Blankenship lackey Carl Hubbard takes us back to middle school

Heath, I disagree. (4.00 / 2)

These clowns should be able to say anything they want.  That is what a free press is about.  I don't want my newspapers self-censoring.  If the guy is a bigot, I want to see that he is a bigot.  I don't want him to hide behind a self-censoring editor's cowardice.

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by: Calhouner @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 06:04:05 AM CST

For the Sake of the Kids (4.00 / 1)

I guess Blankenship was referring to the grade school mentality of his lackeys when he referred to the "kids."


When a man embarks upon a crime, he is morally guilty of any other crime which may spring from it. Sherlock Holmes.

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by: Carnacki @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 09:34:44 AM CST

Kids... Hubbard was and still is a Blankenship Front Man (4.00 / 2)

Read the a post on WVCAG from 2004 about And For the Sake of Kids and Don Blankenship's lackey gofer Carl Hubbard.  Click here for the whole story originally in the Beckley Register Herald in October of 2004 by Mannix Porterfield.

A group known as And For the Sake of The Kids has generated $2.5 million in donations to finance a media blitzkrieg designed to oust controversial Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw, and the lion's share of the cash was put up by the head of Massey Energy.

 The article goes on to point out the following facts about the Massey front organization led by Hubbard...

The group has been running ads assailing McGraw's vote in a 3-2 court edict that reinstated probation for convicted child rapist Tony Dean Arbaugh. While on probation, Arbaugh, once charged with assaulting 11 children, some as young as 4, violated conditions and even pleaded guilty to smuggling marijuana into a regional jail.

McGraw's campaign manager, A.V. Gallagher, pointed out the donation by Blankenship alone is six times the amount the incumbent justice has received for the general election.

The article also describes Hubbard's reasons for being involved...

Beckley businessman Carl Hubbard, a co-founder of And For the Sake of The Kids, called McGraw's battle with Republican challenger Brent Benjamin "the most important race in the state."

"We're all a group of West Virginians that care about the safety of our children and taking the future back," Hubbard said.

Hubbard said he founded the group with Dr. Dan McGraw of Parkersburg to "educate West Virginians about the disastrous effect Warren McGraw has had on our state."

Once the election ends, Hubbard said, his group will remain active to focus on issues such as insurance coverage.

"A foundation is forming and we will always help needy children in our state over the next several years," he said.

Hubbard's company Heritage Equipment is a powerful supplier of parts and trucks involved in the Coal Industry. He has the same interests as Walker Cat another equipment supplierthat is very involved in MTR. Beth Walker the wife of Mike Walker a member of the Walker Cat family was an unsuccessful candidate for the WV Supreme Court of Appeals.

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by: wvblueguy @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 17:45:30 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Limp what? (0.00 / 0)

It's entirely possible that wrists are being substituted for another part of the anatomy in the phrase. If so, it is not necessarily a reference to sexual orientation but a more general attack.

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by: JAWVMM @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 09:41:55 AM CST

60% - what a whopper (4.00 / 2)

I just reread Hubbard's piece and saw "Coal severance taxes make up 60 percent of our state's budget." The correct figure is about 6%. I am surprised that the Gazette let this one past; everyone is entitled to an opinion, but factual claims in editorials need to be checked. This is the kind of misrepresentation that allows the coal industry to keep up the fiction that it is still the heart of the West Virginia economy - if it ever was.

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by: JAWVMM @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 10:54:12 AM CST

multliple factual errors (4.00 / 2)

This is factually false:

There are 14,000 coal miners employed in our state. With each mining job, there are eight more jobs created. This means there are 112,000 West Virginia residents going to work, every day. From the doctors and schoolteachers, right along with the cashier at Kentucky Fried Chicken taking your order, all these jobs are a direct result of West Virginia coal.

As is this one you pointed out:

Coal severance taxes make up 60 percent of our state's budget.

This one borders on opinion, but is stated in a way that is factually false:

As we all know, the squeaky wheel here is the environmentalists. This particular group of people is extremist. They don't care about us; nor do they care about our families. They don't care about our way of life. They don't care that their actions have already cost a lot of West Virginia coal miners their jobs.

The Charleston Gazette ought to be embarrassed. As you said, JAWVMM, opinions are one thing, misreporting basic facts in opinion columns is quite another.

