Back in 2008, a majority of voters cast their ballots for Barak Obama,
hoping that this man just might carry out some of his campaign
promises. But early on he made it clear that this would not be the
case. Even as he was being fawned over by the awarding of the Nobel
Peace Prize, he refused to consider any discussion of the War Crimes
of the Bush Administration.
So is it any wonder that this Prince of Peace would tell the people of
Flint, Michigan to shut their mouths and drink the water? These are
not the people who will ensure the Obama's future prosperity. Nor has
Bill Clinton or Hillary Clinton raised their outrage over the crass
treatment of American Citizens. After all, these people are at best,
consumers. They have no ability to affect the well being of the truly
blessed who lead this nation.
Obama also pardoned a number of prisoners, mostly minor offenders.
But notice who he does not pardon.
Barak Obama, like Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald
Ford and so many other presidents, is nothing but an American
Corporate Empire Lackey, stooping and bending to kiss the backside of
the Super Rich.
If America has any positive future standing in history, it will not be
due to any of the aforementioned politicians.
Carl Jarvis
On 5/6/16, joe harcz Comcast <joeharcz@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Obama to Flint: Drink the water and be quiet
By Shannon Jones
5 May 2016
President Barack Obama’s remarks Wednesday in Flint, Michigan before an
audience of about 1,000 people at Northwestern High School displayed the
arrogance
and contempt of his administration and the corporate elite that it
represents toward working people suffering from the devastating effects of
lead in their
drinking water.
Flanked by a host of state and federal officials who oversaw the disaster in
Flint, including Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy,
Michigan
Governor Rick Snyder and Democratic Congressmen and Senators, the president
offered a series of false promises and platitudes. He blandly noted certain
symptoms of the social crisis in America—crumbling roads and bridges, aging
water pipelines, failing public schools—without acknowledging the role of
his
administration in presiding over this disaster.
Pallets of bottled water standing in a lot across the street from the venue
of Obama’s speech
In his trademark folksy and patronizing manner, Obama urged the people of
Flint to resume drinking the city’s water, despite test results showing the
persistence
of dangerous amounts of lead. At the same time, he dismissed the serious
short and long-term effects of the poisoning of Flint children by
lead-tainted
water. “The kids will be just fine,” he said.
To back up this assertion, Obama cited the spurious example of children
accidentally chewing on lead flakes from paint. He noted that perhaps he had
ingested
lead as a child.
Obama also urged Flint residents to begin drinking the water again, which in
many areas is brown and still contains high levels of lead. At one point in
his remarks he asked for and drank a glass of filtered water, while
proclaiming, “This is not a stunt.”
LeeAnne Walters, an activist whose actions played a pivotal role in exposing
the lead poisoning of Flint’s water, told the World Socialist Web Site,
“Obama’s
speech was a complete atrocity. To sit there and tell a city of 100,000 that
lead poisoning from drinking water compares to Obama eating paint chips as
a kid is incredible. To compare drinking lead poisoned water to paint chips
is like comparing apples to toxic waste. We were devastated. We were told
our
kids don’t matter—not just my kids, but all the children here. We’re talking
about the long-term effects.
“He told us to drink the water. That means the programs for filters and
bottled water will stop.”
Obama’s visit to Flint coincides with an explosive development of the class
struggle in Michigan. It came in the wake of two days of angry protests by
teachers
in nearby Detroit, Michigan over intolerable conditions in the classrooms
and attempts by authorities to rob them of pay. It also coincided with the
start
of mass water shutoffs in Detroit for households with delinquent bills.
Flint residents crowd the street waiting for the Obama motorcade
Hundreds of people lined up along the route of Obama’s motorcade in Flint,
some holding up signs calling for federal help for the city. Many expressed
frustration
and anger that work on repairing Flint’s water system has barely begun.
A Flint resident holds a sign along the route of the motorcade
Estimates of the cost of repairing Flint’s antiquated piping run as high as
$1.5 billion. Democrats in Congress have advanced penny-pinching proposals
amounting
to only a few hundred million at most. Obama himself in his remarks made
only vague promises of fixing Flint’s pipes, specifying no concrete dollar
figure.
Instead he touted the work of non-profits, charities and philanthropists in
providing assistance to Flint residents. He even cited approvingly the
$2,500
raised by a group of prisoners in Indiana.
A central aim of Obama’s remarks was to perpetuate the cover-up of the
criminal responsibility of government officials at all levels for the
disaster. He
made a point at the beginning of the speech of noting the presence of
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and chastising those who responded by booing.
“We’re
doing business here,” Obama said.
Obama blamed the crisis on “poor decisions,” claiming that no one
“consciously wanted to hurt the people of Flint.” Instead, officials simply
“weren’t attentive
to potential problems” when acting under budgetary pressures. “This is not
to sort out every screw-up that resulted in contaminated water.”
In fact, officials did not merely make “poor decisions,” they actively
conspired to ensure that the water source was switched to the Flint River
despite
ample warnings of the consequences. Documents show that state environmental
officials altered reports in order to minimize the dangers of lead in
Flint’s
drinking water. When residents began to complain of the contaminated water,
local, state and federal officials worked to discredit these complaints and
cover-up their responsibility.
Obama wants to avoid an analysis of the “screw-ups” because his
administration is itself culpable. The federal Environmental Protection
Agency moved to
isolate and silence Miguel Del Toral, an EPA officials who warned of
elevated lead levels and said that the city was not using corrosion control.
The agency
regularly allows cities throughout the country to violate the government’s
own standards.
Both Democratic and Republican officials were involved in the decision to
shift Flint’s water supply to the polluted Flint River. This included former
Democratic
State Treasurer Andy Dillon who signed off on the decision to shift the
Flint water supply.
The crisis in Flint is part of a generalized crisis produced by decades of
deindustrialization, budget cuts, the elimination of regulations on
corporations
and growing social inequality. Basic social services are being starved for
funds while the Obama administration lavishes countless billions on the
Pentagon
war machine and handouts to America’s wealthy elite.
Obama’s remarks on Wednesday were a declaration to the people of Flint and
throughout the country that nothing will change, no serious assistance will
be
provided and that workers should simply stop complaining and be quiet.
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