S4 E06 - Blame the White Republican: The Flint Water Crisis Part II

This episode of 'The Tenth Man' dives into the Flint Water Crisis, focusing on public reactions, media coverage, political consequences, and long-term effects. It highlights how the crisis was caused by improper water treatment rather than the Flint River itself. The discussion includes the role of political motivations, especially criticising Democratic leadership's incompetence and ego. The episode argues that media and political narratives unfairly blamed Republicans while protecting Democrats. It compares Flint's issues with other cities and criticizes the ongoing wasteful spending. The episode concludes with a preview of the next topic: the myth of immigrant crime.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to the Flint Water Crisis
• 0:35 Origins of the Crisis
• 0:58 Public Reaction and Media Frenzy
• 1:10 The Real Cause of the Crisis
• 2:09 General Motors and Water Quality Myths
• 2:54 Public Outcry and Health Concerns
• 4:29 Political Fallout and Accountability
• 4:54 Aid and Public Perception
• 6:31 Responsibility and Blame
• 8:50 Comparisons to Other Crises
• 10:28 Infrastructure Issues Beyond Flint

Transcript

The Tenth Man: 0:11

Water lines in Detroit are breaking in the winter's cold, yet it's the water lines in Flint, Michigan, that are being replaced. Fear and superstition still driving events in the Flint Water Crisis, today on The Tenth Man. Welcome back to The Tenth Man. In Part 1, we examined the origins of the Flint Water Crisis, a story of financial mismanagement, political corruption, and bureaucratic incompetence. We saw how Flint's decision to switch from Detroit's overpriced water supply to the Flint River should have been routine, but instead became a disaster due to the failure to properly treat the water. Now, in Part 2, we explore the public reaction, media frenzy, political fallout, and the long term consequences of a crisis that was both preventable and avoidable. The Flint water crisis wasn't caused by the Flint River. It was caused by ego and incompetence. Ego, because Detroit thought they could exploit the city of Flint, forcing them to pay ever higher water rates so Detroit residents could get their water for free, and incompetence because proper water treatment would have prevented the problem completely. Treating river water is more challenging than lake water because river water changes with the seasons. But let's be clear. Thousands of municipalities across the United States safely treat river water every day. The process isn't rocket science. It costs just a few cents worth of phosphate additives to prevent corrosion and stop lead from leaching into drinking water. Every competent water treatment engineer knows this. But not when there's a Democrat government in charge, where politics takes precedence over When the news broke, some pointed to General Motors Flint powertrain plant switching its water supply to a nearby Flint township as evidence of how corrosive the river water was. But let's put that myth to rest. GM plants don't care about water quality, they care about consistency. If the water changes in composition, it can affect industrial processes. GM's switch had nothing to do with human health. Just like putting an iron nail into a glass of Coke and watching it corrode doesn't prove that Coke is dangerous. The real issue wasn't pH levels, it was the absence of proper water treatment that allowed lead from old pipes to contaminate the water. The public crisis began when Flint residents noticed discolored water flowing from their taps. Orange water caused by the low pH dissolving rust deposits from their pipes. The sight of residents waving bottles of orange water on TV became an enduring image of the crisis. Even though the discoloration itself was harmless. The real danger, the invisible lead went unnoticed until the doctor reported elevated lead levels in children's blood, lead accumulates in the body. And while there's no officially recognized safe level, that's just another way of saying there's no proven dangerous level either. Lead scares pop up regularly. In November 2024, Syracuse, New York made local news for elevated lead levels in its water supply. Bet you never heard of the Syracuse crisis. And during Flint's crisis, reports showed that other Michigan cities had higher lead levels than Flint. Some with long term exposure. I used to live in one of those cities as a child. But unlike Flint, those cities didn't become media sensations because their water didn't change color and their residents didn't wave bottles of murky water in front of TV cameras. And here's a kicker. Flint's lead problem was fixed almost immediately after the city switched back to Detroit's water supply. There was no long term exposure by anyone. Yet the panic, political posturing, and wasteful spending continued long after the taps ran clear. If you're finding this episode informative, please tell a friend. The channel thrives on word of mouth, and we'd like your help. And remember, this is the only commercial you'll ever hear, so please pass the word. The crisis sparked a refugee mentality. With aid pouring into Flint from across the nation. President Obama visited Flint, famously drinking a glass of tap water to reassure residents that the water was safe. But fear is more powerful than science and residents continued to demand bottled water, even when it wasn't necessary. Ironically, one of the biggest donors of water was Nestle, whose nearby plant extracts groundwater for bottled water, a practice protested by many of the same Flint residents who simultaneously accepted Nestle's donations. There was a lot of bottled water. Cases of bottled water were delivered