Connect the Dots: Karl Rove's Politics Uber Alles Strategy and the Utah Mine Disaster

What makes Karl Rove's politics uber alles strategy chilling is connecting the dots between it and the Utah mining disaster.

Rove's unprecedented use of federal assets for political gain, laid out in yesterday's Washington Post, meant that every tool at his disposal was employed to help foster his goal of a permanent Republican majority. "It was all politics, all the time," Rep. Henry Waxman told WaPo.

"It was total commitment," marveled Rep. Thomas Davis III, who worked closely with Rove in 2002 on the GOP's House reelection campaign. "We knew history was against us, and [Rove] helped coordinate all of the accoutrements of the executive branch to help with the campaign."

These accouterments included, in the words of the Post, "enlisting political appointees at every level of government in a permanent campaign that was an integral part of [Rove's] strategy to establish electoral dominance." But Rove's plan involved much more than having Cabinet officials make election year visits bearing federal goodies to the districts of embattled Republicans; it also meant using the government's regulatory mechanisms to reward major GOP contributors. Major contributors such as Big Coal.

Coal mining interests have donated more than $12 million to federal candidates since the Bush-era began with the 2000 election cycle, with 88% of that money -- $10.6 million -- going to Republicans.

And what did that largess buy the coal mining industry? Mine safety regulators far more interested in looking out for the financial well-being of mine owners than for the physical well-being of miners.

Exhibit A is Bush's "mine safety" czar, Richard Stickler, whose agency both approved the controversial mining technique used at the Crandall Canyon Mine before the collapse, and oversaw the rescue operation.

Stickler is a former coal company manager with such a lousy safety record at the companies he'd run that his nomination as head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration was twice rejected by Senators from both parties, forcing Bush to sneak him in the back door with a recess appointment.

In other words, the guy the White House tapped to protect miners is precisely the kind of executive the head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration is supposed to protect miners from. And now Stickler is the one who will lead the "investigation" into what happened in Utah -- unless there is enough public outcry to force a truly independent investigation.

Of course, industry-friendly regulators like Stickler have been the rule under Bush, not the exception. Indeed, Bush's first mine safety czar was Dave Lauriski, a former mining executive who had earned a reputation for aggressively defending the interests of mine owners. For chapter and verse on Lauriski, read this terrific article by Ken Ward, Jr. in the Washington Monthly, but here is the nub of the matter: Lauriski took office promising mine owners that he would "collaborate more with stakeholders on regulatory initiatives" and become "less confrontational" with mine operators.

Exactly what did he mean by "less confrontational"? According to Ward, during his tenure, Lauriski "filled [MSHA's] top jobs with former industry colleagues, dropped more than a dozen safety proposals initiated during the Clinton administration, and cut almost 200 of the agency's 1,200 coal mine inspectors. Mine-safety experts have linked many of these actions to the causes of deadly mine safety accidents since 2001." Among the mine-safety regulations Lauriski dropped was one that would have deepened investigations of mining accidents.

No doubt Murray and the owners of the coal mines where over 170 miners have died since Lauriski gutted those safety regulations are happy that he did.

Lauriski resigned after 60 Minutes revealed that the MSHA had improperly awarded no-bid contracts to coal industry companies to which he was tied.

It's worth noting that the person Bill Clinton appointed to head MSHA, J. Davitt McAteer, was not a coal-industry insider -- indeed, he had been a key force behind the 1969 Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, had worked with Ralph Nader on workplace safety reforms, and was running a public-interest law firm focused on occupational safety when Clinton tapped him. He therefore came to the job with a very different perspective than the one required by Rove's objective of using government agencies as accoutrements for the GOP's permanent campaign.

Putting foxes in charge of the henhouse has been standard operating procedure for Rove's hyper-politicized White House. The long list of industry hacks given key slots at federal agencies will forever stand as the ultimate tribute to Rove's effectiveness in turning the federal government into an arm of the Republican Party -- and a payback machine for those that funded it. For a primer on the hackocracy, check out the New Republic, TomPaine.com, and the Denver Post.

In far too many cases, these cynical appointments that put the Party's interest above the public interest, have left our country less safe, our environment more polluted, our fellow citizens less healthy -- and, in the case of the Crandall Canyon Mine, three of them dead, and six others in all likelihood entombed in the mine forever.

Karl Rove may be on his way out the door, but the destructive legacy of his politicization of the federal government will be with us for many years to come.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[TJTelecaster]

"Texas Texas, Uber Alles..!"

Rove and Bush's grandfathers were Nazi's and Fascists and or Nazi collaborators..

So the acorn doesn't fall to far from the tree, does it..?

Simple as that..!

[observer]

Does anyone have a list of the politicians in Utah,statewise and local, to whom Murray, the mine operator and his pals gave donations? I'm curious.

[SIDEKICK1534]

ANOTHER COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER HERE TO SAY, THANKS SO MUCH FOR BRINGING THE ISSUE TO THE LIGHT OF DAY.
I REMEMBER THE SAGO DISASTER, MY FATHER HELPED TO MINE THOSE MINE'S IN W.VA UNTIL HIS DEATH.
EVERY MINER'S FAMILY IS QUITE AWARE OF THE COAL OPERATOR'S ABUSE OF THE RULES.
THE EMPLOYEE HAS NO WAY TO FIGHT BACK. SO AGAIN THANK YOU.

