Hannity had the representative of a mine-safety trade publication on his radio show yesterday and she sounded like she was very knowledgeable. She noted all the violations that this mine had, and said that this mine's violations history far outpaced the sum total of all mine violations in the state of Alabama, for example.
She added that mine operators who are in full compliance should "never" have an accident like this one. She clearly laid the blame at the mine operator's feet, agreeing with Hannity that it "sounded like somebody was cutting corners". She, too, questioned why the mine was allowed to continue to operate, but I never got a clear understanding of who has the ultimate resposibility for that kind of enforcement.
Look for it to be Bush's fault.
Very interesting - thanks for passing along the information.
An aside: did you happen to catch the president of the mine company the last couple days? Even before there were any known deaths, he seemed constantly on the verge of tears in his press conferences.