to understand he has to take responsibility for what he says. His words are helping to lead this state. A poorly placed one will take us somewhere we don't want to go.
    Now, all he has to do is learn to think about these things earlier.
    "Think before you speak," my mother always told me.
    With that in mind, Ventura has to learn that speaking off the cuff isn't always the best way to make your point. There is nothing wrong with taking time to ponder a situation and then give an opinion.
    Reading his retraction Thursday, there is plenty of evidence that true thought and care were put into it. Listening to his statements on Wednesday, the exact opposite is true.
    ''I believe it supports conceal and carry because of the fact that what happens when a group of unarmed individuals are confronted with people with weapons like this, you have no defense,'' Ventura said. ''There is no defense out there.
    ''And yet had there been someone who was armed, in this particular situation, in my opinion, it may have stabilized,'' he said.
    The answer isn't necessarily more guns and it's likely not fewer guns.
    It's control. We need to teach all generations to control their actions. There is a right and a wrong way to behave.
    Unfortunately, teaching any type control is hard. There are no simple answers.
    Just ask our governor.

   And that's not it, there's more than three years left of this fun and embarrassment.

    All that can be done is watch and wait.....

    Sorry about not yet reaching another topic, but this site is new and still under construction... In fact, it will likely be ever-changing...

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