President Obama says he is committed to Flint during Detroit visit

Earlier in the day, Obama also granted an interview with CBS News correspondent Lee Cowan for a CBS Sunday Morning interview which will be broadcast on Sunday, Jan. 24. According to the Detroit Free Press, this is what the President had to say  during that interview as he spoke in more detail about his reaction to the Flint crisis, which he described as “inexcusable”:

“What is inexplicable and inexcusable is once people figured out there was a problem and that there was lead in the water. The notion that immediately families
were not notified, things were not shut down — that shouldn’t happen anywhere,” Obama said. “It’s also an indication that sometimes we downplay the role that an effective government has to play in protecting public health and safety of people and clearly the system broke down.”

Certainly it would have been great if President Obama could have made time to visit Flint, but considerably more important that the symbolic value of him showing his face at the scene was his face-to-face meeting with Flint Mayor Karen Weaver on Tuesday, which she initially indicated last week she had no assurances was even going to happen. Actions always speak louder than words, and we will need to await the actions of the Obama administration following up on his supportive words. But for now, the people of Flint – including Michael Moore – should feel at least somewhat vindicated, as well as comforted, by the President’s willingness to speak out on their behalf and to meet with Mayor Weaver.

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Keith A. Owens

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