“This was a tragic, historic event, but as Michiganders, we know how to pull together and support each other. Folks have lost their cars, their basements, decades of memories and belongings — and we’re going to be there for them as we dig and dry out.” – Rick Snyder did not say this. Instead he said, “We just have to work through it.”
I get it. He’s a tough nerd, a number cruncher, just a CPA, or whatever. He doesn’t need to feel our pain, share our sacrifices or give a damn. Governor Snyder would rather look at the bottom line – you see that way he isn’t responsible for the outcome. He just reports to us what we already know. There was a lot of rain and now there is a lot of water and other debris that needs to be cleaned up.
But here’s what the numbers at the bottom of an excel worksheet won’t tell you. Michigan needs to invest in our infrastructure – both seen and unseen – and those investments need to be large and happen quickly.
Here’s what his advisors, many of whom have spent their entire careers in the two-block zone surrounding the Capitol, won’t tell the governor. People in Michigan have a hard enough time navigating an economy tilted towards people like Rick Snyder, working with a state government that doesn’t share our priorities and dealing with the normal struggles of life without having to watch their basements fill up with dirty water that washes away their children’s baby pictures.
Michigan needs a governor who can get the job done (the verdict doesn’t look good on that front for Snyder either), but we also need a governor that understands our struggles. WE need a governor who can put himself in our shoes and, frankly, give a damn. Instead we get the same cold, clinical, CEO speak from Snyder that we always hear.
But wait there’s more…
Rick Snyder was asked if he could feel our pain and he sure tried, “I’ve been through a lot of things like that. We just recently had holes in our roof from storm damage to our lake house.”
Is he serious? Did he really compare a massive flood to a tree limb falling on his vacation house? Yep. Maybe if we ask him about the families that are literally wading through raw sewage in their basements he’ll tell us he understands that too because he changed a diaper once.
It looks like Ann Richards’ claim about George H.W. Bush applies to Gov. Snyder: Poor Rick, he can’t help it, he was born with a silver foot in his mouth.