Utah Mine Owner: Troubling Safety Record, Useful Political Clout

[Wetzelbill]

Utah Mine Owner: Troubling Safety Record, Useful Political Clout

In 2003, when safety inspectors ordered the owner of a Utah coal mine where six workers have been trapped for more than a week to shut down one of his Ohio operations because of repeated safety problems, local press reports say he did not hesitate to flex his political muscle to get the inspectors off his back

West Virginia Public Radio reporter Jeff Young filed a story at the time that said Murray Energy Corp. CEO Bob Murray had a meeting in Morgantown, W. Va. with Tim Thompson, then a district manager for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Young obtained notes from the meeting which showed Murray threatening to have MSHA employees fired.

"I will have your jobs. They are gone. The clock is ticking," Young quotes Murray as saying at the meeting.

The notes then go on to say Murray dropped the name of a pair of powerful Republicans in order to underscore his own political clout.

"Mitch McConnell calls me one of the five finest men in America, and last time I checked he was sleeping with your boss," Murray told the inspectors, referring to the senior GOP senator from Kentucky. The quote was repeated in an Oct. 2006 Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader article on McConnell's political influence.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/08/14/utah-mine-owner-troublin_n_60477.html

[NancyBreen]

1. What a SOB!

He still insists it was an earthquake that caused the cave in. May he burn in hell fueled by his ill-gotten coal.

[grateful581]

2. Mr. Murray continues to cover his own ass.

[Wetzelbill]

3. kick

[Beaverhausen]

4. This guy is a real asshole

Something has to be done with him.

[Wetzelbill]

5. oh yeah

seriously cutthroat guy. Detriment to his workers. I can't stand that garbage.

[Wetzelbill]

6. damn, I need just one more vote

[glitch]

7. Utah Mine Owner: Troubling Safety Record, Useful Political Clout, Murderer

finishing the thought.

[ericgtr]

8. I don't get why

they are letting this guy be the official spokesman for all of this, he's clearly corrupt and he expects others to believe his word over the scientists about the collapse? What a nutcase this guy is, I hope he's held accountable for his actions.

[glitch]

9. Once you start getting why you'll stop watching. Welcome to DU! nt

[ericgtr]

11. I've already stopped

Thanks, it's nice to be here :)

[Wetzelbill]

13. Welcome to DU!

Thanks for replying to my post. :)

[calimary]

15. Welcome to DU!

I doubt it. He's being VERY shrewd, getting WAY out ahead of and in front of this calamity. To the non-discerning observers, he looks like a dedicated small-business owner (the mine is his, nobody ever talks about his other mines or other holdings and he sure doesn't, either), who's in there every day with his sleeves rolled up, talking to the families (because he never lets you forget it) and talking to the media and going down into the mine all by his little self (he never lets you forget that, either). He's big and loud and colorful and camera-savvy. That lets him pass himself off as the working man's hero/boss who just cares so much. He's seen in overalls and plaid shirts instead of expensive three-piece suits - you know, the rugged working man, like fred thompson play-acted so well with that stupid red pickup truck that probably went straight back to the dealership or to some campaign operative when he'd won his election, on the strength of his image-management as just another good-ol'-boy workin' man who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. When in reality, he's anything but.

I haven't heard ten seconds' worth of discussion on the air (on TV, that is) about Bob Murray's questionable mine safety record or his anti-union belligerence. He is playing the media like a Stradivarius. It's quite amazing to see. He evidently knows a lot about being proactive, to get the public favorably predisposed toward him and to extinguish any suspicion that he's a hard-ass cheapskate. He's really playing this beautifully, sad to say, and he's probably going to come through this looking like a hero.

NOTE: This is a VERY, VERY good example to study in terms of how you handle and manipulate the media, and maneuver your way to safety when an adverse story or event hits you. I'd suggest everybody watch him. I wish our Dems would, too. They could take a lesson from the way he's milking this and spinning it and managing the PR - like a Madison Avenue slicky-boy. Watch and listen to him carefully. Watch how he repeats things, those extra experts he's bringing in because the other rescue workers are so exhausted, repeat-repeat-repeat, how it was an earthquake seismic activity that caused this collapse, repeat-repeat-repeat. Plus (and this is a big one), he went straight to the mikes and cameras from the beginning, which gives the perception that he has nothing to hide and has done nothing wrong. He was there taking questions and being very forceful and pro-active. A VERY good lesson he's teaching in preemptive PR. A SUPERB lesson.

[FloridaJudy]

10. Why does it not surprise me that this guy is a Republican?

The stench of these guys must reach half-way to Betelgeuse by now, even in the vacuum of outer space.

[Wetzelbill]

12. Doesn't it seem like all of the rattiest of ratfuckers always

end up being Republicans?

[angrycarpenter]

14. the more he talks the deeper the hole that will collapse on him

too bad I'm speaking figuratively

[Stinky The Clown]

16. Murray The Coal Guy ..... the death penalty might be rightly applied to this fucker after .......

..... the truth comes out. Profit uber alles.

He was also at Darth's energy task force meetings.

A pond scum motherfucker's what he is.

[Rockholm]

17. This guy is all over the book "Big Coal"

[Hart2008]

18. Has anyone else noticed the increase in collapsing mines recently?

I don't ever remember so many stories of collapsing mines before this administration.