LILEKS IS DISSING JESSE VENTURA AGAIN:

He said, in effect, that we trade with China, and they’re full of dictators, so what’s the big deal about Cuba.

It is not possible to be a world leader and avoid engagement with China.

It is possible to be the governor of a small Midwestern state and not deal with Cuba.

Jesse wanted to go to Cuba because he thought it would just plain ROCK to meet Castro – not because he loved him or admired him, but because few people got to do so, and Jesse is drawn to those things that set him apart from lesser mortals. This doesn’t make him different from other politicians – sometimes it’s refreshing that the naked self-interest is presented, nakedly. But his egotism, thin-skinnedness and mulish belief that his critics are motivated by envy and party politics made him a tiresome figure in the end. As I’ve said before, I was in his corner when he started. I knew he was a canny man. You could throw any issue at him and you’d get a fresh take presented without spin, without an eye to the polls. I disagreed with him on a few issues, but I knew that he held those views out of conviction, not because his party required him to salaam before their chosen altars. But the qualities that got him elected were not the qualities that helped him govern, and he made an ass of himself over and over and over again.

Yeah. Not that my governor is any prize, either. But that’s another post.