1619 Hot and Cold Running Poison

1619 Hot and Cold Running Poison

Congressional hearings are usually little more than speechmaking ops.  And the gab fest over Flint, Michigan’s poisoned water was no exception.

Governor Rick Snyder testified.  So did Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy.  Since both had been informed about the lead in Flint’s water long before the rest of us, you’d think they’d have acted sooner and stronger.

Nope.

So Flint’s children are filled with lead and can expect to lead lives of mental instability and incapacity. Just what they need, and just what we need more of.

Snyder says he wasn’t fully informed.  We are led to believe he’d have donned his Dudley Do Right outfit and ridden off to save the day.  McCarthy says she wished she had gone farther.

The misuse of “farther” instead of “further” notwithstanding, this is the bureaucracy equivalent of “the dog ate my homework.”  She wished she’d gone farther?  Like maybe to Uzbekistan or some other country without an extradition treaty.

When the water coming out of every faucet in Flint (a) stinks, (b) has the wrong color and (c) tastes sour, you may not know what’s wrong without testing. But you know something’s is.

(Note to water chemists: Yes, lead itself has no taste or smell.  But something in that water does.)

So, here come the conspiracy theories.

1. The extent of the danger was underplayed to save money in a city already in death throes.
2. The city’s population is “only” black, and this is “our” big chance at population control.  Population remote control, even.

Number (1) is at least partly true. Think of the political appointees they would have had to fire to save an equal amount of money.

Number (2) is impossible to prove but not impossible to imagine.

This slow death festival has only fueled the fires of the anti-EPA crowd, which needs little goading to find fault.

The governor had said the issue is local.  Meaning “I’m too busy to deal with anything that doesn’t affect each and every person in Michigan.” How egalitarian.

Flint water works workers knew there would be problems and they warned anyone who would listen about them before the city stopped buying water from Detroit to save a buck.  No one listened.

Mothers of young children have called attention to the problem for almost two years.  No one listened.

Snyder was elected in 2011.  He promised to run Michigan “like a business.”  And that’s exactly what he’s doing. Which business?  Takata. Enron. Money Mutual.  AIG. Ashley Madison. Lumber Liquidators? Riddell Helmets?

It’s time to bail out Flint.  And find the money to care for its victims.

Today’s Quote:

“Not a day or night goes by that this tragedy doesn’t weigh on my mind.” -- Governor Rick Snyder (R-MI) testifying before congress about the Flint water crisis.

Shrapnel:

--Headline: “Judge seals requests to unseal plea terms of a Trump associate’s underworld activities.” Then the judge unsealed the sealed requests to unseal the sealed plea agreement. But the trained seals in the various prosecuting offices have yet to do anything, so the judge says he’ll decide the issue himself.

Grapeshot:

-If you understand the above, please explain it to me.

I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com

© WJR 2016