My Granddaddy Was A Miner!

Listening to the convention speeches, it was easy to get the impression that every high-ranking Republican in the country had parents who were truck drivers or convenience store workers who moved up entirely through their own efforts. Also, there were a lot of grandfathers who worked in the mines. Republicans love mines, particularly coal mines. This is partly because of their big donors, but the fact that environmentalists hate coal makes coal mines even more adorable.  And the miners themselves are always sympathetic figures because they work hard and play by the rules. As a result, their biggest dreams have been realized, and they are able to spend their lives underground developing chronic pulmonary disease.

Shortly before the convention, Mitt Romney had pressed the coal theme with an appearance in Ohio, where he stood with a group of sooty miners whose sad, solemn faces seemed to underscore their concern about big government. Also, some of them later told the news media that they had been required to show up and weren’t paid for the day.  The reward will undoubtedly arrive at a later date.

Left unsaid by the Republican talking heads was the extent today’s immigration policies would have prevented Granddaddy Miner from entering the country.  Also unsaid was the extent the UAW (Union, by the way)hospitals have managed to extend the lives of many of the miners.  When Paul Ryan claimed his mother started her own business without any government assistance, Ryan neglected to tell the audience that the bus the mother rode daily to work was public transportation.

It was unfortunate that most of what was said was incorrect misstatements, or telling it like it was, lies.  America needs choices, but America does not need to have to make choices based upon lies and misstatements.  The level of public ignorance is not an admirable measure, and for either political party to take advantage of this ignorance does not benefit the country.