55 minutes 51 seconds
🇬🇧 English
Speaker 1
00:00
Welcome, everybody. It's great to see a big crowd here. This is, we're excited today to welcome Jesse Ventura to Authors at Google in Santa Monica. Jesse is a former Navy SEAL and professional wrestler.
Speaker 1
00:13
And I have to say, I was lucky enough to see him wrestle live back in the day a few times. And I loved it. And I especially used to love watching him as a commentator on television, because he was always astute and funny. And he used to say he was the only commentator who told it like it is.
Speaker 1
00:32
And I have to say, he's still telling it like it is throughout his career. He has gone on to become a well-known actor and TV personality, governor of Minnesota, visiting fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and a best-selling author. His best-selling books include, Don't Start the Revolution Without Me and American Conspiracies. He's the host and executive producer of the TV series Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura.
Speaker 1
00:56
And today, he's going to be talking about his latest best-seller, 63 documents the government doesn't want you to read. So please join me in welcoming Governor Jesse Ventura.
Speaker 2
01:11
Thank you. Great to be here. First, I'd like to state so you know a little about me.
Speaker 2
01:18
Well, beyond the nice introduction. I'm a throwback. I'm computer illiterate. Not a good thing for you.
Speaker 2
01:33
And I have never owned a cell phone in my life, nor will I ever now. I've made it a life's mission. I think that if I survive maybe another 25, 20 years on this planet, I can put it on my gravestone and I'll be the only 1 who will be able to do that. I've already instructed my wife if I go first, I want, he never owned a cell phone.
Speaker 2
01:56
Put on it because, and so I'm kind of a dinosaur, I guess. But I enjoy it because I'll tell a funny story first. I bought my dream car back in 2003, a twin turbo X50 Porsche, 450 horsepower, 6 speed that is so fast today I've never floored it. That's how fast it is.
Speaker 2
02:20
When you order a car like that, you have to get a slot number because they're made by hand in Germany. And when you get your slot number, you have to order what you want. And my car salesman, who I'd previously probably bought a half a dozen cars from through the years, because my wife and I, I enjoy Porsches and she likes Audis. And they're basically under the same roof.
Speaker 2
02:44
Probably fifth or sixth car. And my salesman, Rob, is going through the list and he didn't even ask. He just looked at me and said, And where would you like your cell phone? And I looked at him and I said, I don't want a cell phone.
Speaker 2
02:58
You would have thought I was ordering a car without tires. He gave me a look, unbelievable, but then I said, but you see that 6 CD player, the thing you can stack 6 CDs in? I said, that I want. The reason I don't want a cell phone in my car, my Porsche, is because first of all, it's a manual transmission six-speed, which requires you to use both feet and both hands at the same time.
Speaker 2
03:25
So therefore, where's the cell phone gonna fit in? And Also because when I drive that car, it's the enjoyment of driving, not the enjoyment of talking on a phone. When I drive it, I want to drive it. And it's not California, it's not L.A.
Speaker 2
03:44
Either. I can drive it and get it past
Speaker 1
03:46
40.
Speaker 2
03:48
Which I always laugh when I come out here and see all the exotic cars. I go, where the hell do they drive them? And get past 40.
Speaker 2
03:55
You can't get past 40, but I got a Ferrari. I mean, Anyway, that aside. To the book. The last book I wrote was called American Conspiracies where we went down basically from Abraham Lincoln and moved forward and talked about conspiracies and wrote about the conspiracies from the conspiracy side, basically.
Speaker 2
04:18
Naturally, I took a great deal of heat for it. It seems today that if you would all question your government's story, you're a conspiracy theorist, which means you believe in anything. You're out in left field and all this stuff and green men are coming from Mars and everything like that which I think is highly unfair. So, in light of that book which was a bestseller and by the way, I might add, Conspiracy Theory spent 7 weeks on the New York Times top 10 bestselling list and yet was not reviewed by 1 mainstream media in the United States of America, including the Times itself, that it was on their list top 10 for 7 weeks.
Speaker 2
05:01
Why? Why if not just to say the book's a piece of crap in the end? Why was it ignored? You know, a book like that.
Speaker 2
05:11
So Dick Russell, my co-writer and I, we decided, well, Let's take a different approach with this next book. Let's do a book that they can't put any blame on us for, for theories or what I might think. And so we chose, and this was before WikiLeaks. We started this project a couple, 3 months before WikiLeaks even happened.
Speaker 2
05:34
And we said, let's do government documents. That way, the government documents speak for themselves and they're real. They exist. So this book has nothing to do with any type of theory, conspiracy theory.
Speaker 2
05:48
Every document that's in this book is reproduced. We wanted to do that to where I just don't tell you about the documents and give you my opinion, which I do do. But the documents are all reproduced in full so you yourself can read them and judge for yourself what the document says. And we tried to go basically through my lifetime and I will be 60 this summer so we go back that far and we progress forward to the modern time and we hit documents all the way along the way.
Speaker 2
06:20
All the documents are legal. We didn't break any laws. They're out there. We didn't break anything top secret or that hadn't been unclassified.
Speaker 2
06:30
They're all in the public domain. And I will tell you this, this book to me is terrifying. This book was not easy to write. I'm a six-year Navy veteran.
Speaker 2
06:42
I love my country. I have the rare privilege. My brother is a Vietnam veteran. I am a Vietnam veteran.
Speaker 2
06:50
And I have the rare privilege that not too many people can say, my father was a World War II veteran and so was my mother. Not many people can say their mom was a World War II veteran. My father had, I think, 6 or 7 bronze battle stars in World War II over in Europe. And my mother was a nurse in North Africa during World War II.
