Late yesterday, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin released a draft proposal for the November 2010 special election to replace Robert Byrd. I find it interesting because you essentially have the candidate writing the terms of their own election.

Sen. Robert C. Byrd passed away last evening at the age of 92. A fellow West Virginian remembers his service.

This primary definitely speaks to the deep anti-incumbent mood in the country.

A brief look at what’s happening in the news on the morning of May 12th, 2010.

This morning’s news from the S&P stock exchange should be music to Don Blankenship’s ears. Massey’s stock has been upgraded to a “buy” because the accident should be “immaterial” to Massey’s finances. This is the bet that Blankenship made with the lives of 29 miners: that he could risk their lives without risking his profits. Richard Trumka called this disaster “the inevitable result of a profit-driven system and reckless corporate conduct.” He couldn’t be more correct. And Don Blankenship couldn’t care less.

Don Blankenship is CEO of Massey Energy, the owner of the Upper Big Branch mine that exploded yesterday, killing at least 25 miners with four still missing in the mine. Blankenship is well known as a right-wing crackpot and global warming denier, but I want to paint just a brief picture with regard to this disaster

Overnight, the explosion at the Massey Energy mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia has gone from six dead to 25 dead, making it the worst mining disaster in over two decades. With only 200 employees, one out of every eight working at the site died in the explosion. And more are feared dead.

As usual, there’s a lot of good stuff being written on the state blogs. Here’s a sampling of what’s out there right now. 1. Brian Leubitz on Calitics has an excellent article on the Republican’s “big idea” of selling insurance across state lines. The problem? “It will encourage states to be more permissive to insurance [...]

Yesterday PEER reported that President Obama asked a Bushie lawyer who spent years battling for mountain top destruction coal mining to run the Federal agency that regulates mountain top destruction mining. Change you can believe in? Yes – if you believe in hiring one of Steven Griles’ helpers and forever burying ancient streams and hollows under toxic coal mining waste in a mad rush to roast the planet.