If you want to understand a monster like Don Blankenship . . .

Then take 28 minutes of your life and watch this: http://appalshop.org/film/minewar/stream.html It's required viewing for anyone who cares when hillbillies die in hellholes.

Montcoal didn't happen in a vaccuum. It is the product of a long process of abuse in the hills and hollers of Appalachia.

Watch that video and then watch this interview with Massey from last year: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/04/08/don-blankenship-in-2009-its-very-difficult-to-obey-nonsensical-safety-rules/

The question is whether we, as a people, are content to let this happen inside our own country. In the name of "cheap" steel goods from China (where MUCH of Massey's metallurgical coal goes) are we willing to sacrifice fathers, brothers, nephews; make widows and orphans of people who've never done more than hope for another day above the ground?

In short: the coal that goes into the steel in the garbage that comes from China via WalMart was made in part because Massey runs operations like Upper Big Branch and factors in the cost of fines, versus the cost of coal. American workers, albeit non-union ones, die in the bargain.

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On Edit: Grammar/Spelling

And you won't forget.

Thanks for watching. Thanks for caring what happens in the Appalachian Apocalypse.