What could possibly go wrong here? It wasn't bad enough that under former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's oversight 29 miners died, or that he tried to buy a judge to get out of any consequences.
It isn't, because we live in the era of Trump, where crooks and liars assume they are entitled to run for office.
Blankenship isn't going to let a pesky conviction for conspiracy get in his way, choosing to file his paperwork to toss his hat in the ring alongside West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Rep. Evan Jenkins, all of whom are running in the Republican primary.
Blankenship was an early sponsor of the Tea Party (Republican) movement in 2009, spending millions to defend unsafe work environments, deny climate change, and more.
As I wrote back then:
Here's something else about Don Blankenship and Massey Energy Company: Blankenship spent over $1 million dollars along with other US Chamber buddies like Verizon to sponsor last year's Labor Day Tea Party, also known as the "Friends of America Rally." Here's Massey's pitch. Note how he makes it sound like he isn't one of the corporate enemies of America.
The Friends of America Rally featured such notables as Sean Hannity, Ted Nugent, and Hank Williams, Jr., and was graced by Blankenship himself going off on a diatribe that seemed strange at the time, but has come to be commonplace these days. It concerned President Obama, Democrats, and any one who doesn't salute God, coal, and apple pie. Oh, and we're also going to 'steal their jobs,' if Hannity is to be believed.
Yep, he's a deplorable. He ought to be one of Trump's faves.
(Report above via WOWK in Charleston, WV)
