Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant arrived in Oxford this morning to address the Boys State during its political simulation week at the University of Mississippi.
Gov. Bryant spoke to the group of young men at the Gertrude C. Ford Center on campus at 10:30 a.m. Bryant’s speech addressed the achievements the state has accomplished. He discussed how Nissan’s manufacturing plant in Canton is producing 340,000 vehicles a year and the Toyota manufacturer in Blue Springs is producing 150,000 to 200,000 Corollas each year (only a few miles from Elvis Presley’s birthplace), making the state create almost a half a million vehicles each year. Also mentioned was General Electric’s influence on the state in that it manufactures the jet engines at two different plants, Batesville and Ellisville, creating over a thousand jobs.
To Gov. Bryant, Mississippi’s influence on the rest of the country always has been one that stood out. “We had 22 million visitors in the last year. We made 19 movies. We have made 14 so far this year and it’s the first of June,” said Bryant.
Gov. Bryant went on to mention numerous famed musicians Mississippi has produced, B.B. King of Indianola and Elvis Presley of Tupelo. “This is the birthplace of America’s music, Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Jimmie Rodgers the father of country music born in Meridian, Mississippi, and of course B.B. King legendary king of the blues born in Indianola,” Bryant said.
He mentioned that Mick Jagger was one of many guests to have visited the Governor’s mansion in Jackson and recalls Jagger saying “there wouldn’t be rock and roll without B.B. King, that man from Indianola, Mississippi.”
Governor Bryant also addressed questions asked by the young men of Boys State. A student from Saltillo asked, “Why did you pass the House Bill 1523?” Bryant answered by addressing the question of “What do you do with someone who says ‘I have a deeply held religious view’?”
The Governor answered on the basis of “religious accommodations.” He said, “What we do in America is we make an accommodation for that, as we have done so for generations. When Muhammed Ali said ‘I am not going to fight in Vietnam,’ the Supreme Court made a religious accommodation and said ‘He is a Muslim. He doesn’t believe in going to fight in this particular war.’ So rather than sending him to prison they made a religious accommodation.”
Also discussing religious accommodations, Bryant said, “We have also done so for the terrorists in Guantanamo Bay. We said, ‘You’re Muslim and we know you were involved with the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers’ and the United States of America has said that ‘We believe in your religious faith and so we are going to make an accommodation’ so they were provided with certain dietary conditions and prayer time.”
Summing up the answer, Bryant said, “Our belief is if there are going to be exceptions for terrorists, we ought to be able to for businessmen in Mississippi.”
When asked the question by a student of whether Governor Bryant has met or will endorse presidential candidate Donald Trump, he said, “I have not met him, we have a meeting set very soon, I have endorsed him and I intend to support him, he was not my first choice, he was not a lot of people’s first choice but I like him, this guy just says what he means in this politically correct sensitive world.”
Governor Bryant concluded the speech by saying, “No matter what side of the political spectrum you may be on, never abandon your individual liberties, never. As I now see this country as it is evolving, and I was a child living through the north bays of segregation, for the federal government and supreme court to start taking rights away from people…gentleman know your rights and understand your constitution and defend them.”
Meggie Carter is a staff writer at HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at meggie.carter@hottytoddy.com.
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