Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve surely heard about the massive lead poisoning water crisis that’s been ongoing for the last two years in Flint Michigan.
The crisis stems from an April 2014 decision to change Flint’s water source from treated water sourced from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the Flint River. The change was intended to save the city money, but the water caused lead from aging pipes to leach into the water supply, causing extremely elevated levels of the lead. In Flint, between 6,000 and 12,000 children have been exposed to drinking water with high levels of lead and they may experience a range of serious health problems. The water change may have also caused an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the county that has killed 10 people and affected another 77.
The fallout from that catastrophic mistake over 2 years ago has been truly phenomenal. In total, there’s been four resignations, four firings, five suspensions, nine criminal indictments, several lawsuits, and several investigations. Aside from the many calls for his resignation, Governor Rick Snyder has surprisingly kept himself and his administration fairly insulated from the pr fallout. Well… Until today when he tweeted this:
It’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Week and Lt. Gov. @BrianCalley is sharing prevention tips to keep our kids safe https://t.co/cjFK91ms0e
— Governor Rick Snyder (@onetoughnerd) October 25, 2016
Of course, it wasn’t long before the internet responded to Governor Snyder’s tweet…
@onetoughnerd @briancalley Is this something from The Onion?
— Happier than I Look (@stevgole) October 25, 2016
Then there was this:
@onetoughnerd @briancalley Tip #1: don’t force a city to switch its water source to one with lead.
— Ed Adams (@eeadams) October 25, 2016
and this:
@onetoughnerd @briancalley If Tip #1 isn’t “Get a New Governor,” somebody’s not doing their job.
— travisjohnson (@travisjohnson) October 25, 2016
Surprise, surprise! Apparently Michiganders don’t quite trust their Governor or Lt. Governor to dole out tips for keeping kids safe from lead contaminated water. Well, that may be an understatement…
Tip number 1: don’t let @onetoughnerd anywhere near your city’s water source https://t.co/JXeZC207Ie
— Dena M. (@librariandena) October 26, 2016
If not satire, then at best it must be a joke or maybe even just sarcasm, right?
@onetoughnerd @briancalley You’re kidding, right? I can recognize sarcasm. Good one.
— Stephanie Murray (@MurrayStephJ) October 25, 2016
Others openly questioned whether maybe, just maybe, his account had been hacked. Plausible possibility, right?
@onetoughnerd @briancalley Was your account hacked?
— Ed Adams (@eeadams) October 25, 2016
Quite a few shared the sentiment of Candice…
@onetoughnerd you should be in prison.
— Candice (@Queen_Candice) October 26, 2016
While we’ve reached out to the Governor’s office for comment, we have yet to receive a response as of the time of this posting. We will update this article if and when he or his office responds to us.