Next is the question, we ask again, why are we electing judges? By nature it becomes a political justice system when candidates have to raise money and run elections. The judicial branch should be separated as far as possible from politics.

Imagine if a Blount County jury were in charge of what happens. Yes, juries can be tampered with and bribed. But the federal regulators are already in bed, and have been for decades, with the mining industry.

With every new jury there is a completely new chance of getting justice. With DC, you pretty much will end up getting what you always got.

As I said, democracy doesn’t work without the press playing its Constitutional role of watchdogging not just the government, but corporate America. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin knew it. That’s why we have the First Amendment.

Unfortunately, the printed press and the broadcast media more and more these days abdicate their responsibility for the almighty dollar. The so-called “professional” or corporate press, a.k.a the “mainstream media” or MSM, doesn’t get the job done much of the time when it comes to informing people about the facts they need to make informed decisions and get involved in the public process.

Fortunately, we now have what I like to call the Web Press, where we are far more free to tell it like it is.

The people of Alabama need to get on-board this trend and support this new way of publishing like they’re already doing in big cities on the east and west coasts. That also means supporting news outlets like this one financially with donations and advertising dollars.

Building the new Web Press involves more than citizen blogging for free. To fill this Constitutional role also involves building the economy for it. Producing quality journalism requires perhaps more resources than people know.

The people of Blount County, with your inspirational Locust Fork River, are fortunate to be on the cutting edge of this trend. The South may be behind in many things, but this is one of the most innovative experiments in Web publishing anywhere in the country. That’s why we not only have readers in Blount County, but all over the country and the world. Even in New York, Washington, D.C. and Washington state, they envy what we’ve been able to accomplish here.

Keep up the good work on the ground there fighting the good fight, and let us know when significant new developments happen. We’ll be there with pad and pen and digital camera — and get the word out faster than a speeding bullet. There’s not a printing press in the world that can roll as fast as we do…

John Wathen is an incredible speaker. People need to know that this is just like in the movies where corrupt government and big industry are in bed together and destroy the lives of average citizens with little regard for our concerns, the earth, and way of life.

We’ve got to rise up, fight back, hold these crooks accountable, throw them out of office, and change the laws. EVERYONE is affected by BIG COAL no matter where you live. Check out TheDirtyLie.com for a look at the astounding impact that coal has on all of our lives.

Thanks for all you do to help get the news out. Awareness is the key to empowering the people.