Several weeks after the explosion that killed 29 miners in the Upper Big Branch coal mine, the mine company CEO, Don "Big Shit" Blankenship is claiming he did nothing wrong. Right-wing tea bagger cause booster Big Shit appeared before a Senate subcommittee investigating the cause of the disaster. When given an opportunity to accept responsibility, Big Shit stated, "I have made safety my number one priority. Massey does not place profits over safety. We never have, and we never will." Riiiight. . . . and up is down, night is day, and Big Shit is a decent man. If you believe Big Shit, you'll believe anyone.
The history of that mine tells a different story:
"In investigations several months before the explosion, Upper Big Branch Mine was found to have airflow -- which keeps deadly gases from rising to explosive levels -- moving in the wrong direction, according to the mine safety agency known as MSHA (pronounced em-sha). It also had 16 other cited violations but had appealed them all (under a much-criticized federal policy, all 16 appealed citations were dismissed)."Big Shit and his like see these tragedies as PR problems to be managed and mitigated, and not something that should interfere with their insatiable drive for maximum profits at any cost. What's really required are criminal charges in cases like this where the worker-be-damned corporate philosophy results in needless deaths.
(photo: Big Shit tells fellow wingnuts he loves his country more than making a buck)
