By Jonathan Miller, on Mon May 16, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Today, I’m thrilled to announce that I have joined the contributing team of writers at one of the most popular and prominent Web sites in the country — The Huffington Post.
I will write regularly on national issues for their site and cross-post those pieces here at The Recovering Politician.
My first piece is a big one: I’m coming out of the closet to support gay marriage. As you will read, it is a very important personal moment for me, but also a challenge to others to make the same admission, or to consider changing their mind on the issue.
I conclude by urging the nation’s most prominent fence-sitter to join me publicly on the side of marriage equality.
Here is an excerpt from my essay:
Yep, I’m for gay marriage.
I’ve lived a lie for most of my adult life. As a statewide elected official in Kentucky — an inner notch of the Bible Belt — I understood that coming out of the closet for gay marriage was tantamount to political suicide: an overwhelming majority of my constituents opposed it.
But now as a recovering politician, I feel both liberated and morally compelled to holler from the cyber-rooftops: I’m proud as hell, and I’m not going to fake it any more!
Growing up in Kentucky, gay marriage was never a topic of discussion.
But late nights of philosophical experimentation in college helped me discover that I’d been for marriage equality all my life. With a father who’d marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., and a mother who’d been a statewide force for women’s rights, the notion that we were all created equal was absurdly obvious. As a Jew growing up in the South, I knew what it was like to feel discriminated, to be other. And that same faith taught me to “love your neighbor as yourself” and to “judge not, lest you be judged,” making marriage equality a natural extension of my core beliefs.
Of course, as always, I would like to hear your comments, particularly if you disagree with my position and/or you wish to critique the timing or substance of my admission.
Please use the comments section below to share your opinions and stories.
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon May 16, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
As evidenced by my very first post on this site, I am a passionate and often times irrational fan of the University of Kentucky Wildcat basketball team.
One of my favorite all-time players was a rural Eastern Kentucky-reared shooting guard named Richie Farmer. Farmer played during a pivotal Wildcat era: the first four years of Coach Rick Pitino’s rebulding mission, which followed a series of recruiting scandals that had brought the team to the brink of an NCAA-imposed death penalty. The ragtag squad of lesser talents –through unselfish, gritty play — over-achieved to the point of almost scoring one of the biggest upsets in college basketball lore. (Ugh — yes, this was the 1992 regional final against Duke University that provided the worst moment in world history.) The squad is still known popularly as “The Unforgettables.”
Indeed, Farmer was the most popular player on the team, and one of the most-beloved Wildcats of all time. His country roots, his trademark mustache, and his history as a prolific scoring, home-grown high school “Mr. Basketball,” made him into a living legend, particularly among those extraordinarily passionate rural fans who live to the far west and far east of Central Kentucky’s “Golden Triangle” that extends between Lexington, Louisville and the southern suburbs of Cincinnati.
Frankly, after Richie was overwhelmingly elected the state’s Agriculture Commissioner and occupied an office directly across the hall of mine in the State Capitol Annex when I was State Treasurer, I was a bit starstruck. While famously oratorically challenged, Richie turned out to be a decent, kind, friendly neighbor.
And while Richie endured a little negative press when first entering office — the new fellow-GOP Governor had hired Farmer’s relatives to state jobs — the press mostly treated Farmer with kid gloves. Farmer got away with things for which other state officials would have been crucified: such as spending thousands of taxpayer dollars in 2006 to distribute Richie Farmer bobbleheads at the state high school tournamen; or running a seemingly endless loop of state-financed television ads promoting Kentucky produce, starring himself and his Unforgettable teammates.
But when State Senate President David Williams chose Farmer to serve as his running mate in his 2011 gubernatorial campaign, the scrutiny became considerably more intense. And in recent months, a steady stream of articles have revealed Farmer’s ultra-liberal spending practices during an unprecedented state fiscal crisis:
Read Farmer’s responses (usually through a spokeman) in each of the links. An obvious sense of entitlement resonates: He deserves special treament, doesn’t he?
And who could blame him for feeling this way? Since a young high school student, Farmer has been treated as something of a demi-god. UK basketball players are our local royalty: They live in a specially equipped luxury dormitory; They are coddled by administrators and boosters; They are literally the biggest men on campus.
For nearly his entire life, Farmer’s been told that he’s special, he’s different. Why wouldn’t he think that he’d be exempt from the same budget slashing that the faceless, nameless bureaucrats have to endure? This is perhaps why David Williams, a bit inartfully, excused Farmer’s luxury expenditures on his “celebrity status.”
But a more careful argument might focus on Richie Farmer’s four-year period of indentured servitude to the University of Kentucky and the general fan population. For four years, Farmer provided enjoyment to millions of Kentuckians, as a teenager and young adult, with no pay, and with all of the privacy complications that much older celebrities have to endure.
So readers, I ask you to weigh in. Do we owe our former athletes a special compensation for the joy they brought us for free and the inconveniences they must endure? Or once you enter politics are you held to the same rigorous standards that we apply to everyone else in the arena?
