Are People Charged With Felonies In Flint Water Crime Scapegoats, Too

Three people now face criminal charges for helping
cause Flint, Michigan's epic water crisis, but
will Gov. Rick Snyder face charges, too?
I hope an investigation into what he did or didn't
do stays aggressive.  

A lot of us heard the news yesterday that three people involved in the Flint water crisis has been charged with crimes.

This is part of the whole mess in which the entire city was poisoned by bad municipal water basically because the govenor of Michigan wanted to save money, to prove what a High and Mighty fiscal conservative he is.

You know, for future political gain. Maybe he could one day be president!!

Or not. Gov. Rick Snyder's political career is on the ropes because of all the negative publicity swirling around this fiasco.

The Flint Journal, and basically the rest of the national media said Michael Glasgow, a Flint municpal water employee and Steven Busch, and Michael Prysby, both Michigan Department of Environmental Quality employees, are charged with felonies.

They're accused of falsifying and tampering with water test results that downplayed the high levels of lead in the water. The high levels that permanently damaged many of Flint's children,

But Snyder saved money switching to the Flint River for the city's water, away from Detroit's system. The governor is fiscally conservative!  It's worth it to poison kids to save taxpayer's money, right?

I'm harping on the governor so much because I'm still convinced the three charged with crimes were under immense pressure from the highest levels of Michigant government to falsify data.

If the three charged with doing so actually did tamper with evidence and alter test results, they ought to be punished.

But the ones that ordered them to do so need even greater punishment.

The Flint Journal/MLive notes that Glasgow, the municipal water employee, tried to warn against switching Flint's drinking water source to the Flint River. He knew something bad was happening.

Just before the switch, Glasgow wrote in an email: "If water is distributed from this plant in the next couple weeks, it will be against my direction."

Sounds to me like someone in state government told Glasgow to change his direction or he will face some sort of awful hell from the governor's office. Or someone high up there.

For what it's worth, Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech professor who uncovered how bad the Flint water situation really was says Glasgow "should not be put in the same category" as the two state employees who are facing criminal charges, the Flint Journal/MLive reported.

"He made mistakes, but I've see nothing in the evidence I've uncovered that puts him in the same league as the other instigators," Edwards said.

It seems Busch, too, tried to warn against using Flint River water, but someone made him change his tune, too.

Michigan's attorney general says the investigation is far from over and more criminal charges against other people might well be coming.

I just hope this goes to whoever was ordering the coverup that led to so much suffering in Flint.

If the governor indeed drove this, he deserves to be in prison too. For a lot longer time than the low level employees who are facing charges.

We'll see if justice is served. I have my doubts, but you never know.

This is important for all of us, not just Flint. Politicians and everyone need to understand if you hurt people, hurt them severely for political gain, you won't get away with it.

That seems like a minimum requirement for a public official, right?