Speaker 2
07:15
And not too many people can say your mom is buried in a national cemetery. So that's why the book was difficult because this book tried my patriotism and it stretched it to thin, to a string. Because as I went through these documents and looked at the behavior of my country, it was appalling. It was shocking that we are involved in the things that we've been involved in over the last 50 years.
Speaker 2
07:46
In fact, I got chastised for bringing up a word that I find ironic, I guess you're not supposed to use. When you read this, what bothered me, but I'll use it. I tell it like it is. Where we at?
Speaker 2
08:03
I believe in many instances in this book you can substitute the word Nazi and it works. There's behavior in this book that is as you'd expect it from the Nazis. But it isn't the Nazis, it's us. It's our country.
Speaker 2
08:20
Now, people say, you know, documents are secret. What right do you, who's got the damn cell phone? Shut that off. Consider this a green and a golf club.
Speaker 2
08:31
Oh, that's a hard line. Okay, I stand corrected. Anyway, these documents are appalling and our behavior has been appalling in reading these documents of the things that my country has done. And yet, in most cases, no 1 has ever been prosecuted.
Speaker 2
08:54
No 1 has ever been tried for any of the stuff in the book. And that troubles me. Now, let me move forward quickly to Wikileaks for a moment if I can. I think Wikileaks is a hero because of the fact that Last year, in 1 year, our country declared, top secret,
Speaker 1
09:23
16
Speaker 2
09:24
million documents.
Speaker 1
09:27
16
Speaker 2
09:27
million documents that you and I are not allowed to see in 1 year. I had to figure that must be just about everything they do. Just about.
Speaker 2
09:38
Maybe. I don't know how many documents they would have. But I find it interesting that when I was in the military as a Navy SEAL, I had a top secret security clearance. It was required.
Speaker 2
09:51
And I've been a mayor and I've been a governor. Now I'm neither. I'm a citizen. At what point do I lose my top secret security clearance?
Speaker 2
10:02
How am I any different today than I was before when it comes to security? And yet, because I become a civilian or a citizen, now I'm not allowed to know things that I could know as a governor, that I could know as a SEAL. Yet, I'm the same person. But I guess being a civilian puts you at the bottom of the food chain or a citizen of knowledge.
Speaker 2
10:27
And I think it's wrong. Now, The thing that you'll see in the book that I dedicated the book to Congressman Ron Paul. And I did that because he was the only person in our Congress when WikiLeaks happened that stepped out on the floor of Congress and gave what I thought 1 of the greatest speeches I had heard when he stated unequivocally that WikiLeaks has killed no 1. How many people have been killed from the lies, the false intelligence and the deception we got to put us into the Iraq war.
Speaker 2
11:03
Also, the fact that, I think what he said that was extremely important was that in a free country like ours, when telling the truth, people accuse you of being a traitor or treason, when the truth equals treason in a free society, then we're hurting. When telling the truth means people accuse you of being a traitor. The truth is what it is. The truth is the truth.
Speaker 2
11:38
When I ran for governor, I never used a prepared speech for anything to win because I ran under the premise of, if you tell the truth, you don't have to have a good memory. And that's true. I always remember, I was in my first debate and I sat down and there were like 7 candidates then and a black woman civilian was sitting to my left and they all walked in. They're carrying books, spin papers, all this stuff.
Speaker 2
12:06
They're all loaded down. I come in with nothing. Sat down at the table. And this woman had 1 of those legal pads, you know, with the yellow paper and a pen.
Speaker 2
12:15
And she set it on the table and she slid it over to me. And I looked at her and I slid it back. And she said, "'Well, don't you think you'll need that?' And that's when I told her. I said, "'Ma'am, when you tell the truth, you don't have to have a good memory.'" And I'll never forget the smile she gave me and nodded.
Speaker 2
12:32
She got it then, you know, that I'll tell the truth. And I made the biggest mistake in the debates you could possibly make in a political debate. I was asked a question on TV in a debate And I simply said, I don't know. There was like this deadened pause of 2 seconds and the crowd erupted into cheering and applause.
Speaker 2
12:57
And then I, when that was subsided, I said, but if it's important, I'll learn. Well, I think the people appreciated honesty and I think the people appreciated hearing someone running for office that didn't claim to know everything. And I think that they realized at that point that truly honesty was more important to elect somebody. Now, the state of our country today, we're in a mess.
Speaker 2
13:22
And who is to blame? The Democrats and the Republicans. They have been in charge for my entire life. I am an independent, dyed in the wool, true and true.
Speaker 2
13:35
I despise them both equally. Not 1 over the other. I dislike both. I'm an equal opportunity despiser of both our political parties.
Speaker 2
13:45
I agree with what Ralph Nader said. We are a two-party dictatorship in this country. Now, how can we break it? How can we take our country back?
Speaker 2
13:55
See, I not only talk about things, sometimes I give solutions. How can we take our country back today? I believe it's as simple as the nose on your face, if I can use that cliche or another 1, but unfortunately we can't see the forest for the trees. How can we do it?
Speaker 2
14:14
Simple. Stop voting for Democrats and Republicans. Remember, voting's not a horse race. You're not there to pick a winner.
Speaker 2
14:25
You're there to vote your heart and conscience for the candidate you believe fits your values the most and who you believe in. And if you do that, you have voted correctly. You have not wasted your vote. Wasting your vote is trying to pick a winner.
Speaker 2
14:40
We all like to be with winners. So we can all brag and say, yeah, I voted for this candidate and he won or she won. But to me, that's not doing your civil duty, your civic duty. It's voting your heart and conscience.
