I’m sure he’s noticed. I’m positive his strategists have. But have you noticed how few people outside the Republican Party seem willing to forgive Gov. Snyder – even a little bit – for the Flint water crisis?
And by few I mean no one.
I’ve heard no one say, “Yes, he screwed up but he’s doing his best to fix it.” No one has said, “Gosh, it’s obvious how much this hurts him personally, maybe it’s time to get off his back.” And certainly no one has said “You know, he’s right, let’s stop pointing fingers and focus on solutions.”
Instead, the public tone toward him seems to grow more and more hostile by the day. Three full months after he supposedly first learned about the true scope of the problem, Snyder remains a curiously unsympathetic figure, locally and nationally.
This is not the normal course of things. America is a profoundly forgiving nation, which is why the SOP (standard operating procedure) for politicians who screw up – from hanky-panky to incompetence – is to fess up fast, take responsibility and promise to make things right.
Snyder has bent over backward trying to follow protocol. He’s all but had the words “I’m sorry, all right?” tattooed on his forehead.
And yet the needle never seems to move in his favor.
Why? Three main reasons, I figure:
One, there’s the scope and seriousness of the crisis. Children have been poisoned – an entire city of children. Is there a worse thing someone can be accused of/responsible for? Frighteningly enough, there is. That shoe has yet to fall, though. Just wait and see what kind of feces storm hits Snyder if the Legionnaire’s deaths in Flint – now up to 10 – are finally and formally linked to tainted river water. And you wonder why the guy is lawyering up.
Two, while he’s taken responsibility, it’s been limited. He’s taken the blame but only for not knowing in time. It was those other people – those career bureaucrats – who are really at fault, Snyder told Congress. Few seem to buy that, and for good reason. If there’s a less effective and less sincere-sounding apology than “I’m sorry for what those people did to you,” I don’t know what it is.
Three, ultimately, no one believes he’s telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, even when he’s sworn in front of Congress to do so. As my new hero, Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pennsylvania, said during the hearing, “Plausible deniability only works when it’s plausible. You were not in a medically induced coma for a year. I’ve had about enough of your false contrition and your phony apologies.”
Bingo. That’s it right there. Despite all Snyder’s efforts, despite what I’m sure he thinks is his abject sincerity, people sense there’s something he’s not telling us.
His handlers would say, “We’ve been open! We released emails, didn’t we?” Yes, but only after being pressured to. But have all of them been released? Many people doubt that. And what about all the redactions in the emails that were released – what’s in those, and why were they redacted in the first place?
The truth is, questions continue to linger about Snyder because he hasn’t been fully open and honest, which isn’t surprising in a state with among the most limited Freedom of Information Act laws in the country. (Guess which party is responsible for that?)
In other words, he’s earned the public’s lack of forgiveness.
Don’t feel sorry for him.
Not that you were.
You are so right. I’m not.
It’s because of the hidden e-mails.
Most people realize it isn’t because of actual, overt indifference to the deteriorating situation in Flint, but probably because it it shows Snyder and his underlings focusing their efforts on Snyder’s presidential ambitions instead of the work they were paid to do.
Gov. Snyder comes off as being totally indifferent towards the entire crisis, tragedy, and process.
Rep. Matt Cartwright’s statement “you were not in a medically induced coma for a year” was a real zinger.
Rep. Cartwright was not pleased with the answers offered by Gov. Snyder, I wasn’t either.
Bingo! I couldn’t of said it better. Snyder is a total phony from the get-go.
Additionally:
1. Snyder’s statements sound completely scripted as if from a p.r. firm. And why isn’t a brighter light being shone on the Florida p.r. firm that was hired to help bail Snyder out of the mess? Unquestionably, not enough is being made of the decision to hire that firm — Mercury p.r. — and the connection between Snyder’s chief of staff and one of the p.r. firm’s senior partners. They’re married to one another, for gosh sakes! Talk about nepotism and shoddy ethics. At the very least, why not keep the money in state? And what about some transparency regarding the group that’s underwriting the funding to pay for Mercury’s services? Yech to all of it.
2. What about the effect on the environment of the millions of un-recyclable plastic water bottles that have been sent to Flint residents? Whose landfill is going to handle this mess?
3. Can anyone believe this would have been similarly handled if it had occurred in Grosse Pointe, East Grand Rapids, or in Snyder’s Ann Arbor backyard? Puh-leeze.
His responses are written by a PR firm and vetted by a team of lawyers, you can be sure.
Recall starts next
Sunday!!
