WAITING FOR THAT FOLLOW-UP, MICHELLE

On October 12, as the trapped Chilean miners were about to be rescued, Michelle Malkin decided to politicize the story by declaring that a depraved liberal culture in America and the White House in particular were insufficiently grateful to the Americans who helped rescue the miners. We (and Team Obama) were subbing one man in particular:

In a different day and age, Jeff Hart would be the most famous American in our country right now. He would be honored at the White House. Schoolchildren would learn of his skill and heroism. But because Jeff Hart works in an industry under fire by the Obama administration, more people in Chile will celebrate this symbol of American greatness than in America itself.

Jeff Hart is a driller based in my home state of Colorado. The father of two has been drilling water wells in Afghanistan at U.S. Army bases. When the San Jose Mine in Chile collapsed in August, he flew to lend his renowned expertise to the rescue effort. As part of an amazing three-way race to the trapped miners, Hart drilled for 33 days straight and was first to reach the caved-in workers....

Of course, as I noted at the time, Hart hadn't gone to the White House because he was, y'know, in Chile until just before the time of Malkin's post, trying to rescue the miners.

Well, guess what happened yesterday.

But surely Hart was an exception, right? Surely the Obama administration hates mining so much that no one else from that hated industry was invited. Right?

President Barack Obama on Thursday congratulated officials from NASA and several U.S. companies for their role in this month's rescue of 33 miners trapped underground in Chile....

Jim Stefanic, operations manager for Geotec Boyles Bros., S.A., a drilling company, said they had a "very good chat" with the president.

"He congratulated everybody on this great rescue mission down there," Stefanic told reporters outside the White House after the meeting. Stefanic said Obama also told them he was "very proud that we were down there doing this job and rescued all 33 miners alive."

Geotec Boyles Bros., S.A., is a U.S.-Chilean company based in Santiago, Chile.

Other drilling companies represented at the meeting were Schramm Inc., of West Chester, Pa.; Center Rock Inc. of Berlin, Pa.; and Layne Christensen Co. of Kansas City, Kan. Also attending were representatives of Philadelphia-based Aramark, a professional services company.

That's from an AP story that went up just before 5:00 yesterday afternoon. Since then, Malkin has put up five posts on a variety of subjects.

But, funny, not a word acknowledging the meeting at the White House. Certainly not a word admitting she was wrong about the president.

Well, Michelle? We're waiting.