Speaker 2
14:56
And a way we can start, a way we can immediately start to take our country back? How about this? I'll back up a second. I no longer believe in the third party movement.
Speaker 2
15:12
And I'll tell you why. The Democrats and Republicans have corrupted the system so badly that any third party in which to survive will have to corrupt itself. Well, you've already got a two-headed monster. Why would you want a three-headed 1?
Speaker 2
15:27
I now advocate the abolishment of all political parties in the United States of America, turn them into political action committees, which is what they are anyway, certainly they can endorse. But end it there. And on every ballot in the United States of America, here's a simple thing we can do. Remove the party designation and put down only the name.
Speaker 2
15:51
It's too simple. The system set up for it. If you're conservative, you don't need to know anybody's name. You look for the party.
Speaker 2
16:00
Republican, Republican, Republican. If you're liberal, you don't need to know a name. Democrat, Democrat, Democrat. By only putting down the name would then require you as a voter to educate yourself.
Speaker 2
16:13
What does John Smith stand for? Because you wouldn't have that crutch in there that would tell you conservative or Democrat. And then there's 1, and you in California can get away with this stuff because you got that nonsense where you can put everything on the ballot. The next thing would be simply this.
Speaker 2
16:35
How about on every state, local, and national ballot, we offer the final choice at the bottom that you can vote for none of the above? Now, people laugh at that, but what that truly is is a vote of no confidence in government. That could do volumes, huge. Because imagine for a moment, let's say I'm a Democrat and I defeated my Republican opponent for Congress, but I lost to none of the above.
Speaker 2
17:05
More people cast their vote for none of the above than what I got. Wouldn't that make them go out there with a change of attitude? You lost to nobody. Yes, you're the congressman or the congresswoman, but you lost to none of the above.
Speaker 2
17:21
And I'm willing to bet right now there are elections in this country where none of the above would prevail. And that's a, what's wrong with that? A vote of no confidence, that would send a huge message, huge, to every elected official. Imagine these ideas coming from a pro wrestler.
Speaker 2
17:41
I didn't go to college. I didn't, I'm not a political science major and I'm certainly not a lawyer. Imagine that, all these ideas that this pro wrestler comes up with. But anyway, those are a few of the things.
Speaker 2
17:56
And as you look into this book, and we'll open up here for questions in a minute because that's usually the best way. I don't wanna just lecture, lecture, lecture. I'd like to answer questions of what's on your mind. But as you look through this book, I hope it does frighten you.
Speaker 2
18:12
I hope that it's a wake-up call. I hope that you will be engaged citizens. Stop being lemmings. Because right now, we're a country full of lemmings.
Speaker 2
18:23
We get marched right off the cliff and we don't even look left or right. And why? It's the dumbing down of America because of our media. Our media.
Speaker 2
18:32
Our media was supposed to be the fourth branch of government. They were supposed to be the watchdog of the other 3 to report back to us. Well, they're not anymore. They're in bed with the government.
Speaker 2
18:44
They're the government's mouthpiece now. They're no longer a watchdog. Cases in point, what's the top story this last 3, 4 weeks? Charlie Sheen.
Speaker 2
18:56
You can't turn the news on now without hearing a report on Charlie Sheen. Now, Charlie, he's got some problems. I feel bad for him. But he hardly deserves but maybe a mention at the end of the news, not a lead story.
Speaker 2
19:11
And what was it a year, year and a half ago? The main story, the death of Anna Nicole Smith. I almost threw up. Every day they're doing mobile, sending down mobile reporters outside the hotel.
Speaker 2
19:26
Well, we're down here in wherever she was, the Bahamas or whatever the hell had happened. And we're in front of the hotel where Anna Nicole Smith that, hey, I was alive in 63 when John Kennedy was assassinated. Anna Nicole Smith got way more press in the end than the assassination of our president. Because hers went on and still got legs.
Speaker 2
19:47
I just saw it the other day. Some judge made a ruling to give her house to her boyfriend or something. That's newsworthy? It's like when I was supposed to have a television show on MSNBC, but that's a whole other matter.
Speaker 2
20:03
They tried to tell me what I was supposed to cover every day. And at the time, do you recall, you'll recall, remember the murder you had here where the guy killed his wife out in the boat or whatever it was a couple years ago? Pardon me? Peter's.
Speaker 2
20:18
Peter's, yeah. That murder. Well, they were shoving that down my throat every day to cover that. And I go, wait a minute.
Speaker 2
20:26
There's 10, 000 murders a year. Now that was a tragic murder. But there are
Speaker 1
20:32
10, 000
Speaker 2
20:33
murders a year. Every year. How is this 1 so important?
Speaker 2
20:38
Now it might be important to all you Californians because you live here. It's close to you. But go back to Minnesota with me. We have our own murders.
Speaker 2
20:48
Why do we need to know about yours?" And yet, every night, every night, day in and day out, that is the dumbing down of America by our news media. And We're at fault because we accept it. Because we like this titillating journalism. And you know what the downfall was to our news?
Speaker 2
21:08
The show 60 Minutes. Now, let's hear me out. 60 Minutes is a marvelous show. But here's where it was the downfall.
Speaker 2
21:17
Up until that point in time, pre-60 Minutes, the news departments lost money. So they would make it up in the entertainment division because they felt, well, we'll lose money but it's our job to inform. Right? Along comes 60 minutes.
Speaker 2
21:34
Lo and behold, it goes to number 1 in the ratings. The bean counters upstairs, the light goes off. You mean we can make money with the news? There was your downfall Because from that point on, the news became about making money, not informing you.
