It doesn't look like former Massey CEO Don Blankenship did himself a lot of favors with his release of a 51 minute video about the Upper Big Branch mine disaster. Several participants in the film say they were misled. The most prominent of these is WV Senator Joe Manchin, who said "I believe that Don has blood on his hands. And I believe that justice will be done."

More telling, families and friends of miners killed at Upper Big Branch protested the film at the federal courthouse in Charleston on Wednesday. This was was also a way of stating that they want criminal prosecutions for the disaster to go all the way up the corporate chain.

All of which is to say that there is ample reason behind my campaign to change the state motto of West Virginia from "Mountaineers are always free" to "You can't make this **** up."

Alternative mottos

The state motto of El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia is "Mountaineers are always free." I really like that one, although perhaps it was adopted before some residents of my state became as habituated to groveling at the feet of corporations as they are today.

If we had to bring that motto up, or, more accurately, down to date, I'm not sure what it would be. My first choice would be this:

West Virginia: you can't make this **** up.

Other possibilities include:

West Virginia: Open for Poison

or

West Virginia: Safe to Flush.

Any suggestions?

p.s. I'd totally love to be proven wrong about this by subsequent events.