Get the Lead Out

When I was growing up and listened to the radio, 97 Rock & Q-107 would every now and then “Get the Led Out” by playing a “double shot” of Led Zeppelin.

Now, when I hear someone say “Get the Led Out” I'm thinking of drinking water.

The Buffalo News carried a story from the NY Times titled “Unsafe lead levels in water a nationwide concern.”

A key point in the article is whom the unsafe levels affected and how long it took for the problem to be reported to them.

The whom: They were (and still are) poor and minorities. Make the problem in an upper-class white neighborhood and the people would have been notified right away with a check by the Head of the Water Department and probably a personal visit from the Mayor to make sure that everyone was OK and that the city would be footing the repair bill and that their lawyers would be talking about a fair and equitable settlement.

Nope. These are poor people. And minorities.

How long? Five months? Six months? No rush.

And no compensation.

This is reprehensible.

Causes? Part I: Changes in the way water is disinfected, road salt leaching into the water table. Switching water sources ... the reasons are plenty. And there are people that knew (in most cases) that the actions that were being taken would cause a problem. They were (hopefully) crying out and being ignored rather than being lazy or apathetic.

Causes Part II: Cuts to the EPA. The Environmental Protection Agency is tasked with preventing these problems, however in order to save money their budget has been cut, leading to staff layoffs, fewer people doing more work … An accident was just waiting to happen. And with terrible, long term consequences that are going to cost the nation more money.

Solution? It's going to cost money. And not a whole ton either. Between $16 and $50 billion to get all the lead pipes out of circulation.

And to keep our water supply safe? $384 billion by 2030.

How much money did we waste on the F-22 Fighter? That never flew a single mission? And was finally canceled?

How much money have we wasted on the F-35 Fighter? A fighter that the Air Force says it doesn't have a mission for and doesn't even want. And it still can't be flown in combat.

How much money has been wasted on the 3,500 M-1 Abrams tanks that are sitting in a field in Ohio rusting? (Do the math: $1.5 million each x 3,500.)

This is a good question for the Common Core Math Exam.

Wait – that would let students and parents know how much money our government is wasting on the military industrial complex that former President Eisenhower warned us about.

Then again, how much money do we send to Israel every year? I've hear numbers that range from $3 to $30 billion, not including weaponry.

How much do we send to Saudi Arabia? Or Syrian rebels that defect to Daesh? Or Al-Nusra?

How much are we wasting on the drug war? (How do you wage war on an object. I'd really like someone to explain that to me. Seriously.)

We have the money – We're just spending it wrong.

Or, in the case of Flint, wanting to save money by doing the wrong thing deliberately.

In Flint it was the government of Rick Snyder doing it to the people of Flint. I can't fully speak for the other cases, but in Flint we know the who, what, where, when, why, and how.

If Al-Qaeda, Daesh, or Iran did something like this to an American community, we'd call it terrorism and go after them. (Let's face it, Iran would never do this. It's a trope that Republicans and AIPAC bring up.)

Here's the questions that really need answering:

What do you do when it's your own government doing it to you?

And who are you supposed to turn to for help?

And what would you call it?