Dr. Monkey asked me to post this, and I have some comments to go along with it.



You may be dismissing these antics as those of some drunken hillbillies. But the people at the picnic knew better (which is why they didn't respond) because they knew their history.

Coal mining companies hired these goons to try to incite the picnic-goers to violence. Mr. Floppyboobs pulled out every goad in his arsenal, including threatening women and children.

Now, I can understand (while disagreeing with) a person who feels the mining company is the only paying employer in the area, and thus the only industry around should be supported lest they all wind up utterly impoverished and without any sort of income at all. But that point was not raised in a polite debate. These weren't caring fellow citizens with an alternate point of view.

But why does this make me think of something good about America? You would think it would cause the opposite reaction.

But the whole coal mining issue makes me think of a story I read in the biography of Mother Jones. The coal miners were on strike, because, really, when have they not been treated like shit? This time, the mining company thought they had them, for sure, because they owned the "company store," the only place for miles around to buy any sort of supplies. They wouldn't sell anything to the striking miners even if they had any money. They felt they could starve them out.

Except there were farmers living nearby. And those farmers brought the miners and their starving families fresh produce from their fields, and fresh milk from their cows and goats, and fresh eggs from their chickens.

The mining companies actually filed suit against these farmers, and sought the government's help in forcing the farmers to stop feeding the miners, as it interfered with their negotiations. But the government felt uncomfortable telling farmers what they could or couldn't do with their own property, and wouldn't intervene.

So, what I love about America? When we stick together and do the right thing. How many more people would have died after Hurricane Katrina, if people hadn't loaded up their very own trucks with bottled water and supplies and delivered them themselves? Things like that.

I'm not saying it's a uniquely American thing, and God knows we can do a better job of it. But sometimes we do the right thing.