Flint finally gets clean water

FLINT, Michigan — On Friday, the White House announced that the residents of Flint, Michigan at last had access to clean water. "What the citizens of Flint have suffered is unimaginable, and we should feel shame as a country for what systemic racism has forced them to endure," Clinton said. "But enough is enough. I'm delighted to announce that residents can finally drink safe water. This day, long overdue, has finally come."  

While experts predicted it might take years before engineers could overhaul Flint's water system, the process proved much quicker, thanks to a $500 million-dollar gift from self-made billionaire and philanthropist Oprah and sustained pressure from President Hillary Rodham Clinton, who called the crisis a "national emergency." 

Clinton flew to Flint on Friday to celebrate the milestone mourn Flint's many losses with residents and Flint Mayor Karen Weaver - whose leadership Clinton called "inspiring" - at the House of Prayer Missionary Baptist Church, a church she visited during the Democratic primaries.

As a primary candidate, Clinton became especially outraged and passionate when it came to Flint's water crisis, which she repeatedly denounced as an intolerable symbol of both systemic racism and an incompetent, indifferent, and tax-slashing Republican government that views impoverished voters with contempt.

"This has to be a national priority," Clinton said. "What happened in Flint is immoral. The children of Flint are just as precious as the children of any part of America."

Since then, Clinton has directed Attorney General Preet Bharara to investigate the government's failed response at the city, state and federal levels, and Oprah's money has allowed the EPA to repair the city’s lead-tainted water system. Flint is no longer using water from the Flint River, and has switched back to the Detroit system, which gets its water from Lake Huron.

Meanwhile, five state official have been charged with involuntary manslaughter, and that number is only expected to grow. According to the New York Times, "Five officials in Michigan, including the head of the state’s health department, were charged on Wednesday. It is the closest investigators have come to directly blaming officials for the deaths and illnesses that occurred when a water contamination crisis enveloped this city."