The Interview With Phil Valentine

After the Town Hall Meeting, I was given the opportunity to sit down with Phil Valentine, and ask him some questions about illegal immigration, the upcoming '08 elections, and other political subjects. Here's how it went.

The first question was about how he felt, aside from demagnetizing, the United States should stop the flood of illegal immigrants. Phil answered that he felt the only thing that could be done is to look back at why they originally came to America in the first place; jobs and/or government assistance. He also noted that a lot of the illegal immigrants who have jobs also take government assistance, and the only way to get rid of it is to cut off the reason for coming.
The second question was about the incident in Hidalgo County, Texas where border patrol agents faced 10 minutes of automatic weapons fire from across the Rio Grand, but only one news agency, World Net Daily, covered the story. I asked him what his thoughts were about that fact. He said, "That's the problem with the mainstream media out there. They don't want to acknowledge the ugly side of illegal immigration, and they want to portray these people as victims who just want to find a better life. And the fact of the matter is we've demonstrated with this Town Hall Meeting tonight, is that a disproportionate number of illegal aliens are criminals." On top of that he said that if you get down to it, all illegal aliens are criminals since they came here ILLEGALLY. "First time you come across, it's a misdemeanor. Second time you come across and subsequent times, it's a felony. So these people are either committing misdemeanors and felonies just for being here. And so they're criminals by nature. Doesn't mean they're all bad people, but a disproportionate number of them are, and I think the news media out there,-They want to portray them as hard working folks who do jobs Americans just won't do, and so they don't cover this sort of stuff."
The third question was about how Tennessee has one of the most lax laws on illegals getting state issued I.D,'s (such as a Driver's License) and I asked Phil how he felt that those laws could be made more strict. His answer hit the nail right on the head. He stated that we should not give ANY legitimate state document to someone who is here illegally, and that it was a mistake to have started doing so in the first place. "All you are doing is legitimizing their illegal activity. It doesn't go much beyond that. I mean, you cut off anything that legitimizes them, whether it be government services, or photo I.D. or any kind of identification." He said that it doesn't matter what the reason is in the first place for giving the documents or services to them because it only gives them more reasons to stay. "And what we're doing is, we're giving these people glue. You know, now they've gotten here and we're giving them more glue so they'll stay. And the Driver's License is one of those things. I mean, not only did it help the people in Tennessee stay illegal, it helps illegals from all over the place because they can get a driver's license."
Fourth was about having to have photo I.D's to vote, which Phil adamantly supports (as do I). I asked what his justifications were for it. He said that the U.S, as well as every other country, voter fraud is a problem. "I want to know that when I go in there and vote, that mine's not going to be negated by somebody who wasn't supposed to be voting. The only way to do that is with a voter I.D. Now, people that claim it's a poll tax or that it's an undue burden on the people who are having to get the I.D, but in the state of Georgia, if you would sign a document that says you can't afford one, then they will give you one. There's no charge to you, but we want to make sure that everybody has a legitimate I.D. that they can show when they go vote, and that's the way we cut- We're never going to get rid of,completely, voter fraud, but that's a way to cut down on it. And I can't understand for the life of me why anybody would be against that, unless they wanted to perpetuate voter fraud."
Then I asked Phil who he thought was going to be the top contenders for the 2008 elections. He stated, "I have been predicting, even before Dick Morris, that it is going to be Hillary Clinton and Condi Rice." He said that Condi is looking less and less likely, but she's still not out of the picture yet, but Hillary is for sure going to get the nod at the Democratic Convention, and that it's just a matter of who goes up against her. He said that he would love to see Condi Rice, but if he were betting, he would place his money on Mitt Romney from Massachusetts.
I got to speak with Steve Gill when he visited TN Tech back in 2004 and he stated that blogs have become the new media. I asked Phil if he agreed. "I think they are as far as the younger generation is concerned. To a certain degree that's big with people your age, and college students and things like that." He said he wasn't sure if it was the new media for everyone, but it is certainly growing. He also said that the internet is becoming the main source of news for people since there are more sources for the stories. He did say though, that blogs should not be thought of as true information sites, but more an exchange of ideas and opinions, but not a good true information source. He mentioned how a lot of the information is unsourced, and can't really be trusted, as well as message scuffles that commonly outbreak from differing opinions.
Last, I told him that I spoke out and stated that I would like to see Marsha Blackburn as the first female president. I asked Phil who he felt should be the first woman to take the presidential oath. "I think Marsha is a darn good choice, it's just going to take her some more time to ramp up, being in congress. I think we already have a choice- I would love to see Condi Rice, and the reason I would love to see Condi is- There are multiple reasons, first because she is very smart, and is very qualified. Has been- had a lot of experience in government. Had a lot of experience in management, things that she can bring to the table that would help her become a good president. But she also would absolutely diffuse this Democratic myth that Republicans are racist, and chauvinists. And if you elect a black woman, and the first black woman is a Republican, I think that would launch the Republican party forward light years and something that I think that the Democrats could not recover from because they're the ones talking, 'We're the inclusive party!' So well, where's your black candidate?" Phil reminded me that the last serious candidate (that made it past the primaries) was Jesse Jackson in the '80's, and he was beaten badly. He stated how the Republicans have Condi Rice, Colin Powell, J.C. Watts, Lynn Swan, and Michael Steele, and that these people are in power and have a fighting chance to actually BE president.
After that I mentioned how I had done a couple posts (Liberal Paper In a Conservative Town and The Liberal Plantation) and how Hillary had stated that "Republicans were running government like a plantation," when in actuality, as Phil pointed out in an editorial he wrote, Democrats had been the plantation owners for decades.

Phil, I enjoyed the meeting, as well as your time for the interview. Thanks, again, and check back regularly!