Just In: Michigan Approves Petition To Recall Gov. Snyder for Flint Water Poisoning
After the news broke of the mass poisoning of thousands in Flint, Michigan, with deadly lead-contaminated water, the nation began calling for Governor Rick Snyder’s proverbial head after his role in concealing that crucial information from the public became evident. Now that the bipartisan Michigan Board of State Canvassers has decided to accept the people’s petition to have their criminally negligent Governor recalled.
“The people need the opportunity to express their democratic right as well as their political will” said petition writer Detroit Pastor David Bullock. He and the people of Michigan now have 60 days to gather 790,000 signatures in order to get a recall option on the November ballot, but given the escalation of this crisis and the shocking revelations that clearly implicate the Governor’s office, it’s not looking good for him. 29 petitions to recall Snyder have been rejected by the Board for a “lack of clarity” or technical issues, showing that the energy devoted to this goal has been considerable.
A recall would be a good start towards rectifying not only the damage done to Flint but also to the rest of the state. Snyder’s senseless Tea Party tax cuts blew gigantic holes in the state budget, prompting him to appoint emergency “managers” to rule bankrupt cities by diktat (an order or decree imposed by someone in power without popular consent). Those managers arranged the switch from the Detroit water system to the heavily polluted Flint River water, ostensibly to “save money” but accusations of orchestrating a conspiracy to privatize the water company make the situation even murkier. Released emails showed that the Governor’s office ignored and dismissed complaints from the concerned consumers, all the while charging them the most expensive water prices in the country and hiding the fact that their water was tainted with lead and other dangerous toxins for nearly a year after the administration had learned of the contamination.
A recall isn’t enough; Governor Snyder and his cronies need to be behind bars for the permanent damage they have inflicted on the poor children of Flint, Michigan, as many as 8,000 of whom were exposed to the damaging effects of lead. But a recall of the Governor would be an encouraging start. If you live in Michigan…you know what to do!
