Jesse Ventura on Trump, Hillary and the system

Interesting. I agree with some of what he said. Liked his take on third parties and a general rule of thumb for wars — though I’d set up a legal framework well beyond the emotional (but fitting) one he suggests. Make it nearly impossible to legally go to war unless it was in self-defense. Make it as difficult as it currently is to change the Constitution, perhaps.

Listening to it, I was also struck by his estimate of total US bases (178) around the world, which hit me as waaay low. So I googled:

The United States Probably Has More Foreign Military Bases Than Any Other People, Nation, or Empire in History And it’s doing us more harm than good. By David Vine September 14, 2015

Excerpt:

While there are no freestanding foreign bases permanently located in the United States, there are now around 800 US bases in foreign countries. Seventy years after World War II and 62 years after the Korean War, there are still 174 US “base sites” in Germany, 113 in Japan, and 83 in South Korea, according to the Pentagon. Hundreds more dot the planet in around 80 countries, including Aruba and Australia, Bahrain and Bulgaria, Colombia, Kenya, and Qatar, among many other places. Although few Americans realize it, the United States likely has more bases in foreign lands than any other people, nation, or empire in history.

Oddly enough, however, the mainstream media rarely report or comment on the issue. For years, during debates over the closure of the prison at the base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, nary a pundit or politician wondered why the United States has a base on Cuban territory in the first place or questioned whether we should have one there at all. Rarely does anyone ask if we need hundreds of bases overseas or if, at an estimated annual cost of perhaps $156 billion or more, the United States can afford them. Rarely does anyone wonder how we would feel if China, Russia, or Iran built even a single base anywhere near our borders, let alone in the United States.

He may have gotten that 178 number from Germany alone, and thought it was worldwide.

Lastly, I agree that the Dems did everything they could to clear the field for HRC and then block Sanders or anyone else during the primaries. But I don’t think the general is “fixed” for her. The duopoly doesn’t work that way. We have two parties that both seek ownership of the White House and Congress, and the GOP controls the majority of state houses. No way on earth are they going to hand the election over to the Dems on purpose, because that also endangers their power in Congress — and the states. Whoever has majority control elevates that power and all the opportunities that come with it. Both parties seek it. Both parties exist to win power. Anyone involved with either party wants their own party to win. The incentives are massive for them to (aggressively) go for it.

Jeff Fisher will put Mike Martz in charge of the Rams offense before the GOP helps the Dems win the White House. Or, better yet, a Fisher-led Rams will lead the league in fewest penalties before that happens.

I actually liked a lot of what he said especially when he said the problems in the Middle East are largely the result of western intervention and that we should ‘own’ that.

He did lose me at the end when he said the election is fixed. That’s tinfoil hat stuff. But of course he’s right that the system is rigged in favor of the two major parties.

wv wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

I actually liked a lot of what he said especially when he said the problems in the Middle East are largely the result of western intervention and that we should ‘own’ that.

He did lose me at the end when he said the election is fixed. That’s tinfoil hat stuff. But of course he’s right that the system is rigged in favor of the two major parties.

————-
I liked what he said about the mid east too, until he got to the part where he said the US was trying to “build democracies” in a region that didnt have a clue about how to have democracy.

I would have liked to explain to him that the US version of “creating democracy” means, they tell the CIA to pour millions of dollars into a region, and conduct every kind of murderous tricks imaginable so that the “approved” leader gets “elected”. Such as Chalabi in Iraq.
And heck they only go with the “democracy” plan when they prettymuch ‘have’ to. Blah blah blah.

Jesse still thinks the mighty-Empire “means well” i guess. Naive.

w
v

Well, I agree with you. His take on the Mid East is overly simplistic and he was wrong about the Kurds, Sunnis and Shites always being at war and he was wrong that the region has always been a mess. Dysfunctional civilizations wouldn’t last for thousands of years. Someone has to fuck them up.

I was at least impressed that he understood the root of the current problem though…Western intervention.