The thing that stands out to me is that the Governor seemed to think his loss of an uncle is the equivalent of those that lost husband, father or son. I don't think so. In my life I was fortunate to have two beloved uncles. I had others but not that I loved or knew so dearly and there is no way I would ever equate them with my own dear father, my son, or my husband, not to mention my two brothers. Sorry, it's not the same, unless this uncle was a surrogate father or something such as that.
I tend to agree. It was something of a stretch to cite the case of his uncle. Then again, his experience was certainly relevant, if not identical. He doesn't come from a totally different universe.
I'm sure the death of a loved one is painful, no matter the relation. And I'm sure the whole town is grieving. Mining is and has always been very dangerous. I would never want one of my loved ones working in a mine.
Tha Manchin family is a very close, big, powerful family in WV from a very small mining town. I somewhat disagree with your assessment. If, heaven forbid, anything happened to my BIL's, my children would be absolutely devastated, and the closest uncle is 2 hours away, so he isn't a surrogate father. He is just so much fun for my kids when they see him. My children are young, and the loss would be confusing and horrible, not to mention watching their cousins go through losing a dad and the rest of the family's loss, as well. Manchin's loss was in '68, he was 21, watching his cousins (I am assuming because it is a big family). It would be horrible. The mine accident was a terrible explosion with 78 killed, the entire town would have been devastated. I am sure he lost more than an uncle, probably friends and fathers of friends.