By popular demand…OK, the RP’s mom insisted…we have embedded below video of the RP’s appearance yesterday on Fox News.
As you will watch, the anchor puts in a great plug for The Recovering Politician web site, giving the RP an opportunity to shamefully repeat the mantra he’s been using on the speaking circuit for the past three years: “Hi, I’m Jonathan, and I’m a recovering politician…”
If you are interested in learning more about the No Labels movement that he references — and/or want to sign up for next summer’s No Labels convention in Orlando, Florida, click here.
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Sep 28, 2011 at 11:00 AM ET
I’ve been touched by the outpouring of emails I received yesterday about the passing of my dear friend Owsley Brown, for whom I wrote a short tribute yesterday. He obviously has touched so many people’s lives in such a profoundly positive way. Click here for a lovely obituary in his hometown newspaper this morning.
As promised, I wanted to share with you the ways in which you can honor his memory, according to the wishes of his family.
If you are in the Louisville area, you can pay respect to Owsley and his family at the following events:
Thursday, 9/29, from 3-6 PM: a public visitation will be held at The Speed Art Museum, 2035 South 3rd Street, on the University of Louisville campus.
Friday, 9/30 at 10 AM, his funeral will be held at Christ Church Cathedral, 421 South Second Street, in downtown Louisville.
Owsley Brown II lived a life that mattered, one defined by his generosity, compassion, and love of his neighbors, particularly those most vulnerable. If your life was touched by Owsley like mine, or if his story moves you to follow in his example, I strongly encourage you to support the organizations that I linked above. Thank you.
In 15 minutes, the RP will be appearing LIVE via satellite on Fox News, “America’s Newsroom” with Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum. For ten minutes he will be discussing our dysfunctional political system and offering some ideas on how to fix it.
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Sep 27, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
Kentucky lost a giant last night.
Owsley Brown II, was best known for serving as Chairman and CEO of Brown-Forman, a Fortune 500 corporation, but his enduring legacy will be for doing good, after doing so well.
Brown was a very active and visible civic leader in Louisville who emerged ultimately as one of Kentucky’s most generous and profilic philathropists — a supporter of the arts, the environment, historic preservation, and hundreds of noble causes, large and small.
Owlsey Brown also happened to be a genuinely warm, steadfastly sincere, and eternally gracious and graceful human being. I lost a dear friend last night, a mentor, adviser, and champion. And so did so many other Kentuckians of my generation, whom Owsley so passionately nurtured and lifted upward. He truly believed in giving back to the community that gave so much to him, and in paying forward all of the support that others had provided him along the way.
I’ve recently bristled at the overuse of the cliche that we should offer the grieving “our thoughts and our prayers.” But as his widow (an extraordinary civic leader in her own right, Christy Brown) and his whole family mourns Owsley’s loss, I hope each of us will look into our own hearts, explore our individual religious and spiritual traditions, and take meaningful action to honor his memory.
When I learn of Owsley and Christy’s wishes for more formal ways to honor his memory, I will post them here.
Yesterday, the RP published a provocative piece here and at The Huffington Post, urging President Obama to firmly and strongly object to unilateral U.N. action on a two-state solution, giving the President a two-part message:
Obama has a simple, fair, and logical message to share: First, each party to the problem must have ownership of the solution: imposing borders unilaterally is not in the spirit of the U.N.’s mission. And second, if Palestine merits formal global recognition, then Israel too — finally — deserves its full acceptance as a Jewish state by Palestine and all of its neighbors, an integral element of any compromise solution.
Of course, President Obama listened to the RP and immediately complied by delivering a speech to the United Nations General Assembly. (OK, just maybe it was planned in advance of the RP’s article.):
Now, I know that many are frustrated by the lack of progress. I assure you, so am I. But the question isn’t the goal that we seek — the question is how do we reach that goal. And I am convinced that there is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades. Peace is hard work. Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the United Nations — if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now. Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians who must live side by side. Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians — not us –- who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them: on borders and on security, on refugees and Jerusalem.
Ultimately, peace depends upon compromise among people who must live together long after our speeches are over, long after our votes have been tallied…We seek a future where Palestinians live in a sovereign state of their own, with no limit to what they can achieve. There’s no question that the Palestinians have seen that vision delayed for too long. It is precisely because we believe so strongly in the aspirations of the Palestinian people that America has invested so much time and so much effort in the building of a Palestinian state, and the negotiations that can deliver a Palestinian state.
But understand this as well: America’s commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable. Our friendship with Israel is deep and enduring. And so we believe that any lasting peace must acknowledge the very real security concerns that Israel faces every single day.
Let us be honest with ourselves: Israel is surrounded by neighbors that have waged repeated wars against it. Israel’s citizens have been killed by rockets fired at their houses and suicide bombs on their buses. Israel’s children come of age knowing that throughout the region, other children are taught to hate them. Israel, a small country of less than eight million people, look out at a world where leaders of much larger nations threaten to wipe it off of the map. The Jewish people carry the burden of centuries of exile and persecution, and fresh memories of knowing that six million people were killed simply because of who they are. Those are facts. They cannot be denied.
The Jewish people have forged a successful state in their historic homeland. Israel deserves recognition. It deserves normal relations with its neighbors. And friends of the Palestinians do them no favors by ignoring this truth, just as friends of Israel must recognize the need to pursue a two-state solution with a secure Israel next to an independent Palestine.
The RP Nation had its say as well. The RP’s article unleashed a torrent of comments here, at The Huffington Post, on Facebook, and via email.
One consistent thread from all sides of the ideological debate: The ROP screwed up when he stated the Yom Kippur War occurred in 1974. It was 1973. We are confident that the RP will seek absolution for this mistake on Yom Kippur, this year, 2009.
