Attacked for simply asking questions
On the Alex Jones Show today, former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura complained right out of the gate about the fact the corporate media consistently attempts to squelch any questioning of the government. "I can’t believe how I simply asked some questions and the way you’re attacked… for simply asking questions… has our country become that, that you’re not even publicly allowed to question the government?"
Alex responded by stating that the government and its corporate media lapdog — alternately an attack dog when celebrities such as Ventura dare step outside established parameters — are disturbed by the fact Alex’s show is an increasingly popular venue for the likes of Charlie Sheen, Willie Nelson, Ventura, and a host of others unable to ask questions and get a fair hearing in the corporate media arena.
Ventura admitted that he did not want to "believe the worst" about 9/11 and wanted to accept the official fairy tale version, but after Bush and the neocons invaded Iraq, when the government claimed al-Qaeda was in Afghanistan, he sincerely began to ask questions and confront the lies perpetuated by the government and the corporate media.
Appearance on Hannity and Colmes
On April 2, in an appearance of Alex’s show, Ventura admitted that watching the documentary Loose Change, at the insistence of his son, changed his mind about the official fairy tale version of events. "When I finally did watch it I went through every emotion you could imagine, from laughing, crying, getting sick to my stomach, to the whole emotional thing," Jesse said. "To me questions haven’t been answered and are not being answered about 9/11," including pertinent questions about Building 7. "Two planes struck two buildings….but how is it that a third building fell 5 hours later?" asked Ventura, "How could this building just implode into its own footprint 5 hours later — that’s my first question — the 9/11 Commission didn’t even devote one page to that in their big volume of investigation."
For his honesty and distrust of the government, Ventura was roundly criticized by the corporate media in the days following his appearance on the Jones’ show, culminating in a visit with Hannity and Colmes on April 8. Initially an appearance to publicize his latest book, Don’t Start the Revolution Without Me, Jesse wasted little questioning the preposterous official version, specifically the absurdity of kerosene fires bringing down the towers, after ill-advised prompting by Hannity.
As Alex noted, in this appearance on Hannity and Colmes Ventura had "trounced" Sean Hannity "from a position of strength" and "knowledge" after Hannity attempted to claim Fox does not stage manage the news, using as an example the remarkably insignificant extended coverage of the drug overdose of Anna Nicole Smith while other, far more important news was systematically ignored. Ventura’s performance, Alex declared, has become a "textbook example" of how to deal with a media determined to gloss over and ignore important issues at the behest of government and entrenched corporate interests.
Government lies
"In looking back on my 56 years on the planet, " Jesse told Alex during his most recent appearance, "the government has lied to me a great deal and they don’t have great credibility with me, so why wouldn’t I question them when they tell me something?" Alex agreed, stating that the government has been caught repeatedly telling lies, specifically in regard to Building 7 and numerous instances of fire fighters reporting explosions in the buildings. Ventura mentioned his three years of service with the Navy Underwater Demolition Team 12 and his training and hands-on knowledge of explosives and demolition, specializing in "blowing things up," and "from a professional standpoint and watching how these buildings fell, it sure looks like demolition to me and I believe I have an eye for it… especially Building Number 7."
William Rodriquez: A hero’s hero
"One of the most interesting interviews I have seen now has been William Rodriquez," Ventura said. "When I watched a DVD of William Rodriquez, this guy is totally talking from what he what he remembers, you can clearly see it, he is not making anything up… he’s a hero’s hero, there’s no doubt about… and when you hear him talk and he tells about what he knows, how can you not question what went on that day?"
But even with the honesty of a man of Rodriquez’s caliber, the public is unwilling to ask questions, Jesse admitted with bemusement. "I think people have this hidden, almost screen around them in many ways that because they don’t want to believe that it could be true, they just put that screen up and won’t allow anything to penetrate it to the effect that it might be true."
Stand up to government
Regardless of a public either unconcerned with the lies of government or unable to ask important questions, Jesse stated that he believes it is his duty to stand up to the federal government because centralized and entrenched power will always attempt to violate not only the rights of the states but individuals, from medicinal marijuana to dignity in death.
In order to realize these rights and put an end to a predatory central government, we must "have a revolution and take our country back." Ventura told Alex the reason he wrote his last book was specifically for this reason, as a "message and wake-up call," to wake-up the country and tell citizens that the "two party system is corrupt" and "you have to change the system to change the government," otherwise we may very well lose the republic. "That’s what Thomas Jefferson warned about, that’s what John Adams warned about, that political parties would eventually strangle the republic because decisions would be made on behalf of the political parties."