Cecil Roberts, in the March/April addition of the UMWA Journal, said “I commend U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin for taking this investigation where no one else has, and look forward to the day when Don Blankenship is behind bars; where he belongs.” Cecil has never been reluctant to say outrageous things or to lie about me, as he can’t get over his failure in the strike of 1985. In this case, I hope people will see his obvious effort to influence prosecutors for what it is.
- The statement serves purposes for Cecil:
- It compliments a prosecutor which, if you a bad guy like Cecil, is always a good idea,
- It builds a foundation for union political support of Goodwin’s potential future run for Governor or Senetor and
- It takes yet another shot at a fellow Cecil credits for cutting the unions’ stranglehold over mining jobs in Appalachia (me).
Cecil heads a union that is well known for its violence. It has been ranked the most violent union in America. The government would do well to investigate Cecil’s possible involvement in many acts of violence. Cecil is a political animal, but incredibly he uses his influence to support politicians who oppose coal. The list of union supported Presidential candidates who are anti-coal demonstrates Cecil’s level of ignorance, as does the thousands of lost members’ jobs. Yes, even the lack of safety improvements and the lack of greater progress in the fight against black lung are evidence of Cecil’s failures. Cecil in succession supported Al Gore (the greeniac supreme), John Kerry (the gun control supreme), and Barrack Hussein Obama (the anti-coal supreme).
Cecil rants and raves about what is wrong with coal mine safety, about unfunded pensions, lost jobs, and black lung. Yet, for 25 years he has claimed to have great political influence and has instructed his membership to vote for the political enemies of coal miners. How does he reconcile his supposed great influence with the terrible condition of the coal industry and the lack of jobs for coal miners today?
This past weekend I watched a movie starring Charles Bronson called “Act of Vengeance.” The movie is about then UMWA President Tony Boyles’ hiring of assassins to kill his political opponent Jock Yablonski in 1969. At one point in the movie, an actor playing UMWA executive council member Albert Puss says, “If he (Yablonski) wins a hell of a lot of us will go to jail.”
Perhaps when Cecil says that Don Blankenship belongs behind bars he is trying to divert attention from himself. Perhaps when he patronizes prosecutors he is trying to gain favor for himself. Perhaps when he supports anti-coal politicians it is so that if they are elected he can gain power to help himself. We know Barrack Obama and Al Gore do not intend to truly help coal miners, but they do appreciate Cecil and Richard Trumka for giving them political donations paid for by union coal miners.
The UMWA’s political donations no doubt gain “Cecil” favors. Cecil’s influence played a major role in getting Davitt McAteer appointed to head MSHA years ago. Unfortunately for Cecil, McAteer seems now to be under investigation by the FBI for frauding MSHA and NASA. This is the same McAteer whose report on the UBB explosion is a classic example of bias, ignorance and untruths about the cause of the UBB explosion. (You can review my thoughts in that regard on this website.)