Limbaugh blames union for disaster at non-union Massey mine - UPDATE: He's still lying

by: heath_harrison

Thu Apr 15, 2010 at 04:18:14 AM EDT

I wonder how the local wingnuts and fanboys will try to explain away the fact that their favorite drug-addled, out-of-state DJ is either completely ignorant or blatantly lying about something that is common knowledge to everyone in W.Va.?

Think Progress reports:
 

Rush: Was there no union responsibility for improving mine safety? Where was the union here?  Where was the union? The union is generally holding these companies up demanding all kinds of safety. Why were these miners continuing to work in what apparently was an unsafe atmosphere?

There's a simple reason the union didn't protect the miners: the Upper Big Branch Mine, like nearly all of the mines under Massey CEO Don Blankenship's control, is non-union. In fact, the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) "tried three times to organize the Upper Big Branch mine, but even with getting nearly 70 percent of workers to sign cards saying they wanted to vote for a union, Blankenship personally met with workers to threaten them with closing down the mine and losing their jobs if they voted for a union."

Do these people have to be dishonest about everything?

UPDATE: If you thought Rush was simply mistaken, rather than flat-out lying, think again.
As the video from Media Matters shows, Rush was still denying reality on Thursday and trying to claim Upper Big Branch was a union mine. "The United Mine Workers should have been overseeing their safety," Rush says, in an effort to get talk radio advertiser Massey off the hook.

Guess the fact this took place at the Horizon mine (and not Upper Big Branch) is best for Rush to ignore.
Thanks to Bobzim for pointing this out.

Phil Smith, Director of Communications for the UMWA says the union's "trained and skilled" representatives are making themselves available to offer any assistance they can to the families and rescuers at the site.

And will Limbaugh get the lecture about seeking "political advantage" from a tragedy that Massey defenders are using to try to silence anyone who dares bring up the truth about Blankenship's sorry record?