Obama to deliver miners' eulogy

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will deliver the eulogy Sunday for the 29 miners who died in a coal mine explosion earlier this month.

The service, announced today by West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, will be held in Beckley, W.Va., and will include prayers, musical performances, tributes to the miners, and remarks from Mr. Manchin and other dignitaries.

Vice President Joe Biden will join the president to participate in the service, according to a White House news release issued today.

The service will be held at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center, at 200 Armory Drive in Beckley, at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Seats are open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.

The April 5 blast at Upper Big Branch mine, about an hour west of Beckley, was the deadliest coal mining disaster since 1970.




Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10109/1051716-455.stm

---

Good for you President Obama and Vice-President Biden.

[babylonsister]

1. Rec'd. Wow. That's a lovely thing for them to do. nt

[happygoluckytoyou]

66. IN A RELATED STORY-- POTUS declines invitation from teabaggers to visit the bottom of the mine

[Peace_Sells]

2. Safety.

As a West Virginian who lived in Beckley for 10 years I greatly appreciate this gesture. However, this is a really dangerous thing to do. West Virginia is full of hateful racist tea baggers and few liberal democrats so I'm a little worried about our president's safety.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[babylonsister]

8. Nice broad brush you have there. Not. nt

[Lasher]

32. I'm a liberal Democrat.

I live in West Virginia.

[Skittles]

46. I'm in Texas

we are often accused of being conservative redneck hicks here too

[Lasher]

48. Yeah Skittles, folks from Texas take a pretty good beating in that respect.

Usually it doesn't bother me. Some people have unsophisticated conceptions of populations in other areas. Sometimes I do too.

Check it out, this service will be in Beckley, less than a 2 hour drive from here. I might go there on Sunday if I think I'll have a snowball's chance of getting in.

If I get pictures of my man Barack and me, please don't get jealous and kick my ass.

Edit: There is a very good airport at Lewisburg, just south of Beckley. I'll bet that's where Obama will land on his way there. Bet you don't know why a little place like Lewisburg has such a nice airport.

[clixtox]

55. Proximity to The Greenbriar resort and top secret hiding place for the elite...

in times of upheaval, attack or disaster!

Why else...

[barbtries]

69. ok i'll bite

why does a little place like Lewisburg have such a nice airport?
no snark, you made me curious.

[Lasher]

72. barbtries came up with the answer, just upthread: The bunker at The Greenbrier.

Interesting reading here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greenbrier#The_Bunker

[Lyric]

67. Same here.

:hi:

[OhioBlue]

33. I have family about 30 minutes away from there

I don't know the people you know... but I understand the concern. However, the people I know and have met lead me to believe that this situation is one to only show respect for their fallen brothers. They may not like the President, but this isn't really an event to focus on that. It is an event to show respect and hopefully bring more attention and action to things that need changed in the mines and the surrounding communities.

[pauldg0]

43. I agree....

....Barack....please keep your secret service staff on top of this one. I believe this is very noble but risky though it could pay some dividends for that part of the world to see a president really representing and working for labor.

[susanna]

53. Your concern is noted. n/t

[Jefferson23]

3. Wow is right, go Obama. n/t

[mike_c]

4. that's a pretty big deal....

Wow!

[onehandle]

6. Can you imagine Bush doing this?

Even in this likely Republican leaning community. Not in a million years.

Go Obama! Go Joe!

[pnorman]

14. Bush wouldn't DARE do anything to offend the delicate feelings

of Corporate America , PARTICULARLY Massey. It was on HIS watch that so many safety regulations were systematically undermined, and industry toadies were put in regulatory positions.

[FailureToCommunicate]

20. Bush "...systematically undermined (mining regulations)" Good one!

[MadMaddie]

21. No he would be sweeping brush on his fake ranch or

celebrating some rich Repugs birthday!

[DefenseLawyer]

51. Bush would cut regulations and call it the Upper Big Branch Memorial Mining Freedom Act n/t

[barbtries]

68. i couldn't help thinking the same thing

and all i could think of was gw standing outside his "ranch" - on vacation of course - and explaining that he would not meet with Cindy Sheehan because "I think it's time to get on with my life." that may not be verbatim but as i recall that is what that bastard said.

i am so happy that Barack Obama is president.

[Cha]

7. Thank you, Presdident Obama and VP Biden!

[goclark]

30. They are constantly doing good deeds all over this world

and their wives are just the same way.

And they are going right into Sarah Palin country, right?

[Omaha Steve]

9. K&R!

[bemildred]

10. Now that is a refreshing change. nt

[Libertyfirst]

11. I would like to hear him say, "This will not happen again."

[jmowreader]

49. And have the crowd completely tune him out?

Coal mining is inherently hazardous. Everyone there knows it.