Speaker 2
21:54
It became the ratings rather than information to smarten you up. Now, you have, and here's the dangerous part, because of that, you now have the news, they're into creating the news, not into reporting it. And that's very, very dangerous in my opinion. Very dangerous.
Speaker 2
22:15
So, it's up to us to be vigilant citizens. Tom Jefferson said, dissension is the greatest form of patriotism and I believe that and I endorse that completely. There's nothing wrong with dissenting. There's nothing wrong with holding elected officials' feet to the fire.
Speaker 2
22:35
If you don't, you will get bad government. So I hope you'll read this book. I hope that you'll digest the documents that are in it. I hope you're as shocked as I am about what some of the documents are.
Speaker 2
22:49
And if there's any in particular that you see and would like to ask me about as you look into the book, feel free to do so. I won't go into them now because reading is supposed to be pleasure and it's supposed to be you doing it. So I'm not going to, unless you ask me specifically, I'm not going to go into the things that are in the book. But I will do this.
Speaker 2
23:11
I opened and closed the book, more or less, with 2 quotations. The first quotation comes from my particular favorite president my whole life, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. And here's what President Kennedy said to us. There is little value in ensuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it.
Speaker 2
23:38
And there is a very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment." Sounds familiar, doesn't it? We're gonna keep you safe, Right? Then I like to finish off also just to show it runs through our entire country's history. I'll quote Patrick Henry.
Speaker 2
24:12
Most of us remember Patrick Henry as saying, give me liberty or give me death. That was a great quote. Brave quote. But he also said this, Patrick Henry, quote, "'The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them." And I think that you know those are 2 real great Americans.
Speaker 2
24:42
And the words they speak are, in my opinion, very true. So on that note, I'd like to say thank you, Google, for having me here. Lunch was terrific. It's kind of a remarkable company I heard that feeds you.
Speaker 2
24:58
Jeez, you're like the Navy. They used to feed me 3 hots and a cot all the time. And no, actually, I will tell you this. I was at the Naval Amphib base, Coronado, California.
Speaker 2
25:13
And we won best Chow Hall for like 11 years in a row in the 11th Naval District, every Thursday we would have steak and lobster in the Navy. And I was on what they call comrades because commuted ration type thing because our jobs take us away from the base so often as a SEAL that they pay you money. So you have to eat at the, pay to eat at the chow hall when you're there. And, because, but it was, I think lunch was 65 cents and you'd get steak and lobster.
Speaker 2
25:46
So that's not a bad price. Of course, then again, let's remember this was way back in the early 70s when the economy was much different, but so was my salary. Because when I joined the Navy, initially, I made
Speaker 1
25:59
$122
Speaker 2
26:01
a month, $61 a paycheck. And I'd blow it that first weekend and then be stuck on the bass the rest of the time because, I wasn't very economically sound back then, I guess. So thank you very much.
Speaker 2
26:14
It was a pleasure for me to be here. And now I'll open up for questions. You know, I'll tell you, excuse me, that's a first, no other than the hand finally. I've never done a speech where everybody froze and didn't ask a question.
Speaker 2
26:41
Go ahead, sir.
Speaker 3
26:43
This is kind of a two-part question. The first is...
Speaker 2
26:45
Okay, but give me 1 part at a time. I've been on the road for 2 weeks. I'm going on about 4 hours a night every night.
Speaker 2
26:52
I'm dog tired. So slow and easy.
Speaker 3
26:54
Sure, sure. What was your motivation to run for governor back when you did? And then the second part is simply in being a governor of the state, what was the 1 thing you walked away with that you learned the most about how our government works?
Speaker 2
27:10
OK. My motivation, I'll give you my first, my fun motivation. This is the joke. There's a gentleman in Minnesota by the name, a great businessman by the name of Wheelock Whitney.
Speaker 2
27:23
And when I first won governor, I was speaking to a group of businessmen and Wheelock was there. And They asked me the same question, what motivated you to become governor? And I looked right at Wheelock Whitney and I said, well, I was a mayor and it didn't work. So I figure if I get to be governor, it will work.
Speaker 2
27:43
Well, Wheelock Whitney happens to be a member of Augusta National where they play the Masters. And I said, I figured if I won governor, Wheelock Whitney would then take me to Augusta and let me play Augusta, Georgia, which is the heaven of professional golf. And I looked at Wheelock and said, Wheelock, don't force me to have to become president. And he was a man.
Speaker 2
28:06
He burst out laughing and he said, You're going to Augusta. And sure enough, he was good enough to take me there and I got to play Augusta National. And if you're a golfer, that's the same, I think, as going to heaven. Now on a serious note, what inspired me to become governor was something really interesting.
Speaker 2
28:26
Let's move back, if we may, to
Speaker 1
28:27
1998
Speaker 2
28:29
when our economies were robust. Remember that? Interest was nothing.
Speaker 2
28:34
Everybody was making huge money. While the state of Minnesota was in such fiscal shape then, they were getting budget surpluses. In other words, they did their budget, but because the economy was so robust, they were bringing in more than what they budgeted for. Well, the 1 year, guess what they did?
Speaker 2
28:53
They spent it. They thought they were kids in a candy store. They thought, whoa, we brought in more money than what we budgeted for. That means we can go buy extra stuff." Well, I was outraged.
Speaker 2
29:04
I was doing talk radio and I said, "'Wait a minute. If they brought in more than what their budget needed, then that money should be returned to the taxpayers.'" So I basically ran on that. I said, I was doing talk radio and I was so angry I said, maybe I should run for governor. Then you box yourself in a corner and of course on talk radio, if you lose your credibility, you're nothing.
