State prosecutors in Michigan filed six more charges against government workers today for the contamination of Flint’s water system. This is typical; a Republican politician is ‘passing the buck’ to his subordinates.
Rick Snyder is another of a growing number of Republican governors who seek regressive means to cut spending in their states. Instead of working to attract new business, and investing in their state’s residents; austerity is their only answer. This is what happened to Flint’s water.
Snyder diverted the city’s fresh water supply from the Detroit water system to the Flint River. Almost immediately residents began to complain about the color and the taste of the liquid coming from their taps. Test results confirmed that lead had been leached from the ancient pipelines. It reached such a horrible level of contamination that Ford Motor Company refused to use the water; it was rusting its parts.
Nothing has been done to repair the condition, with the exception of finger pointing, and indictments of government workers who were not responsible for the decision; that “honor” belongs to Snyder, and Snyder alone. He cannot claim that someone else made the decision.
Officials reported that: “The employees — three from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and three from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality — were all charged with misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty as a public official.”
We’ve seen this before. When the banks nearly bankrupted our nation for the sole purpose of increased profits at the expense of the American people, not a single of the executives from those banks, which were “too big to fail,” has ever been charged with fraud. George Bush and Dick Cheney manipulated CIA reports and invaded Iraq. Neither has ever been charged with war crimes, or crimes against humanity.
Richard Nixon was pardoned. Newt Gingrich never served jail time. Dennis Hastert was charged with illegal transfer of funds, but never indicted for his sexual abuse of young men. Our judicial system favors men and women who have power and money.
Rick Snyder has refused to resign as governor. Many questions have been asked about his decision, and there have been no answers. Why did he choose Flint? Some believe that it is because the majority of the city’s 102,000 residents are black, and are low-income or poverty level Americans. Others believe that it was simply an ‘easy fix,’ and the plan was poorly researched. Either way, Snyder is in authority, and the final decision is his. He either knew the plan was faulty, or his decision making is flawed.
We cannot continue to allow corrupt and ambitious politicians to escape punishment. The Republican Party claims to be the party of law and order; but that does not include fair punishment for members of the GOP.
Op-Ed
By James Turnage
Photo Courtesy of DonkeyHotey
The Truth With No Restrictions 