Rachel Maddow: Snyder's anti-democratic policies to blame in Flint water crisis

"We cover a lot of crazy stuff on this show," MSNBC host Rachel Maddow says at the top of her Dec. 18 episode. "But in all of the craziness we have covered over all of these years, there is one thing that has happened in one American state which stands out to me above all others. And it stands out to me because I maintain that it really is the single most radical policy — the single most radical piece of legislation put into law by any state in the country in our modern American political history."

OK, readers, quiz time: Which dysfunction junction could Maddow possibly be talking about?

If you guessed Michigan — and Gov. Rick Snyder's emergency manager policy — well, you're right!

To highlight the extent of our state's decrepitude, Maddow explored the recent lead poisoning of Flint's drinking water, a problem that stemmed from former city emergency manager Darnell Earley's decision to save money by switching Flint's drinking water source from Detroit to the local river without adequate preparation. (River water is more corrosive than Detroit's Great Lakes water, and the untreated water ate away at Flint's old pipes, exposing the public to lead.)

Maddow says it's "starting to become inconceivable that nobody has gone to jail, or been impeached, or recalled from office" over the disaster. Meanwhile — as the Snyder administration has repeatedly downplayed the incident — on Dec. 14, Flint mayor Karen Weaver declared a state of emergency over the crisis.

Watch the clip below: