Posted on 01/04/2006 5:14:08 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
January 4, 2006 - 07:58
Once in a while, it happens. TV serves up human drama in real time. It happened on this morning's Today show when the bereaved son of one of the Sago miners confronted the governor of West Virginia over allegedly lax safety enforcement in the mine.
Matt Lauer began with a stand-up interview, at the disaster site, of WV Governor Joe Manchin. Lauer then brought in John Bennett, the adult son of Jim Bennett, one of the miners who died, who stood on Lauer's other side.
Bennett described the history of violations in the mine. Lauer turned to Manchin to inquire about the violations, and Manchin launched into his response when Bennett took matters into his own hands. He spoke across Lauer directly to Manchin: "with all these roof falls and everything that has happened over the multiple months, not weeks, months, that this has happened," Manchin began to reply when Bennett again cut him off: "and they still send men in there?"
It was a poignant moment, as one's heart when out to the son. At the same time, it was an ultimate political moment: a politician on live national TV confronted by a bereaved constituent suggesting the governor's responsibiity for the death of his father and others.
Manchin remained calm and, without directly responding to Bennett's question, described the seals in the mine that had been blown out.
Lauer followed with an apt question to Manchin of his own: "when the average person across the country hears that this mine had been cited for 46 violations as recently as late December, it is hard to understand why it was open for business on Monday when that explosion occured."
Manchin replied by stating that even one fatality is too many, that mining is an inherently dangerous operation, and by mentioning that his own family had suffered a mining death [his uncle was killed in an infamous 1968 disaster in which 78 miners died]. "I know exactly how the families feel. I've been there."
Lauer turned back to Bennett, who seemed on the verge of putting another question to Manchin, when Lauer deflected it, asking Bennett "what questions would you like to put to the mine operators?" Bennett paused, palpably changing directions, and suggested that, for fear of losing their jobs, the men were afraid to speak out about the unsafe mine conditions. Bennett decried the absence of the United Mine Workers to protect the men in the non-union Sago mine.
Bennett conducted himself with dignity, as did Manchin, who is clearly in the crisis of his political life. There were no winners or losers, simply a spontaneous human moment, brought to us in real time.
Disgusting, isn't it?
I don't have exact figures at my fingertips but there are more MSHA inspectors for the less than one hundred thousand working miners in the work force than OSHA inspectors for the rest of the country---
if the coal had been strip mined, there probably would have been less of a chance of disaster. sounds like an EPA fault here somewhere.
Oh, that's already started. Last night around 6:30 PM (before the fate of the miners was known), there was a caller to a local Philly talk show host spouting off about how Bush was to blame because he "has dismantled the government" and the only way to prevent these disasters was "more government regulation and more government spending on saftey and engineering".
This crazed lib actually thought that the government should pay to send engineers into mines to make the mines "safe". Of course, then she will call the next show and complain about "corporate welfare"....
Like your 40 week
Like the child labor laws
Like the overtime pay
Like knowing that there is some minimum standards for safety in the workplace.
Then thank the Unions.
The Unions are not all evil, and Conservatives are not all knowing.
'just calling a spade a spade
The Sago Mine is an underground mine. In fact, I think it even goes under the Buckhannon River. There is way too much mountain above the coal seem to do a strip mine. The vein coal is actually down below the floor of the valley.
The mine is 260 feet below ground. It goes horizontally back over two miles.
That's very common. In fact, I think the Sago mine is a new mine. Many mines run ten miles or more.
OSHA doesn't cover mines; MSHA does.
True.
This media circus reminds me of an old Kirk Douglas movie that I saw. When I saw Whore-Aldo Rivera on FOX running up to miner families with a microphone in his hand I flashed back to that movie and slime ball reporter that Kirk Douglas portrayed.
Ace in the Hole (AKA The Big Carnival) (1951)
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling Director: Billy Wilder Rating:
Storyline
Genres: Drama, Film-Noir
Plot Outline: When a man is trapped alive in a mine collapse, a self-interested reporter and the townspeople cynically create what we now call a "media circus".
