Jesse Ventura - Conspiracy Theory

Its seems like all my life I have know of Jesse Ventura. The story arch of his life is a fascinating journey from navy seal to wrestler to actor to Governor to... maybe President? When I was a kid AWA Wrestling was a huge thing. Long before everything was consolidated by Vince McMahon and all the top stars were brought under one banner, The AWA was a local circuit for the 'sport' like so many other circuits across the USA and Japan. They had their own stable of stars but often some of the greats like Andre the Giant, Wahoo McDaniels and Jimmy 'Superfly' Snooka would make a pass through for a couple of months.

Jesse Ventura was a guy who came and stayed with the AWA to become one of the top bad guys ever. He was brash but articulate with a killer instinct and the ability to instantly make enemies. People loved to hate him. We were programmed to hate him by those time honored wrestling techniques that created rivalries between good and bad. But to me he was awesome. I loved his style which was a put on because nobody who acted and talked like that would wear feather boas and pink tights. He may have dressed 'gay' but there was nothing effeminate about him. He was also like a coiled spring just waiting to pounce on someone. Jesse 'The Body' was the real deal.

When he starred in the movie 'Predator' with Arnold Schwarzenegger, he gave us some of best action movie lines ever. ("I ain't got time to bleed.) Looking back from what I know today, he and Arnie and fellow castemate Bill Duke must have talked about their political aspirations since all three ran for Governor of their respective states with only Duke failing in his attempt. I can just see them in the Costa Rican jungle laying out their future goals to each other.

As Governor and now as a 'talking head' Jesse has remained a no-nonsense, strait talking hero of mine. Instead of falling into the trap of being either a democrat or a Republican he has maintained his independence and has been critical about what is wrong in both main political parties in the US. I have watched him destroy some of the hardest hard line supporters of the Republicans in debates because they underestimate his intelligence or his grasp of the facts or the strength of his debating style.

He has a new show on right now where he is after exposing the truth about conspiracy theories - another of my favorite topics. The first episode I saw tonight showed Jesse going after the HAARP program in remote Alaska to see if it really is the 'death ray' so often the dream of mad scientists and evil governments. HAARP is a series of inter-connected antenna that basically act together to form one super antennae. This gives the government (according to the conspiracy) the ability to blanket the skies with lightning, cause earthquakes or, if focused on a single person, cause that person's head to literally explode. Neat stuff.

Regardless of how outlandish this and other conspiracies can be, Jesse plays it right up the middle. He is asking questions, putting together the facts that he knows or discovers and comes up with his own belief if these conspiracies are real. He speaks with an authority that tells you that he is sincere about these things. He seems to be a man who, through his high post as Governor, has learned tidbits of information not meant for the general public to know and this information has haunted him. As a man of fierce intelligence he just can't let it go without investigating for himself.

I found the first episode to be great viewing. I got lots of information that is still rattling around in my noodle. He made me think. I usually brush off all conspiracies I hear as 'hogwash' but I am starting to think that the more the government tries to label these theories as ridiculous, the more truth there are in them. Maybe I have been buying into this government 'balloon juice' all these years just the way they hoped I would.

I think I need to contact Jesse for help in spreading the word about the Cephalopod menace. Do you think he will get back to me?