{alltv} Jesse Ventura's 'Conspiracy Theory' raises further questions

Former pro-wrestler-turned Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura is eager for the second season of Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura to begin (Oct. 15, 10 p.m. ET/PT, truTV.) That's because he gets to examine one of his favorite conspiracies: JFK's assassination. "We will have breakthrough audio," promises Ventura. "It will be the first time we audibly hear someone confess, and we all know that Lee Harvey Oswald is dead."

But just because Ventura, 59, has traded his political career for the life of a TV personality doesn't mean that he's any less opinionated. A self-described "watchdog of the government," he wades right into volatile topics, including the controversy over the potential building of an Islamic center near Ground Zero. "It's ridiculous. Would there be an uproar if it was a Catholic church? It's much ado about nothing," says the staunch First Amendment advocate. "It has no bearing at all on 9/11."

What is "of much more importance" to him is why religious organizations don't pay property taxes. "Why do they get the same services that we all do and why do they get them free?" Ventura asks.

And while he hasn't paid attention to the president's stance on that particular issue, Ventura says "there can't be any change" with the status quo of Republicans and Democrats. "Notice I lump them together," he says. "I don't distinguish between the two because it's very much like pro wrestling. You (give) interviews on TV like you hate each other, to draw crowds and attention and make money. But behind closed doors, you'll go out to dinner with each other. Well, the Democrats and Republicans are the same way. They're not adversaries; they just make believe they are to the American public."

In fact, Ventura, who ran as an independent and a member of the Reform Party, says he's no longer even into that. "I do not support the third party movement anymore," he says. "I now advocate the abolishment of all political parties. We've allowed the parties to take over the government."

As for his current gig crisscrossing the country examining history's conspiracies, Ventura draws inspiration from his "skeptical" now-deceased dad, a World War II veteran who questioned the Vietnam War before the protesters even did. "I was fortunate enough to come home and tell my dad he was right and I was wrong," says the Vietnam veteran, who went into the war believing he was stopping "the spread of communism" but came home thinking differently.

"But I also live by the quote, 'Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.' I agree wholeheartedly," he says.

Unless, that is, your dissension comes in the form of the Tea Party — then Ventura isn't buying.

"Anyone that has Sarah Palin as the standard bearer would not get my support at all. Sarah Palin is a quitter. She quit as governor to go make money. I would have nothing to do with a party like that."

And like when he was wooing voters with his blunt talk, it's the people on the streets (and his son Tyrel, 30, a producer on the show) whom he meets while working on Conspiracy Theory that keep him motivated to stay true to his questioning self.

"Wherever we may be filming, people walk up to me and shake my hand and thank me for having the courage to do what I do. It's a great payoff."