Plot Synopsis: One of several literary and artistic works based on events surrounding the 1925 entrapment and death of W. Floyd Collins in Sand Cave, Ky. See also Robert Penn Warren's novel _The Cave_
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/379/379350p1.html
Ace in the Hole (a.k.a. The Big Carnival), 1951, co-wr/dir. Billy Wilder. This is a deeply cynical Film Noir sadly based on an actual 1925 tragedy. Charles Tatum (Douglas) is a down-on-his-luck, obnoxious journalist who once worked for a big city newspaper but is now stuck at a small town paper in New Mexico. The hard-drinking Tatum finds his meal-ticket back to the big leagues when a miner named Leo Minosa becomes trapped in a cave-in.
Tatum hypes the event into a national news story, engineering a lucrative media frenzy and a despicable public circus while also duping Minosa into believing he's his savior. Even though Minosa could be rescued more quickly by shoring up the cave's tunnels, Tatum, who's eager to keep this "big carnival" in town, convinces the rescuers to employ a lengthier drilling process instead. Going along with Tatum's ambitious plan is Minosa's greedy and conniving wife (Jan Sterling) who's looking to cash in on her unanticipated notoriety. Tatum's plan, however, goes tragically awry. The final low-angle shot of Tatum collapsing into frame symbolizes his self-propelled downfall.
Ace in the Hole is a grim but eerily prescient look at the media's unquenchable thirst for "the big story" and the public's willingness to play along. Wilder mercilessly eviscerates the gawking masses that set up shop to commercialize Minosa's tragedy. Although a box office flop in its day, Ace remains a relentless indictment of the public's and the media's appetite for entertainment and fortune even at the expense of human life.
This isn't meant as a put down, but I'll bet you've not been invovled in high risk occupations before. With those that are, it is amazing what can be taken for 'normal' and to what hazards one can become accustomed.
There's also a huge does of denial and invulnerability with those in high risk occupattion.
Correction that=than
We have FOOD FOR THOUGHT here in my town where they report on food and safty violations of resturants. Many over and over have 8-12 violations, some as mild as an employee with a coke in the back room. These places are still in business and many of them improve their safty record.
We have come a long way in this country and for the most part it is in the good of all of us, when it comes to regulations of work places.
Thank you. My apologies for any confusion.
No problemo, most people don't know the distinctions.
Unions for government workers I agree with you - No
Unions for teachers I agree with you - No
Unions for Airline pilots I agree with you - No
Unions for Sports Players I agree with you - No
Unions for Carpenters I disagree with you
Unions for Boilermakers I disagree with you
Unions for Steel Workers I disagree with you
Unions for Miners I disagree with you
Unions for Electricians I disagree with you
LOL! Excellent point. If the standard proposed by the grieving son were applied to American households, my guess is that most homes would be closed for business following such an inspection.
I loathe the lame stream media
That is a steaming pile of horse hockey. I work at a mine. The federal protection for miners' safety is amazingly strong.
If MSHA finds that an employer pressured a miner into working in a known unsafe environment or intimidated a miner into keeping his/her mouth shut about safety problems, that employer can PERSONALLY go to jail for it. MSHA regularly conducts surprise inspections based on anonymous complaints from miners. Every single one of them is addressed. We have MSHA inspectors on site about three days out of the week. Every week.
I absolutely understand this son's anguish and desire to dump blame on someone, but the union isn't saving anyone. MSHA gives miners very, very strong protection from an unsafe environment and from retaliation against whistleblowers.
It's just opportunistic union propaganda. In our area, the union is a safety liability, not asset. They protect and defend the employment of those who are blatantly unsafe to work with. They oppose surprise drug testing and termination of those who come to work drunk. One guy I personally know about was caught red-handed sucking away on a lit hash pipe -- smoking underground is very strictly prohibited -- but was defended tooth and nail by the union against termination.
What a bunch of hypocrites!
Here's a link for those who might be interested in federal mine safety laws (30 CFR): Miners' Rights
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