Local Pastor Compares Darnell Earley to Colin Powell?

On Tuesday morning, former Emergency Manager Darnell Earley testified about his role in the Flint water crisis in front of a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. A Detroit newspaper took a more in-depth look at the controversial-in-Flint Earley ahead of his testimony.

Earley read from a prepared statement in his opening remarks before being questioned by members of the committee. In remarks released ahead of time, Earley again laid blame at local officials for the decision to make the now disastrous switch from Detroit water to the Flint River as a temporary water source. "At no time did the water department staff, Mayor Walling, the City Council or state petition me to halt, slow or otherwise modify the implementation of the plan. Nor at any point and time during preparation for the switch, did I receive any information that would even remotely indicate that the use of the Flint River was unsafe in any way."

In a Detroit News article, a supporter of Earley compared the former EM to a now famous retired general. Rev. Marlon Jennings of Grace Emmanuel Baptist Church called Earley a "man of integrity and conscious" before adding that Earley's situation was eerily similar to that of Colin Powell, George W. Bush's Secretary of State who said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Jennings said Earley was "misleading the people. He had been misled."

Huh? So let me get this right. Jennings is comparing the plight of Earley who's failed track record as former city administrator and EM of Flint, township manager of Buena Vista Charter Township, budget director and deputy county controller of Ingham County and most recently the former EM for Detroit Public Schools speaks for itself - to that of a retired four-star general, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, potential presidential candidate and former Secretary of State? Maybe it's just me, but I am failing to see the comparison. Now granted: I might be a little biased. I repeatedly tried to get Darnell Earley to come on my show when he was EM in Flint only to be rebuffed. But this comparison seems a little ridiculous.

The Flint water crisis has been a disaster at all levels of government - local, state and federal. But for a local pastor to compare the man who was in charge at the time of the switch is beyond belief to me.

What are your thoughts? Fair or unjust comparison?