On Massey Energy Corporation & Don Blankenship, chief executive officer, and twenty nine other families in West Virginia.......
A strike by the UMWA in 1984-85, in which Massey Energy, backed by the Reagan administration, brought in scab workers and hired private armed guards backed by West Virginia State Troopers to harass and intimidate unionized workers, lead to a breaking of the union at the company, which is now largely non-union.
Since then, Massey has been cited for hundreds if not thousands of safety violations and last week, 29 men lost their lives in an unsafe mine.
Thomas Jefferson wrote:
"The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed incorporations" 
29 miners are now dead and Don Blankenship made close to $29 Million dollars last year.
Massey Corporation can now spend unlimited funds in supporting the election of judges and congressmen who are sympathetic to the ambitions of men like Don Blankenship. One doubts that the families of the 29 dead miners will be able to mount an effective political campaign to elect officials who will protect their rights.
Looks like the "free market" work just GREAT for one out of thirty families. And it seems that, at least for now, the American Revolution has been defeated.
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old new lefty
Kerry Lauerman
grif -
Peter Breschard
DanielKronlid
Saturn Smith
Salon.com
Comments
And then there is this one from Abraham Lincoln: I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the Bankers in the rear. Of the two, the one at my rear is my greatest foe. Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money powers of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in the hands of a few, and the Republic is destroyed.
As for the current coal mine disaster, I have coal mining relatives in Pennslyvania. We need another John L. Lewis to protect the miners. Your post has persuaded me to publish my "miner's" poem (qv).
IHMO the Republicans are working to establish a feudal society in this country ie. the very rich and the poor and no middle class. Made me laugh and want to cry when I saw the term 'dead peasant insurance'. During the reign of Bush the Lesser the rich got richer, the poor got poorer and the middle class got smaller.
The Repugs have been very successful so far having established a beach head on the Supreme Court and ownership of most of the main stream media so their lies and propaganda are a constant presence in our lives.
We need push back to save our democracy.