All Chilean miners rescued…what would we have seen?
There is joy in Chile tonight. The last of the 33 miners trapped for 69 days in his would be tomb has been rescued.
Other than the obvious, here is what struck me. The President and First Lady of Chile were at the site for the past 24 hours plus to greet each and every miner as he reached the surface.
Does anyone think that President and First Lady Obama would have been there for 24 hours plus as each miner was rescued should the mine disaster have happened in the US?
Just asking…
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Given the current dissatisfaction with them, it is possible, but they probably would have followed up by putting a rescue drilling moratorium out by executive order.
A snide aside after a particilarly nasty snap hook off the tee. A flip of a bent cigarette spinning into an aide's face to the tune of: "We feel solidarity with all of those who labor in traditionally backward occupations formerly filled by slaves and we urge them to fight their way to the light to be counted as true Democrats".
Thoughts on the rescue from the most westerly point in Europe (Sagres). First, thank God they all got out in one piece and kudos to the foreman who organized their underground routine. Second, hate to be cynical, but the Chilean president is about to do serious face time abroad and is looking for international respect. Didn't hear much appreciation for the drill from PA (the hero of the moment). Some awkward moments as some of the rescued miner's mistresses, girlfriends and wives all vied for attention!!!! Kind of tacky reports about relatives drooling over multi-million dollar profits to be made from books, movies, appearances. Also tacky were reporters who trampled family tents to get to the site once miners began to emerge. Wish you were all here 🙂 🙂
p.s. seen any ufo's lately?
ha! gillie…you crack me up! And those were some very good insights, btw. Perhaps we just need that European cynicism at times (re. Chilean pres. about to go on tour).
sos…unless there were something in it for the Obamas, I really couldn't see them setting up camp at a collapsed mine for 24 minutes, never mind 24 hours, waiting for rescued miners to emerge. He has a very tiny attention span, it seems.
This article sums up what many of you have said in your comments. It is worth the time it will take to read it.
The hypothetical question in the post deserves an answer: yes!
I was amazed by the cooperation between countries, businesses and people to get the miners out. You know that same kind of cooperation that was going on during the Gulf oil spill.
At the risk of being the contrarian her, perhaps the President of Chile has legitimate responsibility there.? In our Federal system, our President has no need to be involved in any local issue.? I do wonder how many local politicians in Chile used this event as a reason to pontificate and get TV camera time like our shameless congresscritters did when the power plant exploded in February.
The message I took away from this event was that the government of Chile got out of the way and let those who knew how to solve the problem solve it.? Remember the authoritarian obstructions that prevented the Gulf states from limiting the damage caused by the oil well debacle?? So much for our benign nanny state’s ability to solve real problems.
sos, here's another hero: the American who did the drilling. A very compelling read.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/10/09/2111698/drill…
Went on a dolphin "cruise" today. Amazing. Also amazing was expecting a proper boat and being hurtled far out into the Atlantic in a REALLY tiny speed boat!!! But, got very close – like could touch them…and they put on a spectaular show.