Page 2 The Skanner February 17, 2016
Challenging People to Shape
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Opinion
Bernie Foster
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The Water Crisis in Flint is a Man-made Disaster
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omething is definite-
ly rotten in the state of
Michigan — and it’s not
just the lead-poisoned
water coming from the cor-
roded pipes undergirding
Flint’s public water system.
The rottenness goes to the
very core of an attitude of
managerial expediency un-
fettered by moral leadership.
Contrary to widespread be-
lief, Flint Michigan’s water
woes are not the result of de-
cades’ long neglect of critical
infrastructure investments
— although that is certainly
a contributing factor. The
blame for Flint’s water prob-
lems lay squarely with a lega-
cy policy choices dating back
decades.
The fact that towns like
Flint, Mich., are currently fac-
ing critical fiscal crises is the
result of successive genera-
tions of corrupt and incompe-
tent local elected leadership.
But the immediate cause of
the water crisis in particular
stems from current Michi-
gan Governor’s attempt to
rectify fiscal mismanage-
ment through authoritarian,
anti-democratic governance
policies.
Under Snyder’s dubious
management-oriented
phi-
losophy, principle-centered
leadership often takes a back-
seat to expedient tactics.
In Flint this policy regime
has tragically backfired. The
Armstrong
Williams
NNPA
Columnist
absence of moral discern-
ment has caused a crisis from
which the citizens of Flint as
well as Michigan taxpayers
are unlikely to escape any
time soon.
Let’s be clear. The situa-
tion in Flint was not an act of
nature, or an accident, or a
“
and thinning hair — alerted
political leaders that blood
lead concentrations in chil-
dren were 2 to 3 times normal
levels, Snyder called her find-
ings inconclusive, and vigor-
ously denied that the elevated
lead levels were caused by the
city’s drinking water.
When an EPA memo de-
scribing dangerously high
levels of lead in Flint’s drink-
ing water was leaked to the
media, the Snyder adminis-
tration lambasted the memo’s
author as a ‘rogue employee.’
The level of official miscon-
duct here is beyond ludicrous.
The Flint catastrophe could likely
have been prevented by treating
the water for a mere $100 per day
mistake. It is a man-made en-
vironmental disaster. It was
entirely foreseeable and en-
tirely preventable.
When Marc Edwards — a
Virginia Tech professor,
MacArthur Genius grant-re-
cipient, and world-renowned
expert on water quality —
declared the brown sludge
coming from faucets in Flint
to be toxic waste, the Snyder
administration
dismissed
him as a quack. When local
pediatrician Dr. Mona Han-
nah-Attisha — alarmed that
children were showing up at
her practice with skin rashes
In fact, if it weren’t staring us
right in the face, we would
have difficulty conceiving of
such ribald villainy on the
part of our elected officials.
It is unavoidably apparent
that the Snyder administra-
tion’s policies have had profli-
gate social and financial costs.
The Flint catastrophe could
likely have been prevented by
treating the water for a mere
$100 per day (a small price to
pay for precaution), but some
estimates now place the long
term cost of remediation at
$1.5 billion or more, as pipes
corroded by river water con-
tinue to leach lead into the
Flint water supply. In the full
light of day, Snyder’s policies
seem to be motivated more by
a desire to usurp the political
power of the electorate, than
by a genuine desire to help
economically depressed lo-
calities manage their financ-
es.
The toxic ideology that gov-
ernments should be run like
businesses needs to be chal-
lenged vigorously and soon,
because the policy regime
that led to the crisis in Mich-
igan is far from an isolated
case. Governors in Wiscon-
sin, Kansas, Maine and Flori-
da are implementing similar
neo-liberal policies in efforts
to enforce fiscal discipline on
localities within their states.
In the case of Flint, Mich.,
the villains are easy to spot.
They are the politicians who
caused the fiscal crisis in the
first place, and the politicians
who caused a humanitarian
crisis in a badly-conceived
attempt to alleviate the fiscal
challenge. The major lesson
here is that suspending the
democratic process in the
interests of managerial ex-
pediency usually turns out
badly. The fanciful notion
that a strong dictator is more
effective at governing than a
‘weak’ democratic process is
a theory that was considered
and discarded at the founding
of our nation.
Americans Must Stand Up to Disrespect of the Presidency
R
ecently, retired Lt. Col
Ralph Peters and Stacey
Dash, both contributors
on Fox News shows, bla-
tantly disrespected President
Obama on different news
shows on national television
using vulgar language.
Bill Slieve, senior vice presi-
dent of programming for both
networks, announced, “Ear-
lier today, Fox contributors
Lt. Col. Ralph Peters and Sta-
cey Dash made comments on
different programs that were
completely
inappropriate
and unacceptable for our air.”
The damage has been done,
and for me, it wasn’t enough
that the contributors were
suspended for two weeks.
They should have been fired
permanently.
First, it was bumper stick-
ers, then road signs and
memorabilia disrespecting
President Obama. Now it’s
lawmakers, news commen-
tators, and even candidates
seeking the Republican nom-
ination for president being
discourteous to my president,
your president and our pres-
ident on national television
and radio.
America, when will we
stand up to those who disre-
spect Barack Obama, the first
African American President
of the United States? Freedom
Louis C.
Ward
NNPA
Guest
Columnist
of speech is a constitutional
right in America, but defa-
mation of character and dis-
respect is not. We must speak
out against impertinence to
the United States presidency.
“
Most anticipated a new day
with a better life for African
Americans in the most pow-
erful country in the world.
A new time for all people of
America to come together to
make America, not only the
most powerful country in the
world, but the greatest coun-
try in the world, where people
will be able to live in harmony
and, hopefully, achieve pros-
perity on economic and social
levels.
As soon as Barack Obama
When the presidency is disre-
spected at home, it sows seeds for
foreign countries to disrespect
our president as well
When the presidency is
disrespected at home, it sows
seeds for foreign countries to
disrespect our president as
well. Look at what China and
Prime Minister Netanyahu
of Israel said to and about our
president.
When he was first elected
in 2008 on the platform for
“Change in America,” televi-
sion screens across the nation
showed people, represent-
ing different ethnic groups,
crying because an African
American had been elected
President.
won the election, a group of
individuals huddled together
and vowed to thwart his agen-
da for change in America.
Let’s not be naïve, America,
you know exactly who I am
talking about. Many of those
individuals are in office today.
In 2009, when President
Obama was addressing Con-
gress, Republican Congress-
man Joe Wilson shouted: “You
lie!” This kind of behavior is
reprehensible.
I don’t ever recall anyone
calling the President of the
United States a liar while he
addressed Congress. Why
does it happen now, and why
to President Obama? Can it
be because he’s an African
America?
My take on it is yes.
At the end of the day, Amer-
ica, you may not like the man,
but you have to respect the
Office of the President of the
United States.
It deserves our respect, our
loyalty and our support. We
must stand up America and
demand that it receives as
much.
What actions can I tru-
ly expect from writing this
column? My prerogative as
a writer is to raise the con-
sciousness.
Prayerfully, many will step
up and hold anyone account-
able who chooses to disrespect
the United States presidency.
If one person stands up, and
agrees to say something or
do something about the disre-
spect of our president, I have
made a difference.
We must not accept the
disrespect against our presi-
dent any longer. Stand up, say
something and do something
about it, now!
Stand up America!
Demand respect for Presi-
dent Barack Obama, and the
Office of the President of the
United States of America.