Flint Water Response Perfectly Captures The Difference Between Bernie Sanders And Hillary Clinton

[Beacool]

By Amanda Terkel
1/19/16

On Saturday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) to resign over the lead poisoning crisis in Flint.

Three days later, Snyder remains in office, and Sanders has moved on after generating a fair amount of media attention.

On Thursday, Hillary Clinton went on national television and chastised Snyder for refusing to ask for federal assistance in order to help the affected residents.

Two hours after that interview aired on "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC, the governor did just that.

Clinton had also already dispatched two of her top aides -- including one with years of experience working for a Michigan senator -- to the state to assist Flint Mayor Karen Weaver (D) with whatever she needed.

The different approaches are emblematic of the ways the two Democratic presidential candidates respond to problems -- and would perhaps continue to do so if they win the presidency. Sanders goes big, not always worrying about whether what he's proposing is politically realistic. Clinton, meanwhile, focuses on the pragmatic instead of the aspirational, using her experience as a guide to what can get done.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-flint_us_569e66c3e4b04c8137617f05

That's one of the reasons why I support her. Hillary is about solutions to realistic expectations.

[Cali_Democrat]

1. So in other words....Bernie more about talk.

Hillary is more about action.

[Beacool]

2. That, my friend, is the key point of all the articles that I have been posting.

'The former secretary of state's approach has won over Weaver, who came out and endorsed Clinton during a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning.

"As far as what Hillary Clinton has done, she has actually been the only -- the only -- candidate, whether we're talking Democratic or Republican, to reach out and talk with us about, 'What can I do? What kind of help do you need?'" Weaver said.

Amanda Renteria is the Clinton campaign's national political director and one of the staffers who went to Flint last week to talk with the mayor. She has experience in the state, having previously served as chief of staff to Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D- Mich.).

"When this came about and [Clinton] read about it, her immediate response has been, 'Let's see what's going on, and what can we do to help?'" Renteria told reporters during Tuesday's conference call.'

That in a nutshell is the Hillary that I know and have supported for years. Once a problem is explained to her, her immediate response is "how can we help?" Anyone who has been at meetings with her can attest to it. She's impatient with abstracts, she focuses on solutions.

[Armstead]

3. Pragmatic in terms of political opportunism

Where was she when the giood governor was setting the stage for this by hijacking the local governments of poor and largely AA communities and turning them over to corporate bean counters?

Oh yeah, she was too busy making speeches to corporate bean counters.

[dsc]

6. where was Sanders

I don't recall him saying a god damned thing in 2010 when Snyder was elected. I don't remember him saying a god damned thing when Snyder passed his martial law bill. I don't remember him campaigning a single time for the person who ran against Snyder. BTW here is a link to an article about Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Obama all campaigning for Snyder's opponent. Sanders wasn't anywhere to be found. So yea, where the fuck was he.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/10/15/obama-midterms-michigan-schauer/17291025/

[Armstead]

15. He's not portraying himself as the Savior of Flint

As for campaigning....good for them. But that's what a President does in the mid term, and Bill loves making his speeches...and probably picking up a few chits for Clinton Inc. in 2016.

[Dawson Leery]

17. Bernie is a lifetime professional agitator.

He does not get much done. Hillary is the doer, Bernie the talker.

[SidDithers]

4. DU rec...nt

Sid

[tularetom]

5. Are you familiar with the phrase "post hoc ergo propter hoc"?

Probably not, so I suggest you look it up.

The simple fact that Snyder asked the feds for help after Clinton said he should does not mean he did it because she said he should. There's not one shred of evidence that he gives a rats posterior what Hillary Clinton thinks.

And Sanders was right to call for the resignation of Snyder, whether he resigned or not. All too often, Clinton's "pragmatic" solutions involve cooperation with, if not capitulation to, republican office holders.

It was a shameless stunt to grab some African American support in the primaries.

[nc4bo]

7. Boom. Eom.

[Punkingal]

8. +1000

[retrowire]

9. Well that's how I feel too. nt

[uponit7771]

10. So you think Snynder wouldve acted without the attention? Why evidence is there of this if so? tia

[tularetom]

12. We'll never know will we?

Can't prove a negative, but it left an opening for a typical cheap political stunt.

[Avalux]

14. ^^EVERYONE - PLEASE READ THIS^^

Thank you for THE perfect response to the OP.

[Flying Squirrel]

19. ...

[RiverLover]

11. Hillary said the governor should do what he'd already done on the 12th. She is slick!

Jan 13, 2016
Michigan Governor Activates National Guard to Help in Flint Water Crisis
http://www.emergencymgmt.com/health/Snyder-activates-National-Guard-to-help-in-Flint.html

TNS) - Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday night activated the Michigan National Guard to assist with the ongoing crisis of the lead contamination of Flint's drinking water.

"As we work to ensure that all Flint residents have access to clean and safe drinking water, we are providing them with the direct assistance they need in order to stretch our resources further," Snyder said in a news release late Tuesday.

"The Michigan National Guard is trained and ready to assist the citizens of Flint."

Members of the National Guard are expected to staff fire stations and distribute bottles of water and water filters, freeing members of the American Red Cross to handle the door-to-door distribution of those items, Snyder Chief of Staff Jarrod Agen said. There were no immediate plans to use tanker trucks to distribute water, he said.

The Guard was last activated in Michigan in 2012 to assist with the Duck Lake Fire.

Some National Guard members will get to Flint Wednesday and the number deployed is expected to increase to more than 30 by Friday, Agen said.

Snyder also on Tuesday asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate responses to the Flint crisis by other federal agencies.


-----------------------------------

See how she is? The Nat'l Guard is federal help, no? FEMA?

And yes, the governor should resign. Bernie is a straight shooter.

[joeybee12]

13. as do all of us on planet earth

Big mouth, no action

[Persondem]

16. That's right. Solutions not shouting. K & R nt

[baldguy]

18. I'm so tired about hearing how *pragmatic* Hillary is! Screw pragmatism!

[lostnfound]

20. Gov. Snyder is possibly guilty of 10 counts of negligent homicide

Money is how the government game has been played for fourty years. We have many problems on which Hillary could be positive and effective, but rescuing democracy from the stranglehold of the corporatocracy isn't one of them. Flint is a stark example of why it matters and what is coming: A bankrupt city, austerity plans, poor citizens seen as disposable, the replacement of democratic governance with a purely financial dictatorship - it's all there in Flint. If it turns out that the desire to free up water for fracking in Michigan was behind the water supply change, it's one more dot to connect in the picture of "Profits over People". Bernie is in a position to address this cancer directly, and Hillary simply can't.