Lamar Is Getting Upset

By Kleinheider Posted on May 1, 2008 at 7:38 am

Our senior senator is none too pleased with what he sees as politically motivated hold ups of two nomination to the TVA:

In his letter, Alexander said the hold on the Graves and Williams nominations “astounds me,” adding, “if you succeed, you would overturn 75 years of federal law and custom.

“Your actions insult the Mid-South’s largest city, Memphis. Until Bishop Graves’ appointment in 2006, a Memphian had never served on the TVA board,” Alexander wrote.

“Your actions are an affront to more than one and a half million African-Americans in the seven-state TVA region. Until the appointment of Bishop Graves — the presiding bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church — an African-American had never served on the TVA board,” he added.

Born in Brownsville to a pair of sharecroppers, Graves has served as pastor in Atlanta; Gary, Ind.; Beloit, Wis.; and Los Angeles before coming to the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church on Elvis Presley Boulevard.

Alexander also pointed out that the law does not address the partisan qualifications of board members but that Reid’s letter suggesting Bush appoint a Democrat overturned that custom.

In a statement, Bob Corker, Tennessee’s junior senator, said he was “frustrated” by the Senate’s inaction, which he called “politically motivated.”

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