The water situation in Flint has devolved into a theater of the absurd, with Rick Snyder becoming the lead marionette. And all his political enemies are pulling the strings.
In some respects, Snyder's handling of the whole problem has been inept, and yet, no one person can have complete knowledge in all areas of responsibility a governor has. He must rely on and defer to subordinates who are either experts or more immersed in the area than he is. So while he can be given a bit of a pass for doing what every other executive does on a daily basis, it is also his responsibility to select those subordinates carefully, lest they cause him major pain - as his selections have done in this case.
Now, in an effort to appear sympathetic, he has become pathetic. Yesterday, in a much publicized trip to a home in Flint that had previously been tested with "near toxic levels of lead and copper" according to the TV news story I saw this morning, the governor shared a glass of water with the homeowners from their tap fitted with one of the filters the State has provided, and took home five gallons of that same tap water to drink and cook with for the next few days. Many Flint-ites have been calling for him to do this, and mocking him for not doing it.
So, after giving in to these whiners and doing what they wanted him to do, all he has accomplished is to embolden them even further. Now, not only do they want him to drink their water, they think he should now move to Flint. Leading this charge is Flint's increasingly hostile mayor, Karen Weaver. She smells blood in the water (so to speak) and she is milking this situation for all it's worth to advance her political standing with the marxist socialist racist party.
Governor Snyder, these little made for TV visits show your weakness, not your strength. If you continue, you will not be able to do what needs to be done legislatively to address these problems as you will have become a laughingstock, not a leader. Look Karen Weaver and her handlers squarely in the eye and tell her you are through playing their little game, and they are either in with you to fix the problems, or on the outside being obstructionist, and whichever way they choose, that is how your office will be portraying Ms. Weaver.