[kirotahoe]

i know this is off subject but i just heard another reporter on tv say that everything changed on 911. bullshit! nothing changed except most woke up to the fact that we are not invincible. terrorism is a law enforcement problem. the challenge is to clean up a gang of criminals not defeat an army of islamo facists. george bush distorts everything. i have never seen an individual who is so consistantly wrong. and unfortunately there still exists a "silent majority" who follow blindly and are numerous enough to elect a president who is just as dim as themselves.

[westerly]

Dear Arianna:

I appreciate your diligence in sticking with the coal story. Take a look at today's New York Times (Aug. 23rd), about widening the scope of mountain top removal mining, which endorses the Rape of Central Appalachia.

Please also urge readers to take a look at Erik Reece's Lost Mountain, on this very subject.

I hope you will focus more on preventing Mr. Murray, UtahAmerican, and other parties involved from destroying evidence in connection with the Crandall Canyon mine disasters. He wishes, naturally, to seal up the areas of the mountain where the disasters occurred.

I have been busy writing to the relevant senators to request they preserve all the evidence, such as by preventing the mine from being sealed, and by ensuring that materials from these interested parties are not shredded, or buried under mountains of paper that will take lawyers decades to get through.

Every thinking person in this country should do likewise.

And, oh, by the way: forget about the media with the exception of the Salt Lake City Tribune, particularly Robert Gherke's articles, on the mining disasters, and follow comments released by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA).

So strange that Mr. Murray accuses the UMWA of preying on the Crandall Canyon miners to get a recruitment drive going. Who has been exploiting the miners? And, of course, I cannot think of a better reason for the Utah miners in Emery County to join the UMWA. This is the core reason we need unions in this country.

[MidnightMike]

Unfortunately, the chances of further deaths due to Rove, Bush and Co. are very significant. Our infrastructure is crumbling, our military is using unsafe and worn equipment, and consumer and environmental protection at all levels has been gutted. All to reward Bush's rich friends and buy him another term.
They've moved this country backwards from day one.

[GenericBlogger]

The next administration will have its hands full undoing much of Dubya's and Rove's damage.

[Amberlass]

Very well put, Perry Logan.

I thank God Bill Clinton was the president during the last 8 years of my working career. He did a lot for this country, and he certainly left it in better shape than he found it. Our next president, whoever that might be, is going to have a real mess on their hands when they enter office. George Bush has done nothing for this country, but to involve it in a war, based on lies.

[Mudwyn]

Rove is a snitch and plays dirty. Connect that dot to his best friend, the president.

[daddysboy]

Thanks Arianna for continuing to connect the dots that not everyone is connecting. I just hope that at least some of the folks that will be part of that public outcry are connecting something at this point.

[Lwayno]

"I am not a "turd blossom" I don't even know what a "turd blossom" looks like! attributed to Karly Rove, White House Pimp-Madam
p.s. FAUX News Alert: Mary Carey, renowned GOP Porn-Queen, will replace Karl Rove as White House Pimp-Madam. reported by Jeffy Gannon, Ace White House Press reporter and well known author of "A Thousand & One Nites In The Lincoln Bedroom"

[4OBAMATUCK]

This article articulates a lot of the reasons why I am so strongly supporting Obama for President. There is not a doubt in my mind that in all of his appointments he will find the best person for the job, not a croney who will do the opposite of what the job calls for - he'll appoint an energy conservationist for the energy department, appoint someone who cares about the environment for that post etc. He has promised a totally open administration where everything can be viewed on the internet - bills proposed and who is voting which way, any pork added and by whom etc. After this administration, an Obama administration is the only way to give the American people faith back in their government.

[thepathforward]

“Karl Rove may be on his way out the door…”?
Who seriously believes Mr. Rove is simply “on his way out the door” regarding his recent resignation? Really! IMO this is not a resignation to pursue other interests. IMO, this is simply a timely resignation to now be able to focus full time on the next big task, to assure a Republican win in 2008 and continue the politicization of our government system. Do people actually think that the far right Republicans/neocons who have made billions over the past six years from this politicized mode of operation, while the “less privileged” citizens (i.e. the majority) remain in escalating financial and personal difficulty, are simply going to lay down in complacency and not put up a no-holds-barred fight for their continued control and the continued escalation of their own pocketbooks? Not gonna happen!
IMO Mr. Rove, in the same manner that he may have avoided political accountability by reportedly hiding in the RNC system, though part of the current administration (like the Wizard of Oz hid behind the curtain) for the purpose of politicization, will now go similarly incognito in order to organize, orchestrate, and implement this continued political strategy likely via IMO the shrewdest and most controversial political tactics imaginable, in order to maintain Republican control in 2008. IMO Mr. Rove is on a greater mission now (post resignation), and the (unusual) resignation will give him the time to work out the ultimate plan and tactics to maintain the Repubs in power in 2008. IMO, look for two things- an attempt to bolster the campaign of Sen. Clinton in order to assure she is the Democratic presidential candidate. Why? Because they know they can beat her with one of their Repub. candidates for the presidency. At the same time IMO look for a constant and unusual degree of unwarranted criticism, reputation distortion, media visibility neglect, etc. for the other Dem frontrunners that CAN win (remember the Sen. Harold Ford Jr. campaign in 2006). IMO, Rove is not out the door-simply in metamorphosis.

[twomindsfull]

Fear not--Rove may be out of the White House, but he's not going far.

[ecograph]

An excellent article. Unfortunately, you missed a key connection - Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He has been a prime enabler of the coal industry in its drive to follow the religion of business - a religion that sacrifices people and worships money. The dead miners of the past years are just that - a human sacrifice.