Mine company CEO sues W.Va. Democrats

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Houston Chronicle/ Associated Press

Aug. 11, 2007, 9:17PM
Mine company CEO sues W.Va. Democrats

© 2007 The Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A mine company executive sued the state Democratic Party over a TV ad that he claims defamed him by quoting him as saying the deaths of 14 miners last year were statistically insignificant.
(snip)

Statements attributed to Blankenship in a Feb. 19, 2006, article in The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown, Md., were misrepresented in the party's "Not For Sale" ad, he alleged in the lawsuit.

A methane explosion at International Coal Group's Sago Mine killed 12 men in northern West Virginia on Jan. 2, 2006. Seventeen days later, a conveyer belt fire at Massey's Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in southern West Virginia killed two miners.

The newspaper quoted Blankenship, a registered Republican who spent $3.6 million targeting Democratic candidates in 2006 elections, as saying he believed that the type of explosion that occurred in the two accidents is rare and statistically insignificant. He alleged in the lawsuit that the TV ad falsely portrayed him as saying the miners' deaths were statistically insignificant.



Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/5047084.html

[sandnsea]

1. He's a piece of work

"The owner of the Aracoma Coal Alma No. 1 mine in Melville, W.Va., where two miners died Jan. 19, said Saturday he feels the safety measures in place at his mines exceed state and federal regulations and that the onus rests on mine workers, not those who run the mines, to look after their own safety."
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=131545&format=html

Then, the MSHA had to sue them..
"..(MSHA) has filed an injunction against the Aracoma Coal Co. Inc., a subsidiary of Massey Energy Co., for failing to turn over to accident investigators documents and other evidence pertinent to the underground mine fire that claimed the lives of two miners last January."
http://www.aggregatesmanager.com/news/news2006.htm

[WildClarySage]

2. He's a piece of shit is what he is.

[Hulk]

3. And to think we the public is eating this "earthquake excuse horse shit" hook, line and sinker!

God, are we ...as a national public...STUPID!!!

[Mind_your_head]

5. I heard it on my own d*mn teevee.....don't tell me that it would lie to me?!?!

(credit for that goes to Willy Nelson, of course)

[clixtox]

7. Sadly yes! America has been dumbed down!

Our corporate masters certainly don't want most citizens mentally free and able to think for themselves. In the 1960s it was practically impossible to avoid getting a great education in much of our country. Even if you dropped out before graduating from high school you could probably read and write and do arithmetic. My generation looked around, with the advantages of a the great educational system then extant, and revolted against the nascent corporate culture revealed in Vietnam, the racist plantation culture in the south and too many other injustices throughout our culture.

Now the problem is that many of those who stay in school and graduate still cannot read well enough to understand what they are reading, cannot write much more than their name and can barely make change without a machine assisting. Students are now being considered apathetic, they do not see the contradictions all around them. They do not have the desire to make things better for the future, only to keep consuming.

Being able to consume and follow directions is all that our students are expected to master. Knowing which "celebrity" is which and following fads is the focus for students today. The ability to think critically, to understand subtleties, an awareness of literature, history and geography is not emphasized and teachers are exhausted just maintaining order. Children are not being parented or nurtured at home, too many alienated and violent "time-bombs" are among the willful progeny sent to be controlled and programmed in our "schools".

We are dumb, and by and large we are destined to stay stupid.

[The Wizard]

18. They will send us to

the Soylent Green factory without a second thought because they can't think. That's the Republican Final Solution to Social Security. I hear land in Costa Rica is very reasonable these days. Buy land there, establish residency, convert all other assets to gold, ship it there and relocate.

[Kolesar]

14. The earthquake story was Bob Murray's mine in Utah, Blankenship owns the Massey/Sago mine

...just to clarify things.

[depakid]

22. Both of them are worthless human beings

who probably ought to spend the rest of their lives in prison....

[Lasher]

4. Well Don's at it again

He's got lots of money and he uses it to attack Democrats.

[truthisfreedom]

6. Sorry, but Dems shouldn't break the rules either. You don't mis-quote or take things out of context

unless you want to look as weasely as any typical thug.

