Don Blankenship Hates the Police

Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship came to the National Press Club last week.

And
left a lasting impression.

And
the impression was this:

Don
Blankenship hates the police.

The
police in this case work at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

Blankenship
was asked:

With
the benefit of hindsight, what could you have done, and what have you done,
to minimize the chance of an explosion like the one that claimed 29 lives?

And
Blankenship answered:

I
would have sued the police earlier.

In
this case - MSHA.

If
it were up to Blankenship, the federal police would just go away so that the
coal and oil companies could strip mine, pollute and endanger America to their
hearts' content.

If
it were up to Blankenship, the police would allow corporate America to thrive
by "leaving it alone."

It
also became clear that Blankenship has a low opinion of reporters.

Blankenship
said that he doesn't mind reporters having opinions.

Just
get the facts first before you form those opinions.

"The
only thing I'm asking you is do a little bit of thought before you form an opinion,"
Blankenship told the reporters at the Press Club. "Get some facts."

And
where might we get some facts, Don?

At
the federal police hating Manhattan Institute.

Specifically,
Blankenship recommends a Manhattan Institute energy "expert" named
Robert Bryce.

Blankenship
recommended Bryce's book - Power Hungry: The "Myths"
of Green Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future.

And
what might those real fuels be?

Coal,
nuclear, oil.

And
what might one of those myths of green energy be?

"Oil
is dirty."

(Oil
is not dirty. Just look at the Gulf of Mexico - it's clean now!)

Blankenship
wants America to believe that the deaths of the 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch
mine resulted from an Act of God.

Or
an unavoidable mistake.

At
the Press Club, he put it this way:

"Politicians
will tell you we're going to do something so this never happens again. You won't
hear me say that because I believe the physics of natural law and God trump
whatever man tries to do. When you get earthquakes under ground, whether you
get broken floors, whether you
get gas inundations, whether you get roof falls, oftentimes are unavoidable,
just as other accidents are in society."

Sometimes
accidents are unavoidable.

Sometimes
they are avoidable.

And
sometimes they are due to corporate recklessness.

The
cops at MSHA that Massey and Blankenship have sued and want continue to sue
- reported
a few months before the blast that killed the 29 miners that Massey was
operating the Upper Big Branch mine with "reckless disregard" for
the safety of the workers at the mine.

That's
the standard a prosecutor would have to meet to prosecute Massey and the responsible
executives for manslaughter.

If
I'm driving my car down a West Virginia road at 90 mph and I lose control
and kill someone, I will be arrested by the state police.

And
prosecuted for manslaughter.

And
probably spend time in jail.

I
didn't intend to kill that person.

But
I acted with reckless disregard for that person's safety.

The
federal cops say that Massey Energy operated the Upper Big Branch mine in reckless
disregard of the safety of the workers.

And
29 of them died.

So,
why aren't the responsible parties being arrested?

And
prosecuted for manslaughter?

Massey
Energy's public relations campaign - featuring Don Blankenship last
week at the National Press Club - is meant to make the police look bad
- and counter any move to bring a serious prosecution against those responsible
for the 29 miner deaths.

Massey
message to America - leave us alone.

There
are reporters who trying to put some facts and perspective in the way of Massey's
drive to denigrate and dodge the police.

The
Washington Post's Dana Milbank went to Blankenship's Press
Club speech and came
back with some advice:

"Government
should push back against a corporate culture that has lost its sense of shame."

Also,
check out Ken Ward's Coal
Tattoo.

Also,
recent reporting by NPR's Howard
Berkes.

At
a reception prior to his speech at the Press Club, Berkes
asked Blankenship about a survey taken last month that shows that 24 percent
of Massey underground miners say they are afraid of being disciplined or fined
if they raise safety concerns.

Blankenship
told Berkes:

"I
would disagree with your results."

Wait
a second Don.

Those
aren't Howard Berkes' results.

Those
are your results.

Right
here.

Massey
Energy's own survey.

Question
7.

Are
you afraid of being disciplined or fined if you raise safety concerns?

24
% - Yes.

Trapped
- Blankenship responds:

"I
don't know what that survey would say at competitor companies."

And
then Blankenship starts lashing out at Washington and reporters.

"We
know the coal miners better than anybody in Washington knows them or any of
the reporters know them. I grew up with them. Lived with them. Still live among
them. We care more about them than anybody else does."

Berkes
shoots back: "They tell me they are afraid. The ones I speak with say
they will be punished, they will lose their jobs, they won't be able to
get another job. Miner after miner after miner tells us this."

"I
don't know whether I believe that part - first of all," Blankenship
says. "You can get people to say almost anything."

Almost
anything Don.

Almost
anything.