"Free Money"
by digby
Professional conservatives forget themselves surprisingly often and their first instincts often reveal that that they are nothing more than nasty little bullies:
What's that about?
Yesterday, the AP reported that Marlene Griffith, a widow of William Griffith, one of the 29 men killed in last week’s explosion at a coal mine in West Virginia, is suing Massey Energy, the owner of the mine. Griffith filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Raleigh County Circuit Court, arguing that Massey’s handling of work conditions at the mine plus its history of safety violations amounted to aggravated conduct that rises above the level of ordinary negligence. Marlene and here husband were to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary weeks after the deadly blast on April 5.
Indeed, as the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has reported, the mine where William Griffith worked had been cited for over 3,000 safety violations. Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, who has mocked safety regulators as being “as silly as global warming,” had gummed up the safety regulations process by filing endless appeals instead of paying fines and fixing safety problems.
Responding to the lawsuit, Nathan Coffey, the Public Affairs Coordinator of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), took to Twitter yesterday to mock Marlene Griffith. Coffey posted a link to the AP story about Marlene Griffith, sarcastically commenting that “Everyone wants free money!”
ALEC is a wingnut welfare operation designed to help craft corporate friendly laws and it's run was started by Paul Weyrich.
The operative has apologized, but I'm sure that's just because some damage control consultants understood that this is bad for business at the moment, what with all the deaths and all. But his true feelings are obvious and I think they're common. This is, after all, what all those Republicans who scream and clap wildly at the words "tort reform" at political rallies want: they want to deny people like Marlene Griffith "free money."
.