What I, and the citizens of Beckley, really want him to say is, "Marshals, arrest Don Blankenship." The President has already blamed Massey Energy for allowing this disaster to happen. If he were to have Don Blankenship clapped into irons during the service, it would bring closure to a lot of people.

[Daemonaquila]

12. Very classy, Mr. President.

Then please go back to D.C. and whup the asshats who made them dead.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

13. This is a potential game-changer...

He's going there among people who do not love him (see upthread) but if he does in West Virginia what he did in Cairo in his speech to the Muslim nations, things could get really interesting.

[amandabeech]

15. Obama and Biden are going to have to do something about this.

They must back up their words.

Remember, Smokin' Joe is from Scranton. He knows from mines. My guess is that this is his idea.

[spinbaby]

26. Remember, too, that Obama is from Illinois

And Illinois is a coal state.

[amandabeech]

34. Yes, he is.

But Obama isn't from Carbondale.

Even though he supports clean coal, I doubt that he has the emotional connection that Biden does.

Chicago is a long way from the coal mines.

[Highway61]

16. Wow

I am so proud of him.

[Kadie]

17. Wow.

K&R

[craigmatic]

18. It's a nice gesture

If it goes well it might just boost the call for more regulation. It might even put WV in play in 2012.

[dflprincess]

27. Is more regulation needed - or enforcement of the regulations that already exist?

Including real penalties for companies that ignore worker safety, not slaps on the wrist that can be written off as the cost of doing business.

We need to go beyond regulations and make these violations criminal like Canada has done. More info on Canada's law here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=367x26154

[Arugula Latte]

19. And a big "fuck you" to Don Blankenship, Mass Murderer.

:grr:

[FailureToCommunicate]

22. Dear Lord (and Secret Service) please see our brave President safely thru this event.

[fortyfeetunder]

24. +1

[louis c]

23. This is why every American should be represented by a union

If these miners had solid union representation, this a catastrophe most likely would have been avoided.

few know that these same minors lost a union election by one vote. further, the rules and laws governing mine elections are governed by a separate labor law that requires 50% plus one of all the employees, not just the ones voting. In other words, if 200 employees are in a union election and the voter turnout is 101 men and women, and the union yes side gets 99 votes and the no side gets 2 votes, the no side wins. so much for "save our democracy by preserving the secret ballot in union elections" bullshit.


Link:
http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/politics-life-and-death-west-virginia

[Poll_Blind]

25. Whether ya love him or hate him (or somewhere in between) you gotta admit that Obama frequently...

...places himself in situations where you get the feeling that he's "owning" the situation. Usually something that a lot of people are aware of in the country. Not in some pejorative way, I mean- well, let's take Bush for instance. Even in the heat of 9/11 I never really got the feeling that he owned the situation. He always gave the impression more of a busboy helping the cook on a busy night at the restaurant. Maybe it's Bush's innate aura of being a dilettante at just about all things, I dunno.

I'm glad Obama's doing this. He comes off as Presidential in a way that a 40-foot-tall Bush, bestriding two aircraft carriers never could.

PB

[Lint Head]

28. Fright Wing Hatriots will try to say President Obama is using the miners

deaths for political purposes. You know it's coming. I say I don't care what they say in advance of them saying it.
Blanken-shit needs to be prosecuted for negligent homicide.

[eggplant]

41. The right will trash him up to the point of his speech.

Which will then, naturally, put all those fuckers in their place. It's basically his home turf. An emotional, non-partisan speech without an opportunity for a rebuttal.

How many times has this scenario played out so far? I've lost count. But every time it happens, he hits it out of the park and we're all energised once again.

I'm betting that he'll tie the lack of mining regulation (or enforcement, it doesn't matter) back to Wall St, where the focus needs to be at the moment. He will relate the plight of miners to middle America, who got screwed out of their retirement funds, forcing the battle back to robber barons vs everyone else.

He will leave mining alone until the various agencies have nailed Blankenship's hide to the wall, and then come back around for real changes in mining, after a successful re-regulation of Wall St.

Always playing six moves ahead, he is.

[PSzymeczek]

50. More like Depraved Indifference

homicide. Knew it was dangerous, and didn't care.

[rasputin1952]

29. It would be nice if he brough Federal Marshalls with him to arrest

those in the offices at Massey.

Sad day for those families and friends of those lost...may they RIP...and Massey's officers roast in hell.

[AnnieBW]

37. Right on!

Throw Blankenship down a dark pit - and don't let him out!

[mopinko]

31. well, this ought to be a stem winder

woot.

[Soulis]

35. Obama & Biden Together?

In West Virginia? "Seats are open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis?"

Uhh.....

