I HAD BEEN WATCHING GOVERNOR WITH MORBID, SOCIAL CURIOSITY, BUT BEGINNING
TO ADMIRE HIM

Amid the uproar of moral indignation, we must consider the meager level of
Gov. Jesse Ventura's political language skills.

We can't blame him for succumbing to the legendary seductive powers of
Playboy staff and relaxing into a locker-room syntax of monosyllabic grunts.

In all fairness, his meaning must be properly translated:

Religion: In America, spiritual values and moral choices are a personal,
private business. Those who can't think for themselves depend upon
pre-packaged values, find validation in numbers and often deny the choices
of others.

Tailhook: Unless you're a trained killer, you can't assess their behavior
by your values.

Prohibition: Legislated values create victimless crimes and do little to
control behavior. The country can no longer afford to deny this fact.

On being governor: I value my freedom and privacy. I miss them.

On killing as a former Navy SEAL: I served and value my privacy about what
I was ordered to do.

Kennedy: There are conflicting values within government that can lead to
abuses of power, (and perhaps, I liked the Oliver Stone movie).

For those of us who could not hear the wisdom within the grunts, his moral
reasoning is at the stage that renowned psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg
would describe as postconventional - the highest of three levels of
morality. It is based upon personal standards and broad universal
principles such as freedom, justice, accountability, equality and respect
for life, rather than adherence to dictates of authority figures out of
duty or fear of punishment.

I had been watching Jesse with a mixture of morbid and social curiosity.
But now I think I'm beginning to admire him.

Katherine Peil, Olympia