by the pallet full, with residents using it not just for drinking, but for bathing, Cooking and even watering their gardens. Meanwhile, people with friends and family in Flint sometimes found themselves dealing with unwanted deliveries of bottled water at our homes. Water we didn't need leaving us with piles of plastic bottles to dispose of. If you had a party. The Flint people always chipped in with bottled water. Free water filters were also distributed, though many residents ignored the instructions, either using them improperly or not at all. No problem, they had bottled water too. This wasn't about science, it was about fear. Entitlement, and a media narrative that cast Flint as a perpetual victim of a heartless government. Responsibility for the Flint water crisis is obvious. The City's Water Department failed to do its job. Proper treatment would have prevented the crisis. If more resources were needed City officials should have requested them. In any normal situation, the engineer in charge would have been fired. The water department manager would be demoted. The city council member responsible for utilities would have been censured. But this wasn't a normal situation. It was a political circus. Ignoring Flint's white residents, the media framed the crisis as a racial issue. Ignoring the black Democrats in charge of Flint and Detroit, the blame was placed solely on white Republicans in state government. In a complete departure from the immunity granted to Democrat leaders, criminal charges were announced against Republican Governor Rick Snyder, a white man. No charges were brought against Snyder's Democrat predecessor, Jennifer Granholm, who would later become Biden's Energy Secretary. No charges were filed against any of the black Democrat politicians in Flint or Detroit. And despite the Environmental Protection Agency's documented failures, President Obama faced no accountability. With all these Democrat and black leaders from Flint to Lansing to Washington, the only one charged was the white Republican governor in the middle. The charges against Snyder were legally dubious and politically motivated. There was no direct action he took that caused the crisis, nor any action he could have taken to prevent it. Flint's emergency manager, a black man named Darnell Early, appointed by Governor Snyder, did not order the switch from Detroit to the Flint water plant. He just signed off on the cutover that the Flint government wanted. Yet Michigan's Democrat Attorney General wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on futile prosecutions designed to score political points, not to deliver justice. Compare this to the violence in New York City and the fires in Los Angeles. Situations with clear and direct government culpability. New York Governor Kathy Hochul assured people that the subways were safe, even as assaults and murders continued. L. A. Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom enabled policies that contributed to fires that killed more than two dozen people. And those fires released lead into the atmosphere at levels a hundred times higher than anything Flint experienced. Yet. None of these Democrat leaders faced even political censure, let alone criminal charges. Why? Because they have the right political affiliations. And let's not forget our nation's transportation disasters. As Biden's Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, prepares a Senate or gubernatorial run in the same state of Michigan, that state has conveniently forgotten the plane crashes. train derailments and bridge collapses that happened on his watch. Disasters that caused actual deaths and environmental damage. Buttagieg's connection to and responsibility for these deaths are obvious, but since Buttagieg is a Democrat, these tragedies are treated as unavoidable accidents, no prosecutions, no accountability, just business as usual. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent replacing lead service lines in Flint. Lines that posed no danger as long as the water was properly treated. The replacement process is made more difficult by the fact that no one knows which lines are lead because until recently, no one cared, because it doesn't matter. Lead service lines have existed for over a century without causing problems. The only reason Flint's pipes became a problem was because the city failed to add a few cents worth of phosphate to its water. Meanwhile, Detroit's water infrastructure continues to crumble. In January, ten water mains broke simultaneously. Today, a massive 54 inch water main is flooding entire neighborhoods, freezing homes and leaving residents without heat or power. Unlike Flint's temporary lead problem, Detroit's infrastructure failures are ongoing and dangerous. Yet instead of replacing Detroit's failing mains, the government spends hundreds of millions of dollars replacing Flint's perfectly functional pipes. Why? Because Detroit's crisis doesn't fit the media's narrative of racial victimhood and Republican villainy. The Flint water crisis wasn't caused by Republican budget cuts or systemic racism. It was caused by Democrat greed, incompetence, ego, and a refusal to take responsibility. When the crisis hit, the media and political class seized the opportunity to advance their narratives, shifting blame onto Republicans while shielding Democrat officials from accountability. The prosecutions of Governor Snyder We're politically motivated and did nothing to improve public safetY. Meanwhile, Democrat leaders whose direct actions led to the deaths of their citizens continue to govern without consequence. Thank you for listening to the Tenth Man. If you found today's episode insightful, share it with a friend. We'll see you next time.