The Campaign To Oust Bank Of America CEO Ken Lewis: But How Would Jesus Vote?

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

We feel a bit better about our own conflicted feelings about Bank of America’s embattled CEO (and happy hour enthusiast) Ken Lewis after reading the Charlotte Observer‘s live Twitter feed of the bank’s annual meeting. Dozens of shareholders are currently giving short speeches for and against ousting him today, and it is clear the bank’s owners divided as well. The quintessential annual meeting muckraker Evelyn Y. Davis (the quintessential Evelyn Y. Davis profile is here) just spoke — and she gave Lewis her full support.

As we noted earlier, the movement to oust Lewis has made bedfellows of MoveOn.org and McCain donors, and the camp that wants to let him stay is equally diverse. Davis, Habitat For Humanity, and the widely-worshiped bank analyst Meredith Whitney are all on Lewis’ side. So who did John Moore, the sole shareholder thus far to be reported quoting the Bible, support?

From the Observer‘s ongoing coverage:

John Moore, owner of 18,000 shares, cited Psalm 82 from the Bible. He said the bank’s woes were due to top management’s decisions, and that shareholders should push for change.

“I ask you to transform your anger to work for fundamental reform,” he said.

Yes, we’d forgotten that one too:

A psalm of Asaph.
God presides in the great assembly
he gives judgment among the “gods”:

“How long will you [a] defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.

Rescue the weak and needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

They know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

“I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’

But you will die like mere men;
you will fall like every other ruler.”

Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.

We suppose expecting bank owners to defend the poor and oppressed is not so different from the stimulus package and health care reform.

Latest Muckraker
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: