Water in Flint and other general problems in our political environ
- Thread starter Dr. Who
- Start date
ljak1407
Well-Known Member
I heard he handed control over to the major. Not sure how true that is as i really dont watch much tv lol
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
No, he needs to be put on trial for hiding this information and hurting the public health. If he goes to jail, other politicians will understand who's nuts are on the line if they sweep it under the rug.
mc130p
Well-Known Member
yep, when everything comes down to profit, things don't go well for long. War for profit, health care for profit, education for profit, government functions for profit through contractors.... paying taxes to build a bridge only to have your county sell it to a company so they can profit off the people's infrastructure..... lot's of problems in this country and they ultimately boil down to greed for money, imho.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Reposted from the other Flint water thread, for relevance;
Elections matter, and this is a prime example.
So at what point do we get to call America a third world country? High rates of infant mortality? Check. Unsafe water? Yep. A culture of corruption in politics and law enforcement? You betcha! Mega corps breaking the law with impunity? Uh huh...
Did I leave anything out? Yes; poor treatment of disabled, mentally ill and economically disadvantaged? Putting down peaceful demonstrations with MILITARY EQUIPMENT AND TACTICS? Blatant racism and racial profiling at home, on the street and at work?
I don't know about y'all, but I see a pattern here.
Elections matter, and this is a prime example.
So at what point do we get to call America a third world country? High rates of infant mortality? Check. Unsafe water? Yep. A culture of corruption in politics and law enforcement? You betcha! Mega corps breaking the law with impunity? Uh huh...
Did I leave anything out? Yes; poor treatment of disabled, mentally ill and economically disadvantaged? Putting down peaceful demonstrations with MILITARY EQUIPMENT AND TACTICS? Blatant racism and racial profiling at home, on the street and at work?
I don't know about y'all, but I see a pattern here.
Dr. Who
Well-Known Member
That is actually rampant in MI! The republican majority has removed the one vote for partyline on ballots.
They still ask for picture ID at the polls - even though it's against the constitution! I refuse and go through the rabbit hole of requirements, designed to intimidate voters to not vote. They feel it discourages those "un-wanted" poor voters more likely to vote against them from actually voting......They have gerrymandered the districts to slide their way and are working on Detroit by other means to become more republican also. We have what is listed in Federal files as one of the most corrupt states in the US.
Sadly many people are so fed up, they don't feel that voting will help change it......I feel it's the flock of sheep principle...Herd up into a ball when danger appears. Those of us in the middle don't see it or worry about it. "Something" will happen and it will go away so we can ignore the rest of reality by being spoon fed lies by the media. Most of whom have their own agenda!
Where was the alarm when GM said it was disconnecting from the Flint water due to it's quality for commercial purpose's .
You've GOT to know you have a problem when a major corporation dumps your local water because it cost them too much to clean for manufacturing use! The U of M was studying the water on a whim - not a request. A prof told a another at W.V. and HE then got interested and got samples and it really started to look like it might take off, FINALLY! Nope. MONTHS later and under the eye of the press as news and public pressure by voice and legal consults (Has been said that the state began to get concerned when Brunch Law again contacted Brockovich (Marlow Brunch [Brunch Law] won a groundwater contamination MAJOR suit in Fennville (MI) against Birdseye corp. with support of E. Brockovich) to aid in research into possible upcoming litigation in conjuction to requests for help from Flint residents. The state gov. took alarm to certain freedom of information requests and became more attentive to Flints needs (I have this on very direct info) .
This whole damn thing is simply amazing to me! How as a Gov. can you pay more attention to a possible presidential run then be concerned for your own people? Oh, yeah, Flint is mostly minority and votes democrat. They don't count and a few less is better for the "Nerds" party! We all thought (those who voted for him) that Snyder would be great and bring change.....EGGS on OUR face!
I'm not even going to bring up how the state government has gutted the Medical M laws.....Now their going to cut us all out and let big business take over....."The people be damned" should be our states new motto!
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ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Have a good look at the new right wing paradise...
Dr. Who
Well-Known Member
BINGO!
"Trust US, because we know better then you"
That puke Cruze and his evangelical BS scares the HELL out of me! There's that Flock of sheep thing again!
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I hope they haven't dumbed down the population of Michigan too much for them to realize what's being done to them.
Dr. Who
Well-Known Member
OMFG! The poor state is SO christian! Brainwashed bunch of "sheep" playing follow the leader!
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I know, right?
OddBall1st
Well-Known Member
The people have the proof, the people have the Right,....the people don`t have the will. Not the people of Boston or New York`s fault is it ? Our Governor would be long gone.
OddBall1st
Well-Known Member
Have houses been bought and sold in Flint ? If they are mostly renters, you can`t rent to someone if the drinking water don`t pass the drink test.
Jimdamick
Well-Known Member
That, when they fuck up, AGAIN, your average American taxpayer has to bail them out while the real culprits walk away intact. Is there NO FUCKING JUSTICE IN THIS COUNTRY ANYMORE?
It doesn't seem so, as all these hotshot's simply say sorry, climb into their Mercedes Benz or Lexuses (in Detroit) and roll away. This is absolute bullshit, there is no accountability or even remorse it seems in these endless actions that screw the average citizens of this country.
Fogdog
Well-Known Member
When government is run by people that believe government is the problem, they seem to create more of them. This is a good example. We've seen this play out a lot over the past 15 years. Republicans appoint people they like and trust, not necessarily people qualified to do the job. Remember Bush saying that Brownie is doing a fine job when both were totally fucking up the Katrina disaster?
I pulled the following from the Wikipedia article on the Flint water crisis. I added bold text to highlight how ineptitude and bias from the Republican administration kept everybody in the dark regarding the result of poor decision making. It was all about reducing cost and not running government.
While the local outcry about Flint water quality was growing in early 2015, Flint water officials filed papers with state regulators purporting to show that "tests at Flint's water treatment plant had detected no lead and testing in homes had registered lead at acceptable levels."[36] The documents falsely claim that the city had tested tap water from homes with lead service lines, and therefore the highest lead-poisoning risks; in reality; the city does not know the locations of lead service lines, which city officials acknowledged in November 2015 after the Flint Journal/MLivepublished an article revealing the practice after obtaining documents through the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.[37] The Journal/MLive reported that the city had "disregarded federal rules requiring it to seek out homes with lead plumbing for testing, potentially leading the city and state to underestimate for months the extent of toxic lead leaching into Flint's tap water.
This is not a new story. When people running the system focus on cost above all else, they put up blinders to avoid information about the real cost of their decisions. They will fire or demote people that provide information counter to their own bias. And so, they get the information they want.
The Republican Party is the party of purposeful ignorance. It is corrupt because appointed party hacks making the decisions deliberately filter their information to justify their actions. It is venal because its leaders conveniently and falsely claim nobody could have known their cost cutting measures would have caused this. Because, you know, government is the problem, not the solution. At least when they run the government this might be true. As @Jimdamick pointed out, there is "no accountability or even remorse" on the part of the leadership. They think they are "doing a fine job".
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Fogdog
Well-Known Member
The gov. of MI really should resign. He appointed his guy to run this department and made him the fall guy when the Flint crisis blew up.
Dan Wyant, resigned as head of DEQ on Dec 29. His background was in business operations and marketing, then director of the department of Agriculture. He had no experience or education in civil engineering, environmental sciences or really anything to do with environmental quality. He released this message on October 19:
DEQ Director Dan Wyant issues statement about Flint drinking water
Oct. 19, 2015
DEQ Director Dan Wyant today made the following statement as he announced DEQ Chief Deputy Jim Sygo will immediately assume the role of interim chief of the department's Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance:
"It recently has become clear that our drinking water program staff made a mistake while working with the City of Flint. Simply stated, staff employed a federal protocol they believed was appropriate, and it was not. The water testing steps followed would have been correct for a city less than 50,000 people, but not for a city of nearly 100,000.