Do you find Farmer’s conduct par for the court? Or is Richie’s behavior unforgiveable and unforgettable?
By Chris Schulz, RP Staff, on Fri May 13, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET
Politics of the Planet
Good news for animals who may be endangered but do not have that distinction from the US government yet. [nytimes.com]
The Mississippi River flooding is wreaking havoc on cities and its occupants. It is also displacing wild animals who are coming into contact with humans. Mosquitoes, leeches, and snakes are also following the rising river banks. [cnn.com]
A year after the spill, five new offshore drilling sites are approved. [wsj.com]
“Green-washing” is becoming more popular among large companies hoping to cash in on the trend. Know exactly what you are buying. [huffingtonpost.com]
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri May 13, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Our newest Friend of RP, Abigail Miller, made quite an impression when she made her TV debut at the ripe old age of 22 months. As you will see at the very end of the Friday Video Flashback below, Abby sits quietly as her older sister — then 4 year old, Emily — steals the spotlight with her adorable bravado, yelling “I’m for Daddy!”
Abigail actually had a unexpected speaking role that wound up on the editing room floor. After about the seventh take, Abby started to mimic her sister. Unfortunately, with the pacifier in her mouth, all that came out was “Mmm mmm mmm m!”
Abigail also appeared in an earlier commercial. Sitting in her high chair while her father recited his lines, Abby went to work on a chocolate popsicle for about 20 minutes. After the tenth take, popsicle fully ingested, Abby lifted her arms and yelled: “All done!” The director knew better than to rebuf his star, so shooting was shut down for the day.
Another cute aside: In the following ad, the little “future Democrat” holding the Miller for Congress sign about 5 seconds into the video is Conrad Bandaroff, son of the RP’s good friends, Holly and Craig Bandaroff, thoroughbred horse farmers who bred and co-owned Animal Kingdom, winner of last weekend’s Kentucky Derby. Unfortunately, the RP didn’t learn this fact until after he placed his wager on Derby Day.
The experts agree: there’s only so much sunscreen can help, no matter the SPF level. [Washington Post]
Fox News recommends some natural allergy remedies, in case that Zyrtec isn’t helping. [Fox News]
A $2 million research project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will photograph Texas students’ lunch trays before they sit down to eat and later take a snapshot of the leftovers. Smile kids, you’re on calorie camera! [Huffington Post]
I first ran for office as an ordinary citizen from New Hampshire in 2004. My hope when I ran was to help change the course of the nation and to effectively represent the people of my state with independence, integrity and imagination. I was fortunate to meet those goals before joining the ranks of The Recovering Politician.
I was part of a historic new majority in the House of Representatives and was chosen by my peers as President of the Freshman Class of 2006. I served on the Oversight and Government reform committee and the Financial Services committee during a period of unprecedented activity.
As a freshman congressman from the first in the nation primary state, I was courted by Presidential candidates. I believed that the wave of change that swept me into office was not finished and that business as usual in Washington needed some shaking up. Against all odds, I decided to support a long-shot candidate for whom change was a theme, Barack Obama. I had the honor of serving as a national co-chair for the President’s first campaign.
The wave elections of 2006 and 2008 were countered by the tsunami of 2010 when I decided not to run for my congressional seat; instead I ran, unsuccessfully, for the United States Senate. Politics has a lot to do with timing and luck. You can’t surf a tsunami. As a musician I should know a bit about timing. Suffice it to say, I had quite a while to confront the idea of political afterlife while I ran for the Senate, a tremendous experience nonetheless.
Read the rest of… Paul Hodes: On the Way to Recovery & Renewal
Another great day tomorrow includes a Friday Video Flashback, and the debut of our 18th and final member of our inaugural class of contributing recovering politicians. A former U.S. Congressman, he shares his fascinating story of recovery and rebound.
TGTF (Thank Goodness Tomorrow’s Friday). See you then!
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu May 12, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Speed
Animal Kingdom (shown left, in the lead) was the eventual winner of the most exciting two minutes in sports. Animal Kingdom and owner Barry Irwin now look forward to the Preakness where they will attempt to win the second out of the three triple crown races. [ESPN]
In contrast to the jubilation from the Animal Kingdom camp, there is also sadness. After the race concluded it was announced that Archarcharch would retire from racing due to a fractured front left leg that was suffered at the beginning of the race. [ESPN]
In the world of NASCAR, both Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick have been fined $25,000 and placed on probation for the next four Sprint Cup point races. This punishment stems from pit road “violations” last week at Darlington. [NASCAR.com]
If you would like to watch the “violations” after last week’s race at Darlington, please check out the following link. Such “violations” would get you arrested outside of the race track. [Mocksession]
Jimmie Johnson is the most influential athlete in America (according to a recent Forbes study), beating out New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady who came in at number two. Fellow NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. took home third. [Yahoo! Sports]
