How an election saves lives

The original post was called, "Timing is everything." That's a truism. But it could have been called, "Elections do matter."

"Timing is everything" was posted the April before the 2006 mid term elections and it highlights blogger extraordinaire Jordan Barab and the importance of OSHA. Now it's 2009 and guess who the Acting Director of OSHA is? Jordan Barab. If your heart can withstand a wrench or two, here's some more of Jordan's blogging: "Jordan Barab's Weekly Toll"

Jordan is "Acting" pending confirmation of Obama's nominee to be OHSA's permanent Director, Dr. David Michaels. We've already noted what a great pick this is (and so has the New York Times). And almost to top it off, we learn that Dr. Greg Wagner has been tapped to be the Deputy at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Greg was director of the division of respiratory disease studies at NIOSH in Morgantown, WV, and as a doctor at the Cabin Creek clinic in Dawes, WV treated and cared for miners and their families. I said "almost to top it off" because we still need a good Director of NIOSH. Then we could have the best occupational health and safety team in government since the Eula Bingham (OSHA) - Tony Robbins (NIOSH) years in the 70s.

Elections do matter. So does timing. Here's what it looked like in spring of 2006: "Timing is everything"