A Basic Truth About The Right Wing Radical Repugnican Party

A relative of mine whose politics is very similar to my own recently sent out an e-mail to what is basically a family list about the recent escapade which got Lauren Boebert and her boyfriend thrown out of a public theater.  Shortly thereafter, his sister, who has consistently supported TRAITOR Trump and all of his TREASON and assorted other crimes against America, American Democracy, the entire free world, all our allies, the planet, and the entire human race, responded with a very brief e-mail on the list which said, in its entirety, "I agree with you."  

I responded to her e-mail with this message below which I also realized was perfect content for a blog post.  

"I am really pleased to see that you understand that Boebert is unfit to serve in the US Congress.  But what I am afraid is that you think she is some kind of exception or aberration in the Right Wing Radical Repugnican party.  She is not an exception or an aberration.  She is simply one more example of what they are all across the board from TRAITOR Trump right on down to the lowest level elected official in any part of America.  There are only  two Republicans in the entire country fit to hold any position of public trust at any level.  They are Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and, because they had the intelligence, morals, ethics, and courage to stand up in the halls of congress and hold TRAITOR Trump responsible for his TREASON, they were driven out of the Right Wing Radical Repugnican party.  It is a party, from top to bottom, which is attempting to help the worst TRAITOR in the history of the world escape any punishment for his TREASON and his thousands of other lesser crimes against America, American Democracy, our allies around the world, the human race, and the entire planet.  They are a party of TRAITORS, criminals, liars, cheats, sex offenders, and idiots who will do literally anything to gain and hold onto any level of power they can attain.  Until we hold them all, from TRAITOR Trump down to his lowest co-conspirator, responsible for their crimes, this country, American Democracy, and the entire free world will be in danger." 

That pretty well says everything that needs to be said about both Lauren Boebert and the entire Right Wing Radical Repugnican party.  But what really needs to be said about the situation needs to be said in November 2024.  As a nation, we need to send every member of the Right Wing Radical Repugnican congress including, but by no means limited to Lauren Boebert, back to the slimy rocks they crawled out from under.  

"Coal People LIfe in Southern Colorado's Company Towns, 1890-1930"--Book Review

Book Cover, Photo by The Colorado Historical Society & Rick J. Clyne (All Rights Reserved)

Clyne, Rick J. Coal People Life in Southern Colorado's Company Towns, 1890-1930 (Denver, CO, Colorado Historical Society, 1999)

This little book has been one of the most pleasant and informative things I have read in quite some time.  It began as a masters thesis in history for the author, Rick J. Clyne, when he was a graduate student at The University of Colorado at Denver.  He states that he turned the thesis into this book upon the urging of some of his professors and the Colorado Historical Society which published the book.  It covers a forty year period from 1890 to 1930 in the coal fields of Colorado and is based primarily on information which the author gained from oral history records at the Colorado Coal Project and at the Huerfano County Ethno-History Project.  The photographs in the book are wonderful and wonderfully informative about coal camp life at the turn of the twentieth century.  With that said, I have chosen to scan the book cover with its relatively generic photo of an extended family or group of people in one of the camps.  The other photograph I am including in this review is one of a group of young boys who are either going to work or leaving the mine in one of those camps.  That photo is not labeled as to the site at which it was taken.  But it is one of the most telling photographs of child labor in America that I have ever seen. The photo is printed in the book over two pages and does not scan well but it is still graphic, memorable, and somewhat shocking to see.  The photograph shows eight juvenile coal miners whose ages likely range for eight or nine to about fourteen.  They look tired and far too old before their time.  One of the boys appears to have some sort of genetic based facial conformity which might indicate either fetal alcohol syndrome or an intellectual impairment.  Remember that the author of the book, Rick J. Clyne, and the Colorado Historical Society own all the rights to these photographs and they are fully protected under US Copyright Law.  Do not duplicate, copy, scan or use these two photographs in any manner without the express written permission of Rick J. Clyne and/or the Colorado Historical Society.  

Juvenile Miners In Colorado--Photo by The Colorado Historical Society and Rick J. Clyne, (All Rights Reserved)

 The book focuses on coal camps in Huerfano and Las Animas counties in Colorado and that area includes the site of the Ludlow Massacre, one of the most horrendous events in all the history of coal mining in America.  Clyne gives credit to a visit to the UMWA built memorial to the dead at Ludlow for sparking his interest in the coal camps of the region.  The book is composed of a preface, an acknowledgements section, and seven chapters.  It is only 102 pages of primary of text without the index and notes.  But those 102 pages are incredibly well worth reading for the person who is interested in coal camp life, coal mining, Colorado history, the UMWA, immigration, or company towns.  The author did a commendable job of converting what appears to have been a more academically focused masters thesis into a readable book for the casual student of history or coal camp life. The seven chapters are labeled Coalfields, Companies, and Unions; The Company Town; The Community; A Miner's Life; A Woman's Life; A Child's Life; and Conclusion.  Each of those chapters addresses a key component of life in a company town in the coalfields.  Clyne leaned heavily on those first person oral history accounts and that was an excellent choice.  No history is better than oral history provided by the people who lived it.  But noticeably absent is any sizable input from company officials, company police, or strike breakers.  The author also, in my opinion, attempted to be just a bit too generous toward the companies in his discussion of labor unrest, child labor, or other conflicts except those which occurred between different ethnic groups.  

But, this is an excellent book and well worth reading if you are interested in coal mining history in America or Colorado.  Its positive qualities far outweigh the deficiencies I have noted above.  Since it is from a small publisher or regional history, it is likely that it was published in a small printing and may be difficult to find other than on website of used books.  But it will be worth the effort.