Who in this country questions the water that comes from our faucets? And yet what parent in Flint, Michigan isn't now suffering the tortures of the dammed for having so trustingly given their children the poisoned water that their children so trustingly accepted from them?
When the residents of Flint complained about the foul water coming out of their taps they were repeatedly assured by government officials that their water was perfectly safe, while behind their backs these residents were being mocked, called "hysterical" and "The Anti-Everything Group" by the officials they came to for help. When Flint pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha held a news conference sharing her deep worry about the correlation between the water and the spike in the number of children with elevated levels of lead in their blood, she was publicly belittled and discredited by Michigan state officials who insisted that their own data showed that the water was safe. For 18 months state and local officials downplayed or denied every outside test, investigation and study indicating that the water flowing into the homes of Flint residents was high in lead and other sickening substances.
Clearly none of the public officials who closed their eyes to the danger in the water cared about the children of Flint, Michigan.
The grand irony in all of this is that the city of Flint switched its water source from the Detroit system to its own system using the filthy Flint River water to save money. To further save money the city cut corners on its water treatment, including leaving out the federally required chemicals that prevent corrosion in pipes.
Except what good would that do the children?
1. "As Water Problems Grew, Officials Belittled Complaints From Flint," By Julie Bosman, Monica Davey, and Mitch Smith, The New York Times, Jan. 20, 2016
2. "Fouled Water And Failed Politics. Officials Dragged Their Feet as Evidence In Flint Piled Up", By Abby Goodnough, Monica Davey and Mitch Smith, The New York Times, Jan. 24, 2016
3. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/timeline-water-crisis-flint-michigan-36419075
4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-flint-water-got-poisonous_us_569907f5e4b0b4eb759e1426
5. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/01/19/michigan-flint-water-contamination/78996052/