Baruch dayan emet

The Hebrew words I use as the title of this post translate to: Blessed is the Righteous Judge. In Judaisim, it is traditionally said upon hearing bad news, especially upon hearing news of a death.

I went to bed last night, all warm and cozy in the Convent, thinking that 12 mine workers in West Virginia were just waiting to be saved.

I woke up this morning, and they were dead.

And in the next minute, I am reading Daily KOS and discovering the mine had been cited repeatedly by OSHA, but:
[T]he slow creep away from enforcement, led by people like Cass Ballenger and Petetr Hoekstra and their GOP allies is what really caused this. Just think, what is more profitable?

Paying a total of $3,600 for 168 fines or paying a couple hundred thousand to fix those problems?

Sad as it is, it's more profitable to pay those cheap fines, especially when you know the inspectors are going to come ahead of time anyways.

Where is the righteous indignation? Who will stand for these people? Who will make sure our workplaces are safe?

Blessed be God, the Righteous Judge, and may He send peace to the survivors and justice to those whose only choice is to go back down into the mine or starve.