By J. Randolph Evans

On September 29, 2011, the Georgia Immigration Enforcement Review Board held its first meeting and elected Ben Vinson as its chair. It also started the process for enforcing Georgia’s tough new illegal immigration laws. Somehow it was fitting that it happened on the same day that a federal judge in Alabama upheld what many regard as the toughest illegal immigration law in the United States.

The Board has seven members. In addition to Vinson, the Board includes five-term Coweta County sheriff Mike Yeager; Dallas Mayor Boyd Austin; Terry Clark, a Colquitt County Commissioner; Shawn Hanley, an Atlanta businessman; and Robert Mumford, a former two term Georgia House member and lawyer from Conyers. Yet, from media reports, folks would have thought there was only one Board member – the seventh member of the Board – Phil Kent.

Of course, Kent is no stranger to public controversy. Indeed, he spurs political debate with a quick wit, a sharp style, a solid conservative ideology; and data – lots of facts, figures, and information. His last book was entitled Foundations of Betrayal: How the Liberal Super-Rich Undermine America. His other book is The Dark Side of Liberalism: Unchaining The Truth.

Basically, as his books show, he is no shrinking violet.

For the left, especially those serving as ‘journalists’ in the mainstream media, Kent’s appointment was just too much red meat for one day. Bored with a state government that works, columnists, radio hosts, and television reporters simply could not contain themselves when the Kent appointment was announced.

So, in the blink of an eye, cloaked liberal journalists shed their cosmetic coverings of ‘objectivity’ and then jumped from the closets of political correctness to make Kent the centerpiece of their latest prognostications of complete disaster.

But, as they say in the political world, it was a story with no legs. In the end, the Keystone ‘journalists’ all looked rather silly. Here are some of the more humorous retreats by the legless wonders.

Jay Bookman of the Atlanta Journal Constitution was left at the end of the day posting Kent’s full response on his “newspaper’s” website “without alteration.” So, there it was – Bookman’s picture pasted over the following: “Bookman’s intolerance for public safety measures prevents him from adhering to his own admonitions. His column personally attacking me is yet another example of his demagoguery.”

Now really, how funny is that?

Then, in an interview with Kent, Doug Richards of 11Alive was left hemming and hawing all around as Richards tried to paint a prejudice-laden portrait of a born-in-the-south, white male (almost a Borat remake) complete with the ‘understood’ biases. The problem was that Kent was actually born in Auburn, New York. He graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Georgia. Indeed, he was an editorial writer, editorial page editor, and columnist at The Augusta Chronicle, a Georgia newspaper.

With this background, Kent did not exactly meet the ‘profile’ that Richards needed to sell his story. And not surprisingly, it did not sell.

But that is the essence of where the Georgia mainstream media finds itself today. Without scandals to chase, or conflicts to foment, Georgia’s mainstream media is relegated to fringe reporting – jumping during news-less news cycles on anything that moves – even when it is not newsworthy. In this case, it involved fixating on the one person on a seven person board with whom they most disagree (and who would not back down).

But, the media insists on diversity of opinion – right? Ha! Kent proves that diversity of opinion is only good if it matches their opinion; otherwise it is reason for attack.

Meanwhile, Georgia, like many other states, suffers from a real illegal immigration problem. Schools, healthcare, budgets, housing, and resources are all strained to the limit in an economy that is not getting any better. The Georgia Legislature did not sit idly by. Neither should the Georgia Immigration Enforcement Review Board.

There is one more twist that is just too funny to miss. Amidst all of the whining about Kent being too active in immigration with his extensive writings, comments, and statements, there was this posting by Charles Kuck on his website Musings On Immigration – An Immigration Attorney’s Perspective On Life, Liberty And Happiness (with some emphasis added for amusement):

The primary purpose of the IERB, which is now filled by seven white men with virtually no experience in immigration law and is attached to the Department of Audits and Accounting . . .

No experience? Really – in addition to Kent, the Board includes a 5-term sheriff, a mayor, a county commissioner, a former state legislator, a lawyer, and a businessman. These are the folks who have had to deal in the real world with the consequences of illegal immigration. Now, hopefully, they move on to dealing with some of the causes.