MEMPHIS, Tenn. — To the surprise of no one, the shutdown of the I-40 Bridge across the Mississippi River in downtown Memphis has become national news. And, of course, anytime there is national attention to be had, politicians will be somewhere close by.
Take for example Tennessee’s junior senator Bill Hagerty. This weekend, he fired off a letter to President Biden demanding immediate action by the administration to fix a major crack in one of the horizontal beams. The crack was discovered during a routine inspection last week. Hagerty said he was frustrated by the president’s lack of urgency in getting traffic moving again across the 48-year-old span.
I am not aware that Hagerty sent similar letters to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee or Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. Their respective state Departments of Transportation are directly responsible for inspection and maintenance of the bridge. But the governors, like Hagerty, are Republicans. So the obvious political move is to slam the Democratic president.
This is one of the negative things about politics. The facts are that Hagerty strongly opposes Biden’s massive infrastructure plans. And until now, the senator has not shown much interest in what’s happening in Memphis.
There is room for political involvement in this issue. Elected leaders should do everything necessary to insure that the resources are available to make the repairs. So what we really need is more cooperation – and less sniping. And that’s my point of view.