LimbHawHaw excels himself

It is almost beyond the bounds of comprehension -- and I use the word "almost" hesitantly -- but Rush Limbaugh is actually making the claim that the lack of safety at the West Virginia mine, which led to the tragedy the other day, was all the fault of the unions!

As has been widely reported in every area of the media (so the Fat Man cannot claim to be ignorant of this), the problem at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, WV, was that there was no union: management had threatened miners with the sack if they dared to organize. Thus Massey Energy, the owners of the mine, saved money by declining to take action on any of the safety concerns raised by their workers.

ThinkProgress has the story, which starts thus:

Uninformed Limbaugh Wonders ‘Where Was The Union’ At Non-Union Mine Disaster

Last Friday, Rush Limbaugh asked why a coal miner union didn’t protect the 29 miners who were killed when Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, WV, exploded under unsafe conditions:

Was there no union responsibility for improving mine safety? Where was the union here? Where was the union? The union is generally holding these companies up demanding all kinds of safety. Why were these miners continuing to work in what apparently was an unsafe atmosphere?

There’s a simple reason the union didn’t protect the miners: the Upper Big Branch Mine, like nearly all of the mines under Massey CEO Don Blankenship’s control, is non-union. In fact, the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) “tried three times to organize the Upper Big Branch mine, but even with getting nearly 70 percent of workers to sign cards saying they wanted to vote for a union, Blankenship personally met with workers to threaten them with closing down the mine and losing their jobs if they voted for a union.”

Almost as depressing is the story's conclusion:

Immediately following the tragedy, the UMW sent trained support personnel to the disaster site. “We are all brothers and sisters in the coalfields at times like this,” UMW President Cecil Roberts said in a statement offering the assistance, which was refused by Massey company officials.

It is time, surely, that individuals like Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship be forced to acknowledge the consequences of their actions. It is, equally, time for the Lord Haw Haw de nos jours to stop being their apologist and facilitator. As we'll recall, at Nuremberg it was decided that the original Lord Haw Haw was as guilty as any of the masters he served.