Friday, September 03, 1999

Untitled Document

Ventura: Stop showboating,

start doing your job – governing

From Staff Reports

Much has been said about Gov. Jesse Ventura’s return to the ring as a referee during a professional wrestling extravaganza at the Target Center. The sides seem split – many say the governor was unprofessional at best and only out for himself while others note the governor can do what he wants with his own time and what he did will reap public relations benefits for the state of Minnesota.

Actually, both sides are right. There are no written, constitution rules on how a governor shall behave while in office, other than an all-encompassing order that he ”shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” …

Without a specific definition written into law, it seems the governor, as any Minnesotan, can do what he pleases on his own time as long as it doesn’t impinge upon the rights of others.

But the governor’s conduct does disturb us as his actions serve to tarnish the image we, as Minnesotans, have established for our public officials, especially those at the top. We doubt that Gov. Ventura would have gotten the publicity he did for this referee job – nor the $100,000 fee for doing so and the $1 million he may receive in royalties for his appearance – if he weren’t a former wrestler now governor. Nor would his book make the national best-seller list if he were just a pro wrestler/actor and not the nation’s only Reform Party governor.

As the top representative of our state, has Gov. Ventura given the office the dignity it deserves? Or has he been using it only for his self-aggrandizement?

Last fall, Ventura promised to people who elected him a new, common-sense government that does away with politics and politicians. But by his public relations stunts and gimmicks, he has proven no better than the ”career” politician he sought to replace. It is becoming a lost opportunity for those new forces who came to the polls last fall with a new hope in government. …

– The Pioneer of Bemidji