Voting Station

Don Blankenship

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (March 14, 1950- )
    Born in Stopover, Kentucky
    Raised in Delorme, West Virginia
    Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of A.T. Massey Coal (Massey Energy Company, 2000–2010)
    Partially inspired the Carl Trudeau character in John Grisham’s ‘The Appeal (2008)’
    Funded the 2004 Brent Benjamin campaign to engineer the ouster of Warren McGraw prior to the (Hugh) Caperton vs Massey (Harman Mining vs A.T. Massey Coal Company) decision (Supreme Court of West Virginia 2009)
    Republican backer

Why he might be annoying:

    ‘I don’t believe climate change is real.’ (Neither did she.)
    His mother was a member of the McCoy family (as in Hatfields vs. McCoys).
    His parents divorced soon after his birth.
    His non-profit outfit ‘And for the Sake of the Kids’ was actually an illusion, raising some $3 million for the McGraw attack ad blitz late in the election.
    He was photographed on vacation with another WV Supreme Court justice — while the Massey case was pending!
    He was not the inspiration proper for the titular character in ‘The Appeal’ (although the Massey case inspired the fictional Krane Chemical case).
    Unless it was for litigation, he was a skinflint.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His father was a Korean War veteran.
    His mother’s divorce settlement helped her run a convenience store and gas station for some 40 years.
    He is a certified public accountant.
    Having realized that McGraw’s pro-worker stance would not be a voting issue, he uncovered – and ruthlessly exploited – a case in which McGraw had exonerated a pedophile who would be employed in a public school.
    ‘It is easier to make money in the stock market than coal.’ (Ironically, he considered coal to pay the bills.)
    If he was able to buy a Supreme Court justice, at least he wasn’t able to buy the legislature!

Credit: Cool It All Right?


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 61.54% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 26 Votes: 46.15% Annoying