Speaker 2
29:28
And so I kind of forced myself. I had to run and I can honestly say pre-911, we had 3 more robust economy years and I gave back tax rebates to every citizen of Minnesota. They named them Jesse checks. And I did it even over the, you'd think the Republicans would have gone with me all the way, but they wanted it to be an income tax rebate.
Speaker 2
29:53
Well, an income tax rebate means you gotta declare it, which means then it's part of your income, which means the federal government's gonna take a third of it. And I thought, this isn't the Fed's money, it's ours. So I did it and was successful in a sales tax rebate. Because you can't deduct a sales tax, so therefore they can't take the money.
Speaker 2
30:13
So when you got your check, you could spend it. Now, there is a true stimulus package, not the bullshit you're getting today. The stimulus package, if you want to send the money to the people, the people will spend it. That will spur the economy.
Speaker 2
30:30
Like, I met an old woman, elderly woman, and she came up to me and she told me, Governor, she said, thank you for that Jesse check. I said, you're welcome, ma'am. She said, you know what I did with it? I said, what?
Speaker 2
30:44
She said, I needed a new lawnmower. And I went down and bought it, and I named my lawnmower Jesse. And I was very flattered over that, this elderly woman who wanted a new powered lawnmower for her backyard. Because contrary to LA, we in Minnesota do have backyards.
Speaker 2
31:05
They have grass and trees, too. I got a gig in California occasionally. So that was what really inspired me to run was that budget to where they didn't give back the surplus of money to the people. It was our money and they were spending it like kids in a candy store.
Speaker 2
31:22
So, next question. Right here. Well, actually, we'll go closer to the mic. I'll get to everyone but we'll try to keep it close to the mic.
Speaker 2
31:31
Yes, ma'am?
Speaker 4
31:32
Have you ever considered running for a presidential election in 2012? President?
Speaker 2
31:36
Yes. I've considered it. I've thought about it. And I'll be very honest.
Speaker 2
31:41
As an independent, the cards are against you because You'd think it was a universal thing. If you're running for president, every state to qualify should be the same, correct? But it's not. They do that on purpose.
Speaker 2
31:54
Every state, you have to jump through different hoops to get ballot access. And when you try to get it, the Democrats and Republicans will bring lawsuits then to tie you up in court so that by the time you get through with court, the election has already passed you by. That's the system they've created to keep anyone else out of the game. It's like playing a football game and they get to be the referees and they can also change the rules at halftime.
Speaker 2
32:20
That's what you're up against. Right in, well, other than that fiasco, unbelievable in Alaska where it worked, I have never ever seen a right-in candidate ever win. But Alaska did give me a slight ray of hope because it happened up there. But let's remember, those are Alaskans and there's not exactly as many of them as there are Californians or the rest of the country.
Speaker 2
32:43
Smaller numbers, you'd have a better chance. The bigger numbers you're dealing with, the more difficult it would be. Now, saying that though, the libertarians, which I am kind of a, I like to refer to myself as Libertarian Small L, not capital, because the true libertarian believes there should be no government. That's an anarchist.
Speaker 2
33:02
I understand that there should be at least some government, that government does have a role. The other part of that question of will I run is this. Being President's an oxymoron. What I mean by that is that you stand for freedom, but you yourself have none.
Speaker 2
33:22
When you hold those jobs, you give up your freedom. It's gone. And I like my freedom. I like living in Mexico now because down there I'm just a big gringo.
Speaker 2
33:32
Nobody pays, other than being a big guy, they'll look at me, but they don't know who I am. And I enjoy that right now after the career I've had. So it would require me to have to want to, as I like to refer to it, it would require me to want to go back to jail. Now, not saying I won't do it, and I'll tell you something else honestly.
Speaker 2
33:52
Before I put my butt on the line, this country better show me it's worth it. You better show me it's worth it this time. I've already done 4 years as a mayor, 4 years as a governor, and 6 years in the Navy. That's 14 years of my life I've given to the public.
Speaker 2
34:09
And to do that job, I need to know it's worth it. And right now, the people of this country are not showing me that. They're starting to. I like the protests in Wisconsin and I like how things are stirring up.
Speaker 2
34:24
But in order for me to win, we gotta think revolutionary. In order for me to win, you gotta be ready to elect Che Guevara. Because I will change things if I won. What would I do?
Speaker 2
34:40
I'll tell you what I would do. First thing I would do, I would cut defense spending, which is something, I don't know if you can win off that because they use fear on you. That, oh, if you cut defense spending, we're all gonna get killed. We're all gonna be.
Speaker 2
34:58
Well, I would close every base we have throughout the world and I would bring our young men and women home and back to our own country and we would defend our country from here. We wouldn't be colonizing anymore or creating this empire. We're following the Roman Empire right now. So that's why, And that would cut spending.
Speaker 2
35:16
If you're truly gonna balance the budget, you can't do it without cutting defense spending because that's the biggest thing out there. And we don't, how many times can we blow up the world? We've got technology. You're at Google here.
Speaker 2
35:29
We got technology now and the weapons. We don't need, Why do we have 50, 000 troops in Germany, 50, 000 troops in Korea, 50, 000 troops in Japan? Seems to me those wars were over 50 years ago. Why do we still have troops there?
Speaker 2
35:45
So, those are a few of the things I would do. You'd call me radical, I guess, because I would not be doing what mainstream does. I'm so disappointed in Barack Obama. I really thought he's a dynamic speaker, but I really thought there's no change.
Speaker 2
36:02
I can't tell the difference between him and Bush. Just that he can read a teleprompter. You know? But other than that, I don't see any change.
