Limbaugh wins PU-litzer for Upper Big Branch lies

by: heath_harrison

Sat Jan 01, 2011 at 20:35:28 PM EST

From the folks at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting:

--Nonexistent Union-Bashing Award: Rush Limbaugh

After 29 workers died at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, talkshow host Rush Limbaugh (4/9/10) fingered the culprit: the miners' union. "Where was the union?" he asked. "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?" As it turned out, the mine, owned by notorious union-buster Massey Energy, didn't have a union. Alerted to his inaccuracy, Limbaugh (4/15/10) doubled down, saying that 85 union coal miners won a decision against Massey and were re-hired. "So there were union workers there, and so the United Mine Workers should have been overseeing their safety.... You people, it's been 21 years. At some point you are going to learn: If you go up against me on a challenge of fact, you are going to be wrong. It's just that simple." What's even simpler? Disproving him: Those workers he's talking about are from an entirely different mine owned by Massey--which has appealed the ruling, so even those workers aren't back on the job yet (AFL-CIO Blog, 4/16/10).

As noted earlier this year, the fact that Massey's mines are non-union is common knowledge in West Virginia. You really have to wonder what the thought process is like in a local conservative's head, when they hear Rush spew something they know is blatantly false and they have to come up with a justification to continue to believe his every word as gospel.