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.
Today Show/NewsBusters ping.
Oh please....all we need is to hear Katie waxing poetic...
This disaster was covered hours earlier.... by real news people.
making more per hour there because they were not unionized.
A better question is why MSHA allowed the mine to stay open.
The bodies aren't even cold and the politics has become the lead story. What a wonderful liberal world we live in.
Huh? Why is it the Governor's fault?
The regulations for a non-union mine are exactly the same as for a union mine. Is he saying that federal and state mine inspectors don't enforce the regulations in non-union mines?
I don't know the facts; I'm reporting what the bereaved son said. He alleged that, without the union to protect them, the men were afraid to complain of safety violations for fear of losing their jobs.
It should be blamed on democrats and the greens. They are the ones forbidding us from recovering fossil fuels from safer areas. If we were able to recover oil and gas from deposits located off either coast, or in the gulf, or in "sensitive" locations inland, or in ANWR, the lives of these coal miners might have been spared.
A miner who used to be at that mine said on H & C, said that those violations can often be little petty things like signs being put too high and such.
It is not unusual for a mine to get this many MINOR infractions. You know OCHA goes to the extreme. BUT the question is, how many of these were actually Major infractions? How many actually had to do with this accident.
If none of them had to do with this disaster, it's a moot point.
By the way, to Today's credit: in the second half hour Lauer interviewed NBC reporter Bob Hager, at the scene. They agreed that it was premature to start pointing fingers at the mine owners, and important to let the investigations play out.
Building new nuclear power plants would be a big help too.
For once, why don't we all wait for an investigation to find out what actually happened, and what caused it, before castigating the usual suspects?
A somewhat sigh of relief that Manchin's not a Republican.
Please see #13.
I was listening to Talk Radio this morning and they had a caller that was claimed to be familiar with the violations at this mine. He said none of them were serious in nature. Another caller suggested that if there were serious violations that should have kept workers out of the mine, then why didn't they shut it down?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.