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Jesse "The Boor" Ventura
Not content to bask in the glow of mere celebrity, Jesse Ventura, Governor of the great state of Minnesota, has decided to ignore sage advice ("Better to have people think you are an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt") and lay his soul and what passes for a brain bare for the world to see. Jesse has stood tall, thrown back his shoulders and proudly declared "I am an idiot, I am a boor". Actually, "boor" is too classy a word to describe Jesse. Another word (starting with an "A") renders a much more precise description, but it is too salty for a family-friendly page such as this. So we'll have to use "boor" but pretend it is the other word.
How is Jesse a boor? Well, a starter list would include: He is loud, bossy, a bully, classless, utterly lacking in tact, incredibly self-absorbed, mean, immature and devoid of original thought. While these are perfectly acceptable, perhaps desirable, qualities for a Pro Wrestler, they do not appear to hold up well for a Governor. Jesse's defenders wouldn't necessarily argue with these things (as many of them are also boors they may see them as admirable). Their trump card is to declare that "At least he is honest!".
While honesty in politics is always a rare commodity, it does not and cannot make everything else go away. The "honesty" argument is problematic on several levels.
First, it presents a false choice. It suggests that being honest is a byproduct of being a loudmouthed classless jerk, and that to be classy, smooth, and sophisticated almost mandates that one be a liar. I suspect this Forrest Gump view of politics is a variant form of Clinton backlash. Personally, I can think of many classy yet honest people who have run for office and proven this gut theory wrong (John Silber and Paul Tsongas come immediately to mind). Usually, if they lack Ventura's celebrity status, they get their clocks cleaned.
Second, Jesse is actually not all that honest. He is without a doubt candid, indeed he seems incapable of not telling us what is on his mind. But there is difference between "telling the truth" (honesty), "keeping your word" (reliability) and being unable keep your trap shut (neurotic candor). Of these three, Jesse is especially good only at the latter.
Third, the value of candor (honesty in sharing one's opinions and beliefs) is overrated. We do not value the candor of the four year old who walks up to an heavy woman in a store and says "Gee, lady, you're fat!" Nor do we value the candor of David Duke or Louis Farrakhan or the Unabomber. Candor is admirable only in the sense that it peels back the surface and allows us to glimpse what lies beneath. In the end it is far more important whether what lies beneath is noble, good and true or petty, vindictive and evil.
An assessment of what lays beneaths Jesse's shiny skull reveals a remarkably simple philosophy of government which is very consistent with his status as a boor: Jesse is in favor of those things he likes, and against those things he doesn't like. Jesse likes drugs, so he is in favor of decriminalizing drug use. He likes hookers, and so wants to legalize prostitution. He likes Pro Basketball and Wrestling, and therefore favors the state bailing out the Target Center in Minneapolis, but he dislikes baseball, and is consequently opposed to state funding of a new stadium. Jesse likes public education and hates religion, so we know school vouchers are out of the question. But most of all, Jesse likes Jesse, and this drives his politics, his actions and his statements.
We are all to some degree bundles of contradiction and confusion. But when most people enter politics they do so making a conscious effort to subordinate their personal likes and dislikes to a view or ideology of what is good for the larger society. Jesse apparently finds this weak minded, for he has instead simply mapped his own contradictions and confusions onto the body politic and proceeded to shout them from the rooftops. He has without a doubt removed all doubt.