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Jesse Ventura on Homeland Security

Former Independent MN Governor


War isn’t civilized; don’t expect warriors to be

A Navy SEAL will defy death at least twice a week. When you get that kind of familiarity with death, barriers go down, and anything else seems insignificant.

I don’t like what happened in the navy’s Tailhook scandal; I think what those officers did was wrong. But I understand why it happened. When you get a force of that many hundreds of warriors together, there’s bound to be trouble. We’re responsible for making them what they are. You just can’t bring them back into civilization and expect that everything that was drilled into them is going to go away.

When you’re dealing with death face-to-face, there are no rules. It’s all about survival. After that, bad behavior doesn’t affect you all that much.

War isn’t civilized. War is failure. It’s the ultimate result of a breakdown in public policy, and soldiers are the machines that handle that breakdown. In warfare, you’re taught to do whatever you have to, to stay alive. Can you imagine bringing that mind-set into a party?

Source: Ain’t Got Time to Bleed, p.105-6 Jan 1, 1999

Military is stronger if all-volunteer

Even while I was a Navy SEAL, I participated in the 1970s peace movement. I marched at peace rallies. I admit it wasn’t so much because of my great love of peace as it was because of my great love of female companionship. To the women in the movement, I was the poor beleaguered victim of the system, sent off against his will to fight this horrible war [in Vietnam]. They didn’t realize that the navy had no draft!

I loved the braless thing. I’m very heterosexual. I’d see women out burning their bras, and I’d go over with a lighter, “Can I help?” I did participate seriously, though, in the anti-draft movement. To this day, I’m against the draft. I believe the military is much stronger if it’s an all-volunteer organization.

Source: Ain’t Got Time to Bleed, p.109 Jan 1, 1999

Against the draft; for including women except in combat

I’m against the draft. I believe we should have a professional military; it might be smaller, but it would be more effective. The draft is unfair. Rich kids didn’t get drafted [in Vietnam]; they went to college and hid.

If we’re going to draft at all, then we should draft women too, as long as we don’t send them into combat. The problem is men, [not women’s effectiveness in combat]. There’s something protective in men that makes us want to protect women. And that would be disastrous in battle.

Source: Ain’t Got Time To Bleed, p. 34 Jan 1, 1999

Other candidates on Homeland Security: Jesse Ventura on other issues:
MN Gubernatorial:
Tim Pawlenty
MN Senatorial:
Al Franken
Amy Klobuchar
Dean Barkley
James Niemackl
Michael Cavlan
Norm Coleman


2008 Senate retirements:

Wayne Allard(R,CO)
Larry Craig(R,ID)
Pete Domenici(R,NM)
Chuck Hagel(R,NE)
Trent Lott(R,MS)
Craig Thomas(R,WY)
John Warner(R,VA)

2008 Presidential Contenders:

Chuck Baldwin(C)
Rep.Bob Barr(L)
Sen.Hillary Clinton(D)
Sen.Mike Gravel(L)
Alan Keyes(C)
Sen.John McCain(R)
Rep.Cynthia McKinney(G)
Ralph Nader(I)
Sen.Barack Obama(D)
Rep.Ron Paul(R)
2008 Senate Races:
AK:Stevens v.Begich v.Cuddy v.Sikma
AL:Sessions v.Figures
AR:Pryor v.Kennedy
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MI:Levin v.Hoogendyk v.Boman v.Nikitin
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MS4:Wicker v.Musgrove
MS6:Cochran v.Fleming
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NE:Johanns v.Kleeb v.Larrick
NH:Sununu v.Shaheen v.Blevens
NJ:Lautenberg v.Zimmer
Pearce v.Udall
OK:Inhofe v.Rice
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RI:Reed v.Young v.Tingle
SC:Graham v.Conley v.McBride
SD:Johnson v.Dykstra
TN:Alexander v.Tuke v.Lugo v.Heyward
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Page last updated: Sep 27, 2008