[cui bono]

8. Where did you see the ad? I'd like to see it myself. n/t

[skids]

9. Or at the very least you run it by your lawyer first. n/t

[gratuitous]

13. Do you have more information?

The story is pretty sketchy, mostly devoted to Blankenship's allegations (which, as we all know, are not facts), and one statement from the Democratic party county chairman that the allegations sound spurious. There isn't a whole lot there to state categorically that the Dems broke any rules.

Certainly when someone says something stupid, they hate to be reminded of it. But I'm not sure it constitutes breaking the rules to bring up their stupid statement.

One big clue, though, is that Blankenship is suing not only for compensatory damages, but also punitive damages. I don't know what the rules of civil procedure are in West Virginia, but I know that a state lawsuit in Oregon isn't going to get punitive damages without a very high threshold of indifference (at least) or outright malice. For a staunch Republican, it strikes me as odd that Blankenship would turn to a trial lawyer to try to wring pecuniary satisfaction out of this matter rather than a simple injunction.

[MLFerrell]

17. WV juries are known to return high awards for punitive damages...

But only (to my knowledge) in cases where the proverbial "little guy" is suing an insurance company, corporation, etc.

This idiot doesn't have a prayer.

[Vinca]

10. But, but, but - he did say it, didn't he?

This guy needs to buck up and take the heat. Sheesh - the party of Swifties turns out to be the party of crybabies.

[0007]

11. Here is an article that will knock your socks off!!

snip.....Bush picked Chao as labor secretary in 2001 after his original choice, Linda Chavez, withdrew because of questions about an illegal immigrant who had lived in her home. Chao had proved her Republican loyalty as a "Bush Pioneer," having raised more than $100,000 for the president's campaign.

Born in Taiwan and raised in New York, her father the wealthy founder of a shipping company, the 53-year-old Chao was educated at Mount Holyoke College and Harvard Business School. She worked in international banking and as a midlevel Republican federal appointee before taking over the United Way of America, which had been rocked by financial scandal. Chao is credited with restoring its reputation.

When Bush chose her, Chao was making more than $200,000 a year as a "fellow" at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative, corporate-funded think tank in Washington. While she was there, Heritage scholar D. Mark Wilson issued a report titled How to Close Down the Department of Labor, in which he blasted Labor's "excessive burdens on businesses." Chao hired Wilson as deputy assistant secretary in charge of workplace standards.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/233/story/11062.html

[Dr.Phool]

12. You mean Mrs. Mitch McConnell?

[0007]

15. ....a Yes!

[TomInTib]

20. They certainly know how to pick 'em, don't they?

And they vever, ever let up.

[wordpix]

21. more clusterfuck

[MLFerrell]

16. Yeah, that's really going to fly with a West Virginia jury...

:eyes:

This guy just doesn't know when to quit, does he?

[Bennyboy]

19. Dirty Business down on Coal Creek!

Dirty Business
(John Dawson)N.R.P.S.


Well the marshall came to town
And his hat was pulled way down
He looked like he had business on his mind
He didn't stop to say, he just rode along his way
Until he stopped in at the office of the mine


Dirty business,
Dirty business,
Dirty business down in Coal Creek
Dirty Business down in {on} Coal Creek, this morning.


Well I make two bucks a day
That ain't a healthy pay
My kids {dogs} are just beginning to get sick
There's talk been going 'round
How their gonna shut us {the old mine} down
If the man don't come and fix things pretty quick.


Dirty business,
Dirty business,
Dirty business down in Coal Creek
Dirty Business down in {on} Coal Creek, this morning.


Pretty soon there was a crowd
It was getting pretty loud
And the men all said they'd be no work today
But the owner wouldn't budge
He just set there like a judge
And he wouldn't give a nickle more in pay


Dirty business,
Dirty business,
Dirty business down in Coal Creek
Dirty Business down in {on} Coal Creek, this morning.


Just then they heard a sound
That came rumblin' from the ground
And everyone went rushing for the door
It finally left no doubt
The mine was not an issue anymore


Dirty business,
Dirty business,
Dirty business down in Coal Creek
Dirty Business down in {on} Coal Creek, this morning.


{ }

[0007]

23. Very good!! nt