Speaker 2
36:13
And so, also it's difficult. He's an incumbent. And as an independent, that's tough. You're better off when the incumbent leaves and when the elections open, which would be
Speaker 1
36:23
2016.
Speaker 2
36:24
And by then, I'll be that much older and I don't know if I would have the energy at that point to want to do the job. But it's hard to beat an incumbent people, very hard. When I ran for governor, it was because there was no incumbent governor, which opened it up for me to do that.
Speaker 2
36:42
So next question. And you can go on any topic. I'm not, you know.
Speaker 5
36:52
I've also got 2 questions and I'll just give them both to you at once because I'm pretty sure you can remember the first 1.
Speaker 2
36:58
All right.
Speaker 5
36:59
First 1 is what color is your Porsche? And the second 1 is, so you've got 63 documents in here. I'm sure there were many more.
Speaker 5
37:06
Do you have any examples of what other documents you would have liked to have included?
Speaker 2
37:11
Not really. It was tough enough doing the 63. We chose 63 because that was the year John Kennedy was assassinated and murdered.
Speaker 2
37:19
So we thought that was a good number. I don't want to go into any of these. These are enough. Digest these.
Speaker 2
37:25
And what color is my Porsche? It's like a lapis blue metallic, which is that
Speaker 1
37:32
–
Speaker 2
37:32
I had to think a minute because they got those names for every color, which is a very deep, dark blue. And then I got the beige interior with it. And I got the most wood you could get on the interior.
Speaker 2
37:46
And that was sick, really. I wasn't gonna get it at first till I came home and I told my wife. And she looked at me and said, This is your dream car. She goes, Don't hold back.
Speaker 2
37:55
Get everything on it you want. Well, the wood alone, because it's all hand carved, it runs across the top, around all the speakers. The wood alone was 10 grand. And I thought, that's obscene.
Speaker 2
38:07
In reality of the world, that's pretty bizarre. But what the hell, money's made to spend. And also remember this, on that note. The economy, when all you hear about is cut spending, cut spending, cut spending, I got news for you people.
Speaker 2
38:21
If we don't spend, there is no economy. The economy is based upon spending. Spending creates jobs. You have to buy things.
Speaker 2
38:32
You have to have money moving. If we all cut everything, now don't get me wrong, there are, government does and is in places it shouldn't be. But think of that when you get brainwashed on, oh, cut spending, cut spending. The economy is based upon spending.
Speaker 2
38:49
That's what makes it work. You buy things. The money, that's what creates jobs. Spending creates jobs.
Speaker 2
38:56
Why do you think they always renew unemployment? That's because unemployment, if you're on unemployment, you spend every cent of it. That spurs the economy and starts to create jobs so then you're not on unemployment anymore. Think of it.
Speaker 2
39:14
How other way can there be jobs if there's not money being spent? And besides, you can't take it with you, people. That's what I always say. You come into the world naked, you leave with it naked.
Speaker 2
39:28
You can't take a dollar with you. Spend the damn stuff. Enjoy it. You work hard for it.
Speaker 2
39:32
That's the fruits of your labor. But then make sure that your kids and things like that are taken care of. But buy stuff. What the hell?
Speaker 2
39:42
You can't do nothing with that paper. Substitute it in the bathroom maybe. But other than that, you spend it. It's what spurs the economy.
Speaker 2
39:52
Next question. Q
Speaker 5
39:54
So what do you think that the government should do? What are the important things that the government does in our lives? What should
Speaker 2
40:00
they do? A what should they do? Well, I'll put it to you this way.
Speaker 2
40:04
Let's go to health care for a minute. That's always a cantankerous, now they've labeled it Obamacare. To me, it's a human right. If you're sick, you should be able to go to the doctor.
Speaker 2
40:17
If we weren't spending all our money on these wars, we'd have more money. We could have health care 3 times over. You don't hear a word about that. It's fine to spend money to kill people.
Speaker 2
40:27
But health care, oh my goodness. And for these hypocrites in Washington, Now I'm talking to Republicans who are blaming Obama, Obamacare, oh, we're gonna repeal it. Well, why don't they start repealing it by giving up their government-run health care? The Senate and the Congress has government-run health care.
Speaker 2
40:53
It's provided by the government for them. They want you not to have it while they go to the bank with it. You don't see any of them saying, you know, I'm a stand-up type person. I'm gonna give up my health care being a congressman and senator for me and my family to set an example.
Speaker 2
41:13
Do you hear that? Anybody know of 1 of them doing that? Then what are they? They're hypocrites.
Speaker 2
41:19
Because they're telling you, and then I'll flip it a little farther. If government-run healthcare is so terrible, then are we screwing over the military again? Because the military's had government-run healthcare since World War I. So I guess we're sticking it to the military again, giving them a substandard thing.
Speaker 2
41:39
But all I know is my dad would go nowhere else. I couldn't get him to a civilian place. He went to the vet's hospital and there was no change at all. And I will say in Minnesota, not all the vet's hospitals are good.
Speaker 2
41:53
But in Minnesota, they have an outstanding veterans hospital. And you couldn't get my dad to go. He'd ride the bus all day long just to go there. And this and that.
Speaker 2
42:06
And what other thing? Well, infrastructure. Those are things the government should be paying for so that we can do our commerce, Fix our roads and bridges. Let's do something constructive instead of destructive.
Speaker 2
42:20
Wars are destructive. Let's get out of the wars and put our money to work for us building up and making our country what it ought to be." And those are just a couple. I hope they helped a little bit. You get where I'm coming from.
Speaker 2
42:36
Next. I don't know what my, hold on. Let me check my schedule so I can make sure that. Oh, no, no.