As details of the situation emerge, I am convinced our program staff believed they were doing their job right. As the state recognized there could be a health threat to Flint residents, we took appropriate steps. We are now embarked on an unprecedented effort to safeguard Flint residents and families with near-term, intermediate and long-term actions to protect and educate city residents.
The issue in DEQ is experience and protocol with respect to corrosion control. The Governor has called for an independent, third-party after-action review. I have taken the step of changing leadership in the division. We are working with our federal partners and committed to being part of the U.S. EPA's effort to strengthen its Lead and Copper Rule.
All who brought this issue to the department deserve credit for bringing it forward. Lead is a serious issue, particularly for young people, and we take it seriously. The Governor's plan incorporates the suggestions outlined by the EPA and researchers at Virginia Tech.
We will learn from this. We will make necessary changes to see to it that our program becomes a national leader in public health protection."
That, in a nutshell describes a bumbling idiot. "We are going to learn from this." As if his department was some sort of training ground and start-up operation. Never mind the children permanently disabled by this disaster. Oh yeah, it was OK for smaller cities to completely blow the test protocol but this city was too large for that, so we "made a mistake". As if lead isn't important in cities under 50,000 too. Governor Snyder's guy completely missing the boat.
Dan Wyant, resigned as head of DEQ on Dec 29. His background was in business operations and marketing, then director of the department of Agriculture. He had no experience or education in civil engineering, environmental sciences or really anything to do with environmental quality. He released this message on October 19:
DEQ Director Dan Wyant issues statement about Flint drinking water
Oct. 19, 2015
DEQ Director Dan Wyant today made the following statement as he announced DEQ Chief Deputy Jim Sygo will immediately assume the role of interim chief of the department's Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance:
"It recently has become clear that our drinking water program staff made a mistake while working with the City of Flint. Simply stated, staff employed a federal protocol they believed was appropriate, and it was not. The water testing steps followed would have been correct for a city less than 50,000 people, but not for a city of nearly 100,000.
As details of the situation emerge, I am convinced our program staff believed they were doing their job right. As the state recognized there could be a health threat to Flint residents, we took appropriate steps. We are now embarked on an unprecedented effort to safeguard Flint residents and families with near-term, intermediate and long-term actions to protect and educate city residents.
The issue in DEQ is experience and protocol with respect to corrosion control. The Governor has called for an independent, third-party after-action review. I have taken the step of changing leadership in the division. We are working with our federal partners and committed to being part of the U.S. EPA's effort to strengthen its Lead and Copper Rule.
All who brought this issue to the department deserve credit for bringing it forward. Lead is a serious issue, particularly for young people, and we take it seriously. The Governor's plan incorporates the suggestions outlined by the EPA and researchers at Virginia Tech.
We will learn from this. We will make necessary changes to see to it that our program becomes a national leader in public health protection."
That, in a nutshell describes a bumbling idiot. "We are going to learn from this." As if his department was some sort of training ground and start-up operation. Never mind the children permanently disabled by this disaster. Oh yeah, it was OK for smaller cities to completely blow the test protocol but this city was too large for that, so we "made a mistake". As if lead isn't important in cities under 50,000 too. Governor Snyder's guy completely missing the boat.
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ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Anyone who says to trust them or take things on faith while in public office has an agenda to hide, and that is to shortchange taxpaying American citizens in favor of ever more handouts to politically connected corporations and their lobbyists... because they're the ones showering their own campaigns with money. The idea that a little handwashing is a necessary part of the process has been taken to its self damning extreme.
It needs to STOP. Plenty of other countries don't work like this and there's no need or valid excuse for it here. Just greed- and now, forty years of force of habit.
Singapore, for all its other civil rights failings, has shown the world that an effective and ever vigilant campaign of rooting out corruption anywhere it's found, every time, is an essential part of a winning economic formula... one or politicians don't want too carefully examined, lest they find such a limelight uncomfortable.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
No. You get all the justice you can afford.
We the citizens have the government we're willing to tolerate.