My review of Jesse Ventura's book almost reads more like a blog entry than a book review; I personally think this is one of my better pieces of prose because I manage to intertwine 9/11 Truth, the War on Drugs, and the Pledge of Allegiance. Amazing how everything all ties together!
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Anyone who reads my [Amazon] reviews in chronological order will see that Ventura's book from 2000, "Do I Stand Alone?", was my first review. Jesse was one of my first political role models when I read that book after coming across it in the Borders' store. Prior to that, all I knew was that he was a former wrestler turned governor. One of the first things that outraged me, and jolted me to be a political activist, was the criminalization of drugs and the war on marijuana smokers in particular, an outrage Ventura also shares. After going on my own political journey of various awakenings over this decade, Jesse has come back into my life during the 2008 election season with his best book yet.

In DSTRWM, Ventura hits on many controversial and volatile issues; the JFK assassination, his visit with Castro in 2002, his opposition to the two party dictatorship, and finally, the many holes and unanswered questions surrounding the 9/11 attacks.

For those that still aren't familiar, WTC 7 was a 47-storey building with relatively minimal damage from falling tower debris, yet it imploded into its footprint at 5:20 p.m. just like a controlled demolition. (WTC's 3, 4, 5, and 6 were much closer to the twin towers and received massive damage to the structures, yet they remained standing.) When one takes a look at WTC 7's collapse and compares it to a standard controlled demolition, it is obvious to anyone with eyes to see that WTC 7 was a demolition. Then, in comparing WTC 7's collapse to that of the twin towers, one can't avoid the inescapable conclusion that the twin towers were also felled by deliberate acts of demolition.

At this point, some would ask (as a BBC interviewer did of David Ray Griffin) "If this was engineered to anger the American people into supporting an [already-planned] war, wouldn't it have been adequately achieved by flying a couple of planes into the WTC? What would be the point of bringing the towers down with controlled demolition?" The answer: "The image of the planes going into the towers, and then the towers coming down, and the thousands of people who were killed... This was ingrained into the American psyche, and it got the American people ready for revenge, and frankly, they didn't care against WHOM this revenge was taken, as long as it was against Arab Muslims." We have seen this play out with the Bush administration using post-9/11 fear to con the public into supporting an invasion of Iraq.

I remember clearly when a friend of mine got busted at a rock concert for smoking pot in 2002; I gave him a ride to court and watched as about 30 people before him were all called up to the stand, charged with possession of marijuana; they all pleaded guilty like lemmings, had to pay a $500 fine, and their drivers' licenses were suspended for six months. I remember thinking WTF??? Their "crime" had nothing to do with driving. Then I remember thinking, "This is supposed to be the land of the free??!! This is the country to which I was forced to pledge allegiance every school day from first grade through twelfth?"

As an adult, I consider myself very patriotic in the Thomas Jefferson sense of the word. ("Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.") And also, "love of country" comes from the heart and the roots are usually non-political. I love going on Route 66-style road-trips, seeing Americana. I love seeing the small towns, stopping at Mom & Pop diners and meeting some of the warm and friendly people who inhabit our vast land. This swells my heart with love for America more than any nationalistic pledge of allegiance.

Ventura addresses the Pledge of Allegiance issue, and it hits home with me. Though we moved to the US when I was 2, I was born in England and didn't become a U.S. citizen until I was a junior in high school. In first grade, I felt awkward about saying the Pledge, so I didn't say it. Then I felt a different kind of awkwardness, that of feeling different, and peer pressure. In second grade, I caved in to conformity and joined my classmates saying the Pledge. Even back at that early age, I felt this intuitive conclusion that "patriotism" was being forced onto me. Of course, as Ventura says, "Patriotism comes from within."

In DSTRWM, Ventura highlights this point and likens it to the Hitler Youth, where the young children were forced to blindly take an oath of allegiance to the Nazi party. I love Jesse Ventura's solution: If he were a teacher, and felt strongly about saying the Pledge every morning, he would simply say to the class: "You know, kids? I'm very patriotic. And every morning I'm going to say a pledge of allegiance to my country. You're more than welcome to join me if you'd like."

There are so many issues Ventura discusses in the book that I could write a whole book articulating the merits of each of them. Though I occasionally agree to disagree, I find he has more common sense than just about anyone out there, and it's a shame that he so far hasn't thrown his hat in the ring for president. So what if he loses? His popularity, stances on issues, and staunch opposition to the two-party dictatorship are too crucial for him to NOT run.

C'Mon, Jesse, let's start the revolution!

PS: A month ago, Jesse provided THE textbook model as to how to deal with shills like Hannity & Colmes:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R3FEL4GIYC2QNN/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?%5Fencoding=UTF8&ASIN=1602392730