Speaker 2
42:45
Hold on. Let me, let me. I like to answer all questions. I feel good doing that.
Speaker 2
42:51
Let's see. I, I, okay, my pickup was probably, I got to go to Fox Sports, which is over on Pico. How far, how many minutes? It's L.A.
Speaker 2
43:01
So you can't say miles. You gotta say minutes. How long? 20 minutes?
Speaker 2
43:07
Okay. Then I should be good then till probably about 2.30 I would guess or 2.50. What time is it now? Okay.
Speaker 2
43:15
Good. Well, we got another 20 minutes, then easy. Unless she's trying to get us out of here. I don't know.
Speaker 1
43:21
I want to make sure we have time to sign
Speaker 2
43:22
the book. Oh, yeah, that's right, too. Okay.
Speaker 2
43:24
I forgot about that. So we'll take a couple more questions and next question.
Speaker 4
43:29
So staying on the same theme of government and what it should do. Your Patrick Henry quote, what kind of openness do you have a hope for in government?
Speaker 2
43:40
Well, I would hope, certainly I understand that certain things have to become secret when they're timely. You know, As a Navy SEAL, I don't want them opening up and saying, what operation I'm going on where the enemy could set up and do me in. But when the op's over and maybe a year's gone by, then bring it all aboard.
Speaker 2
44:03
Let's get a little time element on, they could figure out a way to make things time sensitive where, and if they're not doing anything illegal, dirty, murder, why would they fear bringing it above board to us so that we can know. We have a right to know. We pay taxes. Yes, sir?
Speaker 2
44:20
Q Outside
Speaker 4
44:20
of defense operations, maybe.
Speaker 2
44:22
What's that?
Speaker 4
44:22
Q Outside of defense operations.
Speaker 2
44:25
Oh, then they should bring everything forward. Why would you cover up anything? I don't understand why you'd have to cover up anything.
Speaker 2
44:34
If everything you're doing is, and you believe in it and it's good, there's no reason to keep it secret. In fact, if it's successful, you'd want it out there. You could brag then. So to me, only marginal things there would be that you would keep secret.
Speaker 2
44:54
But everything else should be, because we have a right to know. It's all done with our tax dollars, people. You have every right to know what they're being spent on. And that way you can be a good voter and know that the people you're electing, if you disagree, you can remove them or attempt to anyway.
Speaker 2
45:10
Next question.
Speaker 6
45:16
So I also believed in Obama with a change. And what we're, what I think we're witnessing now is him completely squashed by the two-party system or the Republicans in this case. And you brought up the exciting and worthwhile idea of getting rid of the 2 parties.
Speaker 6
45:33
I can't see that, how that could even be possible in today's world. And it's something I'd love to see. And it's something that's necessary. I don't know.
Speaker 6
45:42
I mean, we all bought into the belief of change and then saw him completely stymied by that ability. Our forefathers created the country with the concept of the right to bear arms is actually the right to, if a government becomes corrupt in and of itself, we have a right to stand up and say no. That's radical. But how can you see us get through this two-party system and really be able to make a difference without the same thing happening
Speaker 2
46:11
over here? Well, let me tell you, I disagree. I don't think it's the parties that are stopping Obama.
Speaker 2
46:18
Always remember, he who has the money calls the shots and the U.S. Government has no money. Where do they get their money? The Federal Reserve, which is a small little group of bankers in the private sector.
Speaker 2
46:31
You know what I think they did to Barack Obama? I think he got in office and they showed him the Zabruder film. And they said, see what we can do? You sure?
Speaker 2
46:41
You want to fulfill all those promises you talked about? Because to me, it clearly shows that the president may be only a figurehead and that there's people behind the scenes that we don't even elect who are truly calling the shots. That's the only reasoning I can give to it. Because As governor, I was pretty powerful and no 1 could influence me.
Speaker 2
47:04
And I held true on most of my campaign speeches and what I promised. But it seems to me that how could he not be doing anything that he campaigned on and why all this massive compromise to accommodate, quote, the Republicans. So I think that it goes beyond the parties when it comes to who's running the operation. That's just my opinion.
Speaker 2
47:26
Next question.
Speaker 6
47:28
How can we get past it?
Speaker 2
47:32
Well, like I said, stop electing them. That would be a good start because I only raised $300, 000 people to become governor. I made more money at the job than I did spent to get it.
Speaker 2
47:49
But then again, I didn't need name recognition. Everybody in Minnesota knew who I am. I'll brag. I'm 1 of 4 people in Minnesota where all you have to do is say the first name and they know who you are.
Speaker 2
48:02
There's Jesse, there's Prince, there's Dylan, and there's, I forget, what's the other 1? And Sid. We have a columnist named Sid Hartman who's been writing for like 70 years, sports column. And we're the 4 people that all they have to do is say our first name and everybody knows who they are.
Speaker 2
48:25
And I was written by a writer and I was pretty proud of that, to be in that type of company. Yes, sir? I don't know. I'm just saying that's my theory.
Speaker 2
48:47
Well, if you don't take the dirty money, if you don't take the corporate money like I didn't, I accepted no PAC money. The only thing I accepted were 50 and $100 donations from individuals. And believe me, in a job like that, a hundred bucks ain't gonna buy you much influence. You know, if you gave me a hundred dollars and come back to me later and say, you know, I gave you a hundred bucks.
Speaker 2
49:11
Say, so what? That's not enough money to buy influence with me. And I can also tell you since I didn't take from 1 lobbyist money, when I got into office, I didn't even see a lobbyist. I banned them.
