Jesse the Mouth coul use lesson in diplomacy
When Gov. Ventura was first elected, Jesse the Body wanted us to call him Jesse the Brain. But I could come up with a few other features of the anatomy to call him.
Ventura's veto of the "quick fix" budget that was passed in the House and Senate Thursday will stay despite efforts to override the veto.
It's not exactly Jesse's policies that aggravate a lot of people, although those are not without warranted criticism. It's more about the way he acts and what he says.
To settle this budget and fix a $1.9-billion state deficit, the governor wanted to spend some of the state's reserves, cut programs and increase some taxes.
The Legislature agreed on a plan that would spend more of the reserves and cut fewer programs but not raise taxes.
Jesse's cutting and taxing plan doesn't sound so illogical, although our county and city leaders wholeheartedly disagreed with most of the proposed cuts.
And the Legislature's spending plan didn't sound so bad, although the governor called it a politically-motivated plan to stack the re-election odds.
I just know that the governor has a habit of making decisions on his own and not allowing the press or legislators to question the decisions.
Tuesday's effort to override the veto didn't make the two-thirds vote required. Our local representatives, Rep. Richard Mulder and Sen. Arlene Lesewski, voted to override the veto and avoid going back to the drawing board.
The plan they would rather have abided by was met with words like haphazard, deficient, irresponsible, dangerous, irrational and unacceptable by the governor.
He said that even attempting to override his veto would be unpatriotic in this "war-torn" time.
Lawmakers countered those statements by saying that Ventura is using Sept. 11 as an excuse to do just about anything he wants.
It all makes me wonder if Ventura is recalling his character in "Predator" to learn how to behave as governor of Minnesota.
Melodrama of Olympic proportions
Well, I can finally watch "Friends" tonight since the Winter Olympics at last has crossed the finish line.
It's a known fact that I'm not a huge sports fan, but I usually watch Olympic games because of some sense of pride in my country. I didn't watch this year's winter games as much as usual, because I was disappointed every time I tuned in.
Instead of sitting back to watch an athletic event, it became something that looked like a journalists' excuse to stack fluff pieces in their portfolios.
I saw too much slow-motion camera work, behind-the-scenes looks at preparations and stories of Olympians and their families. I just wanted to watch some sledding and skating without orchestras playing tear-jerkers in the background.
I hope the next network that covers the Olympics shows athletes, whether they were gold favorites or not, and allows the sports to carry the drama.
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