Hummer has guv [Jesse Ventura] dazed, amused

St. Paul Pioneer Press ^ | 1/1/03 | Jim Ragsdale

[rhema]

Less than a week before returning to life as a private motorist, Gov. Jesse Ventura showed off his new ride Tuesday.

In an age of gigantic cars, it's super-sized. It thirsts for petrol and looks like it could crush Geos and Corollas without spilling your coffee. It was last seen chasing Saddam in Kuwait.

It's a Hummer.

"I live in Minnesota — I don't want to get stuck," Ventura explained in showing off his copper-colored, 2003 model Hummer in his parking spot at the Capitol. He slid in the driver's seat and cranked up Led Zeppelin on the 10-speaker sound system.

"It'll knock your socks off," he said, instinctively miming the last guitar lick of "Dazed and Confused."

Ventura leaves office when his successor, Tim Pawlenty, takes the oath of office on Monday. As governor, Ventura, a car guy who has been partial to Porsches in the past, has not had to worry about transportation. State troopers drove him on official business in a Lincoln Navigator, which he once said he had reinforced "for running over reporters."

The Hummer could run over a lot of reporters.

It is the well-appointed version of the military Humvee, a squatty-body vehicle that came to prominence against the backdrop of burning oil rigs in the Gulf War. Steve Allen, product manager at Wally McCarthy's Hummer in Roseville, the only dealer in the state, said the dealership has sold about 200 since the Hummer came out in July — including one to Minnesota's First Driver.

Ventura purchased the H2, which is the smaller of two Hummer models offered to the public. Priced in the mid-$50s, the H2 is competitive with high-end sport-utility vehicles like the Navigator, Allen said. Ventura said if he had sought a second term and had been elected, Minnesotans would know the Hummer intimately.

"If I'd ran again, this would be the state vehicle," he said.

The big car and the governor with the big persona seem a perfect match. Ventura proudly showed off the six-CD changer, the OnStar communications and navigation service and the passenger-side mirror that automatically focuses on the rear tire when the car is in reverse, for help with parallel parking.

Ventura's pal, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a pioneer of civilian Hummer use, and was seen on the streets of St. Paul in his Hummer in 1996, when he filmed a movie here. Ventura said Schwarzenegger now owns several.

But the Hummer won't be the new wheels in the governor's garage for long.

Ventura, who already owns one newer Porsche sports car, said he is accepting delivery next spring of a new Porsche Carrera. By that time, Ventura should be launched into his new life, which may include a cable-television talk show, speechmaking and various other entertainment opportunities.

And if they want him to give an after-dinner speech up on the tundra or out in the desert, he's got the car for it.

[goose1]

Got to give it to him he knows how to piss off the liberals he hee.

[dts32041]

I still want on hummer, but can you get the civilian version with the weapons station.

I know they leak through the hatch, but there is just something about driving a vehicle that big in rush hour with ma deuce riding shotgun.

[jimtorr]

In an age of gigantic cars, it's super-sized. It thirsts for petrol and looks like it could crush Geos and Corollas without spilling your coffee.

Aaaah, wake up and hear the self-righteousness!

I love it when Ventura sticks it to reporters and/or liberals.

A Hummer really isn't much bigger than a Lincoln Navigtor or any of the other jumob-sized SUVs. It's just wider. It also has a serious intrusion into the interior. Is that the gearboxes, driveshaft and gas tank?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

When Jessie drives, he takes his half of the highway out of the middle.

[sam_paine]

It's a GM Suburban chassis. The H2 has hardly anything of import in common with the real Hummer.

[alfa6]

MA DUECE!!!

naw...think big

THINK TOW

LOL

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[mr.pink]

It also has a serious intrusion into the interior. Is that the gearboxes, driveshaft and gas tank?

I think in the new version they have reduced that intrusion greatly.

I think they are so over the top, they're ridiculous.

[NCLaw441]

Boy! Did I misread this thread! I guess a hummer CAN be a vehicle.

[dts32041]

Tow looks awkward, with the way it hangs off to the side, M2HB. looks like it belongs there.

[dts32041]

You don't go over the top with a Hummer until you turn it into a stretch limo.

[billorites]

They can't be that big if Clinton was able to get one under his desk.

[mr.pink]

LOL.

[Fireone]

Good for Jesse!
He's the poster child for the American way. After growing up in (my) South Minneapolis neighborhood, he worked hard and set his course. After many endeavors, he shook up a stagnant, Socialist, boring Minnesota political situation and made people take notice and start thinking again. Like him or not, he's exactly what this state government needed.
His successors will have to be on their toes, or we'll do it again!

[mj1234]

Sorry--Jesse IS a liberal.Look at his "proclomations"
look at his budget, look at the people he brought with him
to office-He is a drunken buffoon- who cares not about his family,country,state-it is all about him having a good
time. At 50+ he has to "show off his car? while playing
Led Z. ? GOOD RIDDANCE

[WorkingClassFilth]

You're a Teddy, huh? I used to get my hair cut at Buzz's barber shop over on 42nd when I lived and worked in that area. Ate a few cheeseburgers at the Lake Inn, too.

Sorry - I gotta disagree with you.

Jesse might have upset the apple cart in terms of elections among the annointed, but he was nothing but a self-promoting idiot surrounded by squads of third-way leftists. His 'shake-up' did little other than herald the tenous grasp the DFL holds on the state. He was no champion of conservatism in spite of what the national media lickspittles say.

[M-cubed]

Dont feel bad....the "Sink Emperor" would have made the same mistake!...Only difference is...he would have been bummed... while you are content with the humor of it all...

[Happy2BMe]

The only time I have had a glimpse of respect for Ventura was when he and his wife walked out of his senator's funeral services over disgust on how the Democrats were hovering over the body like vultures.

I bet he and Schwarzenegger could do some really good sci-fi movies together though.

[Elsie]

http://www.whiteroselimo.com/hummer.html

 

 

"It does not take a majority to prevail ...
but rather an irate, tireless minority,
keen on setting brushfires of freedom
in the minds of men."
--Founding Patriot Samuel Adams

[LasVegasMac]

ma deuce riding shotgun.

Talk about being in your comfort zone!

LVM