Mine tragedy, an opportunity for the left.

Photo(shop) One of our own home grown ratbags, Phillip Adams, sanctimonious, opinionated, self-righeous, leftist shill, and creature of the state, (as long as the right are not in power.) (Communists for Kerry have had a little fun with him here.)

The leftist elite, when sipping their lattes in whatever suburb is currently fashionable occasionally find it satisfying to pay a little attention to what they suppose to be the roots of their movement, the working class, something that reminds me of the Douglas Adams quote on humans (as ape descendents):

“Humans are not proud of their ancestors, and rarely invite them round to dinner.”

When it comes to the working class you just can’t get better in the eyes of the left than the coal miner, I mean he works deep underground, gets dirty, and there are hundreds of stories of the hardship of the bad old days. They can all empathize with them, as they know all about it from watching “Coal Miners Daughter.”


This guy, EJ Dionne is one such leftie. Now I don’t wish to sound cynical, but he as a journalist, academic, and all round liberal shill, while probably never having been to the coal face has that certainty of knowing all there is to know about everything, especially after seeing the afore mentioned movie. Anyone who has parented teenagers knows this attitude.

Being a liberal, while not being in the industry, he knows just what mining needs, taxation, regulation, subordination, rationalization, and nationalization. The same as any other industry, hell it’s just that simple.

In an article in Investors Business Daily, “Can regulation avert tragedy in the mines,” he demonstrates that he just doesn’t get it:

“There is a dispiriting and, yes, heartbreaking sameness about how we respond to mining disasters.”

Anyone with any knowledge of mining knows that the courage and tenacity of the workforce who are able to go to the rescue is inspiring, not dispiriting.

The one thing that keeps a trapped miner going more than any other is the certainty that his mates will be moving heaven and earth to get him out of there. Loss of life is tragic and hits the mining community hardest.

Dionne manages in his anxiety to get on with the real issue, government control, to get an entire two lines out about the miners:

“We celebrate the stoic sturdiness of mine workers who pursue their craft with pride, bravery, and full knowledge of the risks it entails.”

These idiots could at least wait until the dead are buried, and the results of the inevitable inquiries come out before they run off on their political agendas.