[FailureToCommunicate]

42. Weird, too, that they printed the address AND time of day. (Welcome to DU today!

You've been busy this Patriot's Day.)

[AnnieBW]

36. Let's see that bastard Blankenship cry his crocodile tears NOW

In front of the media and the President. Frankly, I think that the FBI should arrest him for negligent homicide.

[hollowdweller]

38. This could go either way

Obama is not liked here by a LOT of rednecks.

They are really hard pressed to say why because WV is full of poor people on disability, workers comp, SSI or who work for the govt. So it is painfully obvious to everybody but them why.

On the other hand WV'ians like the personal touch actually believe in gov't more than a lot of the rednecks in other states. If Obama comes here and actually talks to people, connects with them, not just giving a speech, and then later IF people appreciate an honest effort to make mine inspections better and they see the gov't helping to make things better it could go really well.

My worst fear is a bunch of ignorant rednecks show up and protest and make us look even worse than we have been looking.

[alp227]

39. Nice one. And the President should also support Congressional investigations of Massey n/t

[MilesColtrane]

40. I hope he holds a press conference after he gets back to Washington to announce...

a renewed push to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

[lunasun]

44. yes I think he will . That is the next hurdle

[No Elephants]

60. +1

[salguine]

45. This gesture will be meaningless if no serious steps are taken to both punish the

owners of this mine and to ensure that this thoroughly preventable tragedy doesn't happen again. Things being as they are, however, I completely expect things to return to business as usual. There'll be some outcry for a while, but the mine owners know they just have to ride that out for a little while and it'll eventually die down, and they can get back to business as usual.

[icee]

62. Exactly.

[Kievan Rus]

47. Good for him

[proteus_lives]

52. Good for him.

President Obama is a class act.

[Petrushka]

54. K & R

:kick:

[Liberty Belle]

56. Could you have imagined Shrub doing this? n/t

[eridani]

57. Excellent

Hope we get some hardass enforcement of safety regulations out of this too.

[impik]

58. Damn this man. All class. This country does not deserve him.

[JNelson6563]

59. Very nice.

I love that our Prez and VP are real human beings.

Julie

[No Elephants]

61. Wish the miner had not died. Since they did, tho', this is a very good thing to do.

[ensho]

63. hope it doesn't stop with the eulogy and people go to jail and

safety rules are tightened and obeyed.

[otohara]

64. Not Surprising

for various reasons

[Loge23]

65. Leadership. (eom)

[rtassi]

70. Does that still mean the employees of the mine will be fired for attending?

[QC]

71. I hope he will follow up this eulogy with concrete action

to punish those responsible for the deaths and to make sure that other miners have safer conditions in which to work.

[skyounkin]

73. Mr. President- thanx but this means nothing

if you do nothing to ensure that regulations will be enforced in the future and make a substantial push for better mine safety.

[shireen]

74. i think his presence at the memorial service is sending a powerful message.

Both he and Biden will be there. That's a big deal. They are sending the message that coal miners are not expendable; the operators and the regulators (with a history of corruption) are being watched at the highest level of the executive office, and being given a chance to make things right without too much direct government intervention. A very very smart strategy.

[Morning Dew]

75. I bet they won't sing this:

Come all you coal miners wherever you may be
And listen to a story that I'll relate to thee
My name is nothing extra, but the truth to you I'll tell
I am a coal miner's wife, I'm sure l wish you well.
l was born in old Kentucky, in a coal camp born and bred,
I know all about the pinto beans, bulldog gravy and cornbread,
And I know how the coal miners work and slave in the coal mines every day
For a dollar in the company store, for that is all they pay.

Coal mining is the most dangerous work in our land today
With plenty of dirty. slaving work, and very little pay.
Coal miner, won't you wake up, and open your eyes and see
What the dirty capitalist system is doing to you and me.

They take your very life blood, they take our children's lives
They take fathers away from children, and husbands away from wives.
Oh miner, won't you organize wherever you may be
And make this a land of freedom for workers like you and me.

Dear miner, they will slave you 'til you can't work no more
And what'll you get for your living but a dollar in a company store
A tumbled-down shack to live in, snow and rain pours in the top.
You have to pay the company rent, your dying never stops.

I am a coal miner's wife, I'm sure l wish you well.
Let's sink this capitalist system in the darkest pits of hell.

- Sarah Ogan Gunning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_TqxrZpkQU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUwHc0Z6_wQ

[Botany]

76. I loves my President

n/t

[NJmaverick]

77. This is a fitting tribute to those brave workers that needlessly died

[thereismore]

78. FOX: The worst mining tragedy since 1970 happened on Obama's watch. nt

[thereismore]

79. FOX: Obama is using the tragedy for political purposes... just you wait. nt