There is plenty on here and with the
Wapo story about this mine's safety violations. There has also been talk about the effect of unions, or lack thereof and questioning if the MSM would recognize that Republican policies are at the heart of this tragedy. This is in
MSNBC's current headline article:
John Bennett, whose father Jim Bennett was one of the victims and had been due to retire in April, complained that his father would "tell me how unsafe the mine is."
Problems at the mine had been "going on for months ... and they still send men in," Bennett told "Today," adding that he felt that if the mine owner had allowed workers to unionize the violations wouldn't have happened.
Whether it is Iraq, Global Warming and the disasters it has and will cause, or levees in New Orleans we are seeing the tragic consequences of Republican, "Almighty Dollar" politics. It makes me feel a little ashamed that we diddn't do more to keep that election from being stolen in 2000.
I was interested in the Kos communities and many NYC progressives I know, responses to the Subway strike. I was happy that there wasn't blind loyalty to the union, but a little shocked that the reason is we don't expect employers to be responsible for the well being of their employees anymore. The idea that a union would go on strike to protect workers who haven't even been hired was even more astounding though.
Have Republican victories so corroded our nation that we no longer expect employees to provide pensions and health care? Are our expectations so low that we balk when a union fights a notoriously mismanaged employer (the MTA) to continue receiving decent benefits after employees spend 30 plus years underground? The pendulum has swung far right.