Help Me Understand This
CNN Breaking News this morning:
A Michigan judge has authorized criminal charges against three people in connection with the Flint water crisis, Genesee County prosecutor David Leyton said Wednesday.
They are Flint utilities administrator Mike Glasgow, and Stephen Busch and Mike Prysby of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Leyton said. Leyton did not say what the charges are.
Hw about maiming and killing people? How ’bout that charge?
It was the State of Michigan who decided to switch the source of the water.
… in early 2014, with the city under the control of an emergency manager appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder (R), officials switched to Flint River water as part of a money-saving measure. But the state’s environmental quality agency failed to ensure that corrosion-control additives were part of the new water supply.
Rick Snyder?
“Snyder and his administration failed to act even after “suggestions to do so by senior staff members in the Governor’s office.”
More indictments damn well better be on the way.
Roast the small fish first in hopes they roll on the big boy(s)?
1When I read the first article about these charges, my first thought was “firewall!”
The MDEQ was created under Republican Administrations in Michigan to be separate from other environmental groups in order that pesky regulations could be managed by Republican business-oriented folk instead of actual environmentalists. Its whole raison d’etre – unacknowledged, of course – is to best determine how to maintain an environment of a quality SUITABLE FOR EXPLOITATION.
In the Flint River fiasco, they failed even in that, as previous pollution of the river made it unsuitable even for industrial needs. After a few months, Flint River water was actually corroding engine blocks at the GM plant. They tried to purify or dilute the water, but in the end they went back to other water with less chlorine in it.
This was within months of the start of this fiasco, back in 2014.
Two, thousand, four, teen. They knew.
Now, hundreds of poisoned families later, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (R -Obfuscationville), another far-right creepazoid, has hoisted up three sacrificial lambs, one of whom – Glasgow – was known for trying to blow the whistle on the water fiasco before it even happened.
Schuette thinks he’s going to be the next governor, and President after that. To keep those leaded pipedreams in place, he’s going to have to protect the Republican hierarchy in Michigan. Hence, the underlings will take it in the shorts, all to provide a firewall for their “betters” who have been carrying (tainted!) water for ALEC and the Chamber of Commerce for years.
Michigan needs a Special Prosecutor for this mess.
I nominate Jennifer Granholm. (mua-ha-haaa!)
2DAMN WELL BETTER!
Snyder throwing the small fry under the bus is just par. When will Michigan’s AG go after him?
Meanwhile, is ANYONE other than Flint’s mayor doing ANYTHING to fix the mess?
3Yeah, didn’t think so.
You are so right about Schuette. He’s a classmate of new financial advisor to Wall Street Dave Camp, hometown buddies with the creeps in the MI Legislature Stamas and Gary Glenn (also President of the Michigan Family Association, a hate group) and with Camp’s hand-picked replacement in DC, John Moolenaar, who has time to visit Michigan but never holds public q&a sessions in his hometown, just like Camp. This cabal has to be stopped. I’m sure Schuette knew everything about this. I’m sure Snyder stopped his campaign for POTUS because this crap was hitting the fan. Special prosecutor is needed…badly. These guys will never hold each other responsible for anything-they are already blaming the federal government.
4daChipster, thanks for the excellent background summation. Colour me naive, but I have to ask. What’s in it for Glasgow to roll over and play dead for the true criminals in this case?
5Glasgow is accused of altering testing results by taking water from houses less likely to have problems (no lead pipes). On the other hand, he also sent this email, as reported in the article:
“Glasgow, the only certified plant operator at the water plant when it went into service, also sounded warnings that the city was not ready for the switch.
“I was reluctant before, but after looking at the monitoring schedule and our current staffing, I do not anticipate giving the OK to begin sending water out anytime soon,” Glasgow’s email says. “If water is distributed from this plant in the next couple weeks, it will be against my direction.
“I need time to adequately train additional staff and to update our monitoring plans before I will feel we are ready. I will reiterate this to management above me, but they seem to have their own agenda.” ”
Wonder what management wrote back.
6PKM, it’s a good question. Under the classic firewall, as executed by the Reagan Administration, say, a true believer will take the fall for the greater good of the country, the party and/or the President, maintaining the lawfulness of their action while at the same time insulating their superiors from it.
In the end, they take the fall, serve whatever time, then come out as conservative heroes, of sorts. Real stand-up pals get pardons or commutations. Your prior career is done, of course, but there’s a rehab program of sorts, which usually includes loving treatment on FOX News, glowing neocon editorials about your patriotism, speeches on the nutjob circuit, a book deal, and sometimes a radio show. Hence, G Gordon Liddy, Ollie North and other jerks of that ilk wrote their books, got their radio gigs, and cashed their checks.
Nowadays, however, there seems to be a lot less honor among thieves. I have the distinct impression that these three guys comprise an involuntary firewall – actually, more a firebreak really: burning good timber closest to the fire in order to buy time to save the rotting forest behind them. Plus, it’s not the office of the President at stake, but Rick Snyder.
So in answer to your question, I can’t see what skeletons are in their closets, or what deals they’ve cut with the squirarchy, or other reasons to shut them up, and the law of Omerta is as dead in politics as it is in the Outfit, so I’m guessing they won’t be quietly shoved down the memory hole, unless they have to be.
This firewall is built of unwilling GOP patsies, who may not go gently into that good night. Glasgow may indeed scream bloody murder.
But in a Michigan courtroom, prosecuted by the Michigan AG, in front of what will no doubt be a hand-picked judge, no one can hear you scream.
7Under Ronnie Raygun,there was a big check kiting scheme at a major insurance corp. AG Ed Meese and his Meeseketeers immunized the top brass and persecuted some schlump way down the line. Snyder and crew prolly already immunized.
8Seriously,does allowing children to be poisoned really stack up against a Dem lying about a BJ?
9daChipster, four words for Gov Rick and his henchmen, if they expect this to be ‘quietly prosecuted’: Mayor Weaver and media. Oh, and the taxpayers. Being expected to pay Snyder’s legal fees, trial costs for Glasgow and friends, costs of cleaning up Flint with health costs going into decades, the good people of MI might decide they’ve had enough of “small government” snacilbupeR.
Being an eternal optimist, I keep waiting for people to wise up to clowns like Jindal, Brownback, Kasich, etc, etc, and all the other Kock/ALEC potted plants.
10I thought kind of “funny” when I heard Snyder was going to drink Flint river water every day for a month just to assure folks that it would not morph them into a zombie. First question I asked myself, who the bleep is going to oversee him to make sure he 1.) does it and 2.) does not schlep in water from somewhere else? Well, shucks! Now i know! Distract everybody by throwing three sacrificial victims to the wind. Seriously, I never want to go back to MI, which was my late husband’s first pick of states for retirement.
11That layer of plausible deniability between the elected official, possibly being groomed for bigger things, is very important. Same can be said as well for the Mafia families. When the orders were given to the soldiers, the Don was nowhere close by.
12maggie, I’m not sure that Flint river water could turn Snyder into anything worse than he is already.
13Of these, only Glasgow is blameless. We should not expect anyone with real power in Michigan to be indicted, though. That would be asking too much of Snyder’s crony capitalism.
14It was so hard to watch Snyder’s recent news conference.
15He played the innocent Gov. “cooperating with the investigation”, but could not comment on questions about his own involvement.
I hate Snyder and his slime ball pals.
16Maggie, the thing that angers me about that little ploy is that he is drinking FILTERED water from Flint. Let’s see him drink water from a faucet in one of a Flint Citizen’s home for a month and see what happens. Arrrrrghh!!
17CaroleMS, my old college friends and even my family in MI tell me that even the best “filters” are questionable as the quality of the water is way over the top BAD. Consequently, how about a Gubernatorial blood draw after 30 days?
18@Micr #12-I believe you’ve already used the most applicable phrase ” plausible deniability”. Snyder would have learned that phrase and the accompanying actions as the head of Gateway and had it doubled down and reinforced when he embarked on a political career. Either way Snyder and the top officials at state deserve prosecution and imprisonment.
19I like da Chipster’s firebreak analogy. Consider l’Affair Plame. A couple of lower level men,
including Scooter Libby, were chose as cutout men. The hope being that their indictment would break the chain of evidence creeping slowly towards W and the real pres Deadeye Dickless Cheney and Karl Rove.