The Etiquette of Lying Evolved in Michigan This Year
Thomas Sowell just dismissed 2015 as the “Year of the Big Lie”. His view is national, but his observation certainly applies to Michigan politics this year as well.
MDEQ Director Dan Wyant resigned yesterday in an act of contrition over his department’s prevarications about Flint water processing and quality. The Flint Water Advisory Task Force found the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality failed to ensure safe drinking water in the City of Flint. He was followed out the door yesterday evening by his mouthpiece, MDEQ Communications Director Brad Wurfel. The really egregious MDEQ lies were actually formulated by Stephen Busch, a civil service classified ‘engineer’ in the MDEQ Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance Office. No word on his fate, but don’t hold your breath; he is a classified civil servant.
By contrast, MDoT Director Kirk Steudle gets to spend a gusher of new taxpayer dollars gulled from our State Legislature, after his blizzard of lies supporting Proposal 2015-01 failed to impress Michigan voters. Our legislators were far less discerning than their constituents. Director Steudle was all over Michigan in the first quarter poor mouthing MDoT’s resources. He relentlessly promoted an entirely bogus assessment methodology to portray Michigan road conditions in the worst possible light. All the while, the Michigan Auditor General was having a field day revealing MDoT nonfeasance, misfeasance, and waste.