"I Ain't got Time to Play Fair!"

     A friend recently posted to Facebook some remarks critical of Jesse Ventura in the wake of a recent civil court decision in which he was awarded $1.8 million as compensation for lost income due to what amounts to libel. This seems to stem from the writer's idol worship of the recently deceased libelor, Christopher Kyle, author of the bestselling book, American Sniper. 

     Allow me to assure you, I have thought of Jesse ("the body" -his 'rasslin' name) Ventura as mainly an interesting speed bump in the political parking lot. He has always projected a larger than life, outspoken persona. Even when overshadowed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator and portraying a mortally wounded hero, his "I ain't got time to bleed" is a classic line.

    As a politician his four years as Minnesota governor were far superior to many.  Ventura entered politics as Mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, at 77,000 +, the sixth largest city in the state, from 1991 to 1995. He was the successful mayor of a city more than ten times the size of Wasilla, Alaska, home of Faux News calendar girl, Sarah Palin.  He ran, four years after his mayoral term ended,  in the Minnesota gubernatorial election of 1998, running a low-budget campaign centered on grassroots events and unusual ads that urged citizens not to "vote for politics as usual". Ventura's campaign was successful, with him narrowly and unexpectedly defeating both the Democratic and Republican candidates. Ventura is the highest elected official to ever win an election on a Reform Party ticket.

     As governor, Ventura oversaw reforms of Minnesota's property tax as well as the state's first sales tax rebate. Other initiatives taken under Ventura included construction of the METRO Blue Line light rail in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, and cuts in income taxes.

     Ventura left office in 2003, deciding not to run for re-election and  became a visiting fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2004. He has since also hosted a number of television shows and has written several political books. Ventura remains politically active and currently hosts a show on Ora TV called Off the Grid.   

     So who cares? I do; because while both men , as members of UDT/Seal teams served honorably, only Kyle felt the need to slander a colleague for alleged incidents which , a jury agreed, never happened. The fact that Chris Kyle was capable of killing people over very long distances doesn't entitle him to destroy the reputation of another for money and/or book sales. I get that there are some Americans, usually those who haven't deployed in the military, who idolize those who have.  In any case, the soldier, sailor, airman  or marine is doing his job as assigned. In Kyle's case, this entailed the ability to kill people in a nice sanitary manner from a great distance, (in one case 2,100 yards). At 2100 yards, no one is shooting back. Kyle's proven slander of Jesse Ventura violates the spirit of UDT/Seal culture, in any case.

     What is worse, is that Kyle's allegations, barely noted in most media at the time, were flaunted publically by Faux News, the whore of all airwaves, in a typical ratings ploy. Why, you ask, would Faux News do this? Could it have to do with Ventura/Faux conflicts having nothing to do with the current issue? You bet it does.  Could it have to do with Ventura's outspoken criticism of the Bush '43 presidency?  You bet it does. When you run Faux News and your cousin "W"  is (was) President, as is the case with (Fox CEO) Roger Ailes, you just might kick honesty and objectivity to the curb and leave it there,

    For years, Ventura and various Faux "newspersons"  have gone head to head on various topics. In very few of these cases, by the way, am I and Ventura in agreement.  The problem for me is, that even if I disagree with Ventura's personal viewpoint in some area, that shouldn't result in me (or Faux News) marshalling all available resources to portray him in such a negative way based on slanderous statements by a third party as to cause him a loss of reputation and/or income. Faux hosted Kyle several times prior to his death on the subject of the civil suit filed against him (and later, his estate) by Ventura. As with most Faux events, these were carefully stage managed to make Kyle appear almost Christ-like with Ventura cast as Judas. Understand, this was the trained killer being given favored moral support by a major "news" outlet in what was, at best, a case of "he said-he said."  

     The verdict is in, Ventura has been awarded $1.8 million, which is just about how much income he has lost in the wake of Kyle's libel. Now Faux is appalled at the result of the furor they helped hype, even to the point of one talking head (or whatever part of his anatomy he discourses with) saying that "If Ventura was a real man, he'd refuse the money from Kyle's estate."   

    Like him, or don't like him, Jesse Ventura was entitled to sue for Chris Kyle's libelous statements. He was entitled to a fair hearing in court without being tried both before and after the case by a phony news outlet with an axe to grind.  Just because people like Christopher Kyle are the subject of one's private midnight fantasies shouldn't mean that logic, reason and critical thinking are thrown out the window.