|
Thom's blog
We're Koched-Out On Freebees for Billionaire Polluters
 On Monday, federal prosecutors announced that they were seeking a maximum sentence for former Massey Energy CEO Donald Blankenship, who was found guilty of conspiracy back in December. Considering what Blankenship is guilty of doing -- breaking safety laws that could have saved the lives of 29 men who died at an explosion in one of his West Virginia mines -- you'd think that his means he'll likely spend the rest of his life in the big house for the death of those 29 men. Well, think again. Despite having the blood of almost 30 men on his hands, Blankenship will only spend at maximum one year in prison. This is the punishment federal prosecutors are now asking for, and even they think it doesn't go far enough in taking into account the scale of his crimes. In his court-filing demanding that Blankenship get the maximum one-year sentence, U.S. Attorney Steve Ruby said that, "Under any fair assessment, only a sentence of many years in prison could truly reflect the seriousness of [the[ Defendant's crime and provide just punishment, which the law requires the court to do....A year is woefully insufficient... but under the law on the books, it is the best the court can do." So Donald Blankenship kills 29 men and only goes to prison for a year while the kid down the street sells a few joints and gets locked up for twenty years. Such is life in the American criminal justice system, where the rich and powerful literally get away with murder and the poor and oppressed get the shaft and then some. This kind of situation is, theoretically at least, what the much-vaunted bipartisan criminal justice reform effort in Congress is meant to stop. It's supposed to the bridge towards a fairer future. But now the Koch brothers are trying to hijack it. |
Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Scotland Kicked the Coal Habit...Will America? (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)
 Be sure to check out our newest video: RESTORATION - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio & Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners / Visit GreenWorldRising.org to check out all the videos: CARBON, LAST HOURS & GREEN WORLD RISING - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio & Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners
Big Picture Rumble:
- Horace Cooper, National Center for Public Policy Research 
- Ari Rabin-Havt, The Agenda/SiriusXM Progress/Lies, Incorporated: The World of Post-Truth Politics
- Charles Sauer, The Market Institute
Screwed: Scotland Kicked the Coal Habit...Will America?
- Benjamin Schreiber, Friends Of the Earth
PLUS, How Do We Reclaim Democracy From Big $$$
- Kai Newkirk, Democracy Spring/99Rise
Best of the Rest: All You Need to Know About the DC Nuclear Summit
- Kevin Kamps, Beyond Nuclear
Daily Take: We're Koched-out On Freebees for Billionaire Polluters |
The Daily Stack 
Hour One: How Can Bernie Or Hillary Earn Your Vote?
Hour Two: Which 2016 Candidate Visited the DC Madam...? Quote: "Voting is the Beating Heart of Democracy" - Thomas Paine. Talk Media News Segment:- Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief, live from Sudan
Hour Three: Who Is Stealing Your Vote and Why? Do you have all the info you need to vote for @BernieSanders? Find it here. |
|
Tomorrow on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET
Jackson Potter of Chicago Teachers Union will be here to talk about their walk out planned for tomorrow - April 1st.
And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"
And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...
|
|
Thank you for being part of our ever growing community for News, Debate and Opinion on the Thom Hartmann Program.
Click here to subscribe to the Thom Hartmann Newsletter.
Sincerely,
The Thom Hartmann Program |