One little detail I didn’t see mentioned here – what exactly has Snyder done to fix the water pipes in the homes where Flint citizens are living a nightmare? Mayor Weaver has got it started, but where is the money? Sorry, in any form, doesn’t do it unless you do everything you can to rectify the problem, especially when you are in the position to fix it. The man appears to be incompetent and a liar. He needs to go. Where can I find a recall petition to sign in Saginaw?
Do not recall Snyder, the best possible scenario is for him to remain in office. Snyder, Lt. Gov. Calley, and company all need to be in office until their terms expire. All sane citizens will then vote the corrupt group out and have a thorough house cleaning.
I agree on a strategic level but he deserves to go
Why is it that no one is pointing fingers in the direction of the water plant workers who kept their mouths shut? Everyone wants to blame the higher ups when I did not hear of one water plant worker who spoke up. It seems to me that the folks who were (supposedly) the people who know how to produce good water had a moral obligation to their fellow citizens. Shouldn’t at least one of them have the courage to speak out? I am not suggesting the folks in the chain of command are innocent. But, think about it for a moment, if you knew you were doing something that was poisoning your neighbors, would you keep your mouth shut and keep doing it?
They did: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/02/flint_water_supervisor_warned.html
He is over his head in poison water. He is not tough enough or smart enough to be an important government official. He thought this Michigan governorship would be a nice add-on to his resume. He could not imagine it would require actual action or real work. Late in life, he failed.
Many people that are of a republican nature do not and can not understand what it’s like to be a working class middle to low income individual. They do not understand the plight of the majority of people that live in flint and genesee county. They don’t understand what they need to apologize for. The governor is the person that is responsible for what happens in his administration whether he knows what’s going on or not. By all means he should resign. But with that said you would only get his lieutenant as his successor. You will get no different so you might as well let him do his best to try to fix it. You will never get a politician to admit they did anything wrong, republican or democrat. His political career is over.
I’m tired of all blame being placed on the Governor, Mayor, etc. This and every other thing that’s wrong with Flint goes back to the citizens of Flint who elected and re-elected horrible leaders for years and years. They let their city rot away until it was so poor this had to happen. Now they’re all trying to get some money out of it. I was Born in Flint and have watched this happen for far too long. Everyone needs to stop trying to place blame, roll up their sleeves and get something done about it. Enough talk! Action is needed.
Judith, in print and on radio, I’ve been the leading critic of Flint leadership since 1989. They’ve done an abysmal job. (That’s why they got EMed twice!) But … it’s hard to do much about infrastructure like lead pipes when you don’t have any money. GM evaporated, leaving the city to care for a city that was suddenly twice as big as its tax base. Many cities are in the same boat.
So, Andrew you are saying that tax payers who live in cities where responsible fiscal managers have been hired or elected should now pay for the bone-headed decisions made by Flint citizens. When will that practice end? When the entire state is dragged under because the large cities in southeast Michigan are in trouble due to their own foolish behavior. Remember Aesop’s fable of the grasshopper and the ant? Eventually even the ant will run out of resources and both will perish in the winter of fiscal irresponsibility. Flint, like a drowning man, will drag even the well intentioned rescuers to their doom.
In Michigan, we have spawned our own version of dysfunction under the administration of governor Rick Snyder and Darnell Earley, the emergency manager who is an expert in creating emergencies.
Let’s see Gov. Snyder gets raked over the coals over and over again about his emails. But, of course he is a republican. Some dimwit democratic congress critter by the name of Matt Cartwright makes a statement about plausible deniability. Would Matt Cartwright make the same statement to Hilliary Clinton and her email abuse while she was the Secretary of State? Of course not. She is a democrat . Snyder is a republican.
As to what Jim S. said about republicans “do not and cannot understand what it”s like to be a working class
middle to low income individual”.
I think he is mistaken by that republicans do not understand the level of existance.
Jim S. sounds like one of those individuals who goes to a democratic rally with speakers like: Michail Moore, John Kerry, Hilliary Clinton, Joe Biden, Nancy Pilosi(sp) and barack obamma along with other high level democrats that stand there and tell people like Jim S. that they are going to tax the 1%.
All the while Jim S. and probably Andrew Heller will sit/stand there and cheer them on. Not fully understanding that all the above named democrats are 1%ers.
See Jane run,
See Rick run,
Let’s pick some cherries,
Email cherry picking is fun.
Only the nice cherries have been picked.
The only emails we have seen are the ones they want us to see, and the ones we have seen have had portions redacted.