Speaker 2
49:26
I told my staff, tell all the lobbyists to go get new jobs. Because I said, they're not getting in my door. Why do you think they wanted me gone out of there? I got my own ideas.
Speaker 2
49:37
I don't need a lobbyist to try to convince me what's right and wrong. Now granted, I do use other people and consult them. Certainly, I don't know about everything. But I had great commissioners too.
Speaker 2
49:48
Anyway, next question.
Speaker 7
49:50
Can you say something about what effect you think the JFK assassination had on this country? And specifically say something about the Reagan administration.
Speaker 2
50:00
The Reagan administration? I think the effect of JFK's assassination was simple, really simple. If you can kill the President and get away with it, what can't you do?
Speaker 2
50:12
What can't you do? And like I said, We had a confession on my TV show. Did I talk about that? Yeah.
Speaker 2
50:20
My show this fall, we had a confession to the murder of John Kennedy and yet there wasn't 1 word in the mainstream media. E. Howard Hunt from Watergate confessed to his son, St. John Hunt, on his deathbed.
Speaker 2
50:31
He said the CIA, and it wasn't a confession of remorse. It was a confession of pride. That's what was scary about it. It was a CIA operation.
Speaker 2
50:39
It was called the Big Event. And I suppose if you're killing the President, it is a big event. You wouldn't call it the Small event. And he named the people.
Speaker 2
50:47
William Harvey, who at that time headed the CIA's assassination teams when they were trying to kill Castro, and a guy named David Sanchez Morales. And he was 1 of their main operatives on the ground. And he's also famous for 4 years later, he was in Bolivia when they put Che Guevara up against a wall and shot and killed him. Morales was there and allegedly took Che's Rolex watch and he wore it as a trophy.
Speaker 2
51:18
And I believe what Howard Hunt said. He would have no reason to lie. He did it to his son. And St.
Speaker 2
51:26
John, his son, how many of you remember the 3 tramps in Dealey Plaza? They had these photos of the 3 bums, the tramps. Well, if you look close at the old tramp, if that's not E. Howard Hunt, then he has a double.
Speaker 2
51:37
Because even his son looked at that photo and said, yes, I believe that's my father. So when a father, and who else for an eyewitness is better than a son? I mean, come on. Think of your father.
Speaker 2
51:51
You think you could recognize him if you saw him in a photo? I think I could recognize mine, father, you know. Find all that questions and we'll sign some books.
Speaker 7
52:03
I'd be interested if you said something about American history.
Speaker 2
52:06
Oh, wait a minute. You want to know about Reagan?
Speaker 7
52:07
Well, just American history since JFK and how we got to where we are and whether you think that the Reagan administration had
Speaker 2
52:15
anything to do with it. Well, again, when they took out Jack Kennedy, then they removed our leader without a vote. They removed him with a bullet.
Speaker 2
52:23
And from that point on, who knows? But like I said, I think there's a higher authority that's commanding our government. And it's the old thing, follow the money. He who's got the money has the power.
Speaker 2
52:41
And the best I can tell, that's the Federal Reserve. They can't, Ron Paul asked for an audit. We can't even audit these people. And they're done illegally.
Speaker 2
52:51
Did you know that? It came in in like 1913 and our Constitution said that there could be nobody that could borrow the country money and charge interest. They charge us interest. These people print the money and give it to the U.S.
Speaker 2
53:05
Government and then charge us interest on the money. They're our lending institution. They're the bank to the U.S. Government.
Speaker 2
53:14
And the Constitution, that's against the Constitution and they never, it was never ratified because if you're going to change the Constitution, it requires two-thirds of the states to ratify it on a vote. It was never done. It was never done. And now it's too late.
Speaker 2
53:31
They're entrenched. We got the Federal Reserve now. And just so you, another example quickly of why it doesn't matter electing a Democrat or Republican. For I think it's the last 40, 50 some years, we've had Democrat and Republican presidents back and forth.
Speaker 2
53:50
Yet, every Secretary of the Treasury, regardless of Democrat or Republican, has come out of Goldman Sachs. None of the other ones, Nobody qualified in any of the other ones to be Treasury Secretary, just Goldman Sachs. So, again, it doesn't matter if you're Democrat or Republican, your Treasury Secretary comes out of Goldman Sachs or seems to anyway. Any final question?
Speaker 2
54:17
Wow, you guys are good. You haven't asked me no stuff about wrestling. I mean, I usually always get a question. Maybe you got 1 for me.
Speaker 2
54:26
What about wrestling?
Speaker 8
54:27
Q Sorry, not about wrestling.
Speaker 2
54:29
Q Okay.
Speaker 8
54:29
Q So it's hard enough to imagine 1 person having the integrity to effect changes, but the government is not just 1 person. While you are governor, you have secretaries and there is a huge bureaucracy underneath you. And is 1 person, Is 1 right person at the top really sufficient to change things or do you have any plans or any ideas how that 1 person can bring changes to, can find more right person
Speaker 2
54:57
or bring more changes to the bureaucracy? You're absolutely correct. You can't make major changes because the bureaucracy is so big.
Speaker 2
55:04
You usually can't. You can simply nudge it over a little and get it going in the right direction, hopefully. But we're talking here revolution. By not electing Democrats and Republicans and making a wholesale change, that's revolution.
Speaker 2
55:20
And if that happens, then wholesale changes can happen. But right now, with just simply all Democrats and Republicans, you're exactly correct. You might get minute little changes, but nothing of any significance. We've got to cleanse ourselves of these 2 parties before you do anything.
Speaker 2
55:37
And if that doesn't happen, I agree, there won't be great changes at all. There'll be just small ones. Thank you very much and I'll sign some books if you want me to.
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