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by: Clem Guttata @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 11:45:11 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I agree with Heath (4.00 / 2)

I doubt that the Gazette would have printed an op-ed that referred to "primitive, darky" dictators in Africa; "oily, grasping, big-nosed" financiers on Wall Street; or "weaker-sex" pay equality advocates.  You're right, Heath, this slur was way over the line -- and w my guess is that the Gazette editors simply missed it.  I hope they issue an apology.  See my comments at Coal Tattoo.

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by: thomasrodd @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 14:52:45 PM CST

heath (4.00 / 1)

Thanks for catching this and bringing it to light. I'm a bit embarrassed I linked to the piece earlier and hadn't caught the slur.

I don't think the paper should have published it. Now that they have, what are they going to do? I think they owe their readers an apology.

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by: Clem Guttata @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 15:14:57 PM CST

Limp-wristed redux (0.00 / 0)

On second and third thought, maybe seeking some sort of "correction" is a cheap shot - so I withdraw the suggestion.

Heath, maybe you better write a letter to the editor calling Mr. Hubbard's views those of a "honky retard" - and see if it's printed - and whether those slurs then arouse the ire of white people, and the parents of kids with developmental disabilities!

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by: thomasrodd @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 15:18:03 PM CST

Gazette editing (0.00 / 0)

We've got an interesting contrast here.

Over at Coal Tattoo there was a discussion a few months back about an op-ed that Rick Wilson wrote.

In a comment about the piece Rick says:

although an editor removed a snarky jab at some of the coal companies in my original draft.

So, we know the Gazette does edit at least some op-eds.

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by: Clem Guttata @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 15:42:06 PM CST

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph (4.00 / 1)

The slur in the Gazette is all the outrageous considering The Bluefield Daily Telegraph saw fit to edit the wording in question.

The BDT article also says "Coal severance taxes make up 50 percent of our state's budget."  Neither 50% (BDT) nor 60% (Gazette version) are anywhere close to the actual number (< 10%).

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by: Clem Guttata @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 15:45:42 PM CST

Coal's influence routinely misrepresented throughout WV (4.00 / 3)

From Summit Point to Point Pleasant the perception of the coal industry is the same, WV can't survive without the mining of the Black Rock.  WVABLUE readers know otherwise, Coal Tattoo afficianados realize the truth but how do we get the word out to the majority of voters that this taken-for-granted, oft-repeated propaganda is just that...a lie?  There must be a way to educate the public as to the fiscal realities of coal.

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by: JBdem4usa @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 15:59:19 PM CST

great point n/t (0.00 / 0)

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by: Clem Guttata @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 17:21:06 PM CST

[ Parent ]

to be clear (4.00 / 1)

If anyone else thought I was calling Mr. Hubbard a bad name, then I was not clear, and I do apologize.

I was just pointing out the kind of slur he used, and why the newspaper would never print that - but they let his slur, based on effeminacy, go by.

I think it would be absolutely great if Mr. Hubbard would say, as one poster at Coal Tattoo suggested, that he regrets calling those greeniacs "limp-wristed." It might make life easier at the next Hubbard family reunion, when gay cousin Arthur takes him to task for his choice of words!

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by: thomasrodd @ Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 16:57:57 PM CST

"And For The Sake Of The Kids" my hind leg. (4.00 / 2)

Carl Hubbard is president of the Mingo county based political group. Last time I checked, Massey Energy had contributed far and away more money to what amounts to Don Blankenship's political arm than all of its other donors combined

On 10/24/2004, "And For The Sake of the Kids" founder Don Blankenship promised to set up a trust fund to help clothe WV's poverty stricken children, further stating that he intends to help the foundation raise an amount "similar" to $1.7 million in the coming years."

Years have passed, yet the non-profit's filings reveal that Blankenship was lying.

While Massey's mines set records in Mingo county for the most tons per man-hour extracted, all control of Mingo county schools has been taken over by the state not just once, but twice, due to underfunding by that district.

So Carl Hubbard's claims about the importance of coal to WV's economy economy is a flat out lie, not to mention Mingo's very survival.

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by: One Citizen @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 07:19:37 AM CST

Thanks for the links (4.00 / 1)

Thanks for the links, that's very helpful information.

Gee... if Blankenship really had raised that much money for "the sake of the kids," there might just be some funds available for a new elementary school at Marsh Fork.

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by: Clem Guttata @ Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 08:10:29 AM CST

[ Parent ]