When I first heard Robert E. “Bob” Murray speak after the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster, I said, “Who in the heck is that guy.” He seemed to speak from the heart and seemed to really care, but he went on and on when speaking and gave history lessons of mining and, as I said before, he talked too much.

Murray is the co-owner of the Crandall Canyon Mine where there are six miners trapped underground, probably forever. It was also the site where three rescuers were killed trying to get to these six men. My prayers go out to all these families.

Bob Murray is a fourth generation miner. Murray is a good old boy. He’s an independent mine operator. He’s had fights with the unions and environmentalists for years. He’s also a big (really big) contributor to Republicans including George W. Bush. These are two of Bob Murray’s problems.

Some cable new shows have zeroed in on Murray, the Bush Administration, and Bush’s political appointments to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) making it somewhat the left versus the right. Murray, to his credit, has stepped up and done many interviews.

As the disaster unfolded, it was reported by several media sources that Murray’s Crandall Canyon Mine had a safety record that was called, “remarkably good” by some experts. Mining has always been a dangerous occupation. Very dangerous.

When an accident like this happens and there is hopelessness, people will attack whoever they can nail. It’s human nature to blame someone, but it is too early to do that, just yet.

There will be more attacks. There will be investigations and those investigations will be called ‘tainted” by Murray’s enemies if they are just done by MSHA. There should be independent investigations with MSHA, Unions, and other experts taking part. And yes, Congress will hold hearings and more hearings because they are good at that.

In the end and if the investigations are done right, we’ll find out just what happened and what mistakes were made. Hopefully we’ll be able to prevent something like this from ever happening again.