Press Release

June 8, 2011

BABER THROWS FULL SUPPORT BEHIND BLAIR MOUNTAIN MARCHERS

WILL HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE AT 10:30 A.M. ON FRIDAY AT THE MINER’S MEMORIAL IN THE CAPITOL COMPLEX    &   JOIN MARCHERS ON SATURDAY

Bob Henry Baber, the Mountain Party Gubernatorial nominee, threw his full support behind the Blair Mountain marchers who are trying to save the 90 year-old labor history site that mining companies want to strip-mine.

“Symbolically, the very idea that the cradle of America’s labor union heritage is on the block to be decapitated defies logic and comprehension.  Would we ever consider destroying the graves of soldiers or desecrating Native American battle scenes?  Of course not. But even while the state hypocritically sings the praises of West Virginia tourism, the coal industry continues to push forward with their selfish plans in conjunction with the state’s tacit approval.  Thank God we have brave people, like the miners of old, who are willing to sacrifice today to remind us of the struggles for justice in the past—the same struggles which continue today.”

Baber asked, “Is nothing sacred? Is there anything, any monument to human decency, which Mountaintop Removal won’t take for a handful of jobs whose pay scale, ironically, was partly created by the 1921 striking miners!?  And all for a few fleeting minutes of electricity and a greedy pound of profit ripped from the very psyches of the departed American workers who built this great nation.  Even at this late date, can our ancestors not rest in the peace they found so hard to secure in their hard era of living and dying for basic human rights?”

“I’m shocked at the deafening silence from the Democratic and Republican nominees.  But why should I be, really?  Both say they want to be Governor, but neither shows either the temperament, heart, leadership skills, or historic perspective to step up to the plate and do what’s right—let alone march alongside their West Virginia brothers and sisters to preserve our precious past. Unbelievable . . . that’s the only word I can use to describe it,” Baber concluded.

 For more information contact press agents: ericmclaughlin@gmail.com   304-288-1896 and/or mountainpartymike@gmail.com  304-657-7879 or Bob Henry Baber 304-997-5870 bob4governor@yahoo.com