Here is a representative sample, protecting the identities of the innocent:
Read the rest of… “Obama’s Defining Moment on Israel”: The Response
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Sep 21, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
For my column this week in The Huffington Post, I draw upon a seminal childhood memory — sparked by my recent trip to Europe — to comment on a subject of great personal and religious import: the security and survival of the State of Israel.
I also offer President Obama some advice on how to address President Mahmoud Abbas’ current efforts to force a United Nations vote on Palestinian statehood.
Here’s an excerpt:
As I gaze out my airplane’s window, across the runway of Munich’s International Airport, I flash back to my childhood, and am reminded of what truly is at stake today for my ancestral homeland of Israel.
Early memories can leave indelible marks. My teenage daughters, and many of their generation, will forever be influenced by the events of 9-11. Younger Boomers found their worldviews permanently transformed by the assassinations of the sixties, of Kennedys and King.
My seminal memory is of the 1972 tragedy that transpired on another runway in Munich. The halcyon harmony of the Olympic Village was ravaged by hooded terrorists who brutally murdered eleven Israeli athletes — nine of them on a Munich tarmac — through a hail of gunfire and grenades, as a global television audience prayed in vain for their rescue.
The 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich were supposed to be a transcendent moment for the Jewish people: A penitent Germany symbolically renouncing its Nazi past; while a proud American Jew, Mark Spitz, set standards for swimming that were only recently surpassed by Michael Phelps.
Instead, Jews around the world were vividly reminded of the fragility of their newfound security. And a young boy in Lexington, Kentucky began to understand what being Jewish really meant.
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Sep 15, 2011 at 1:00 PM ET
At some point, I will give our loyal readers a full and mostly serious account of my amazing journey through Italy this past week.
But first, let me share my most two overwhelming impressions, of beer and Pisa.
First, beer. See the picture above. There really is Duff beer. It’s not just for Homer anymore. (And wasn’t the original Homer Greek, not Roman?)
Second, Pisa. It was absolutely amazing to see the Tower of Pisa (which is a lot smaller in person than you imagine, just as Michaelangelo’s David is a lot bigger). What an incredible thrill it was to stand in the same place where Galileo and Rick Perry dropped the pizza to disprove the scientific community’s misplaced faith in global warming and a round earth! Quite humbling.
But just like climate change and rough earth theory, the so-called “Leaning” Tower of Pisa is just yet another conspiracy. Check out the picture below. The Tower and I are perfectly straight, while the rest of Pisa leans to the right.
Another tragic myth perpetuated by the mainstream media, debunked exclusively here for the RP Nation.
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Sep 14, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
OK, so it’s not Oscar season. Not even close.
But wandering this week through the back alley ways of Italy reminded me of the extraordinary contributions of Italian-Americans to our modern cinema: Scorsese, Coppola, Tarantino, Brando, De Niro, Pacino, Pesci, Travolta, Poppy from Seinfeld (seen at left with Italian-American (?) Cosmo Kramer), yaddio, yaddio, yaddio…
Maybe it’s the Italian air — or my own conspiratorial fantasies — but I’ve concluded that too many of the above greats have something quite compelling in common: the tragedy of losing an Oscar award that they manifestly deserved, to a much inferior, non-Italian-American film/director/actor.
5. 1974: Al Pacino (Godfather, Part II) loses to Art Carney (Harry and Tonto)
Godfather II is my favorite movie, period. Probably because of the entry of politics into the narrative and the focus on the Jewish mafia’s powerful role (via Lee Strassberg’s portrayal of Meyer Lansky stand-in Hyman Roth), Part II ekes out Part I for the greatest movie of all time. And throughout the magnificent duology (I choose to forget the very good, but not closely comparable Part III), Al Pacino is simply sublime as the lead protagonist, Michael Corleone. His oh-so-subtle and delicate embodiment of the young idealist family man who transforms into a furious, violent mobster is to me the greatest acting of his generation. That the Best Actor nod went to Marlon Brando in Part I is forgivable if only due to the legend’s common ancestry. But losing to Art Carney because of the Academy’s sympathy for a long career and a signature role on The Honeymooners (of all shows!) is tragedia of the highest form. The only redemption came in 1992, when Pacino most undeservedly got the same career honorific Academy treatment when won his first Oscar for his strident over-acting in the forgettable Scent of a Woman.
4. 1976: Robert DeNiro (Taxi Driver) succumbs to the late Peter Finch (Network)
While Robert DeNiro did pick up the Best Supporting Actor for his brilliant work in Godfather II (speaking almost entirely in Sicilian-Italian), two years later he was robbed of his first Best Actor statue for the finest acting of his long, incredible career — his portrayal of the deranged Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Deniro’s maniacal energy was palpable in every scene, yet his most indelible work was opposite the young Jodie Foster: DeNiro showed the romantic humanity deep inside a very disturbed man. DeNiro’s method in this movie has inspired a generation of actors — and, unfortunately, John Hinckley as well — but again, the overly-nostalgic Academy selected a guy whose death preceded the award ceremony by only a few months. When I remember this Oscar theft, I become as MAD AS HELL AND I JUST CAN’T TAKE IT ANY MORE! Sorry about that…You talkin’ to me?!? You talkin’ to me?!?
3. 1980: Martin Scorsese’s Oscar for Raging Bull is stolen by Robert Redford (Ordinary People)
While DeNiro finally won the Best Actor nod that was rightfully his a few years earlier, the picture in which he starred, Raging Bull, was outrageously robbed of the Best Picture award by the maudlin, effete, and treacly Ordinary People, and worse: Martin Scorsese’s masterful directing was eclipsed by Robert Redford’s Hallmark special orchestration. I’ve made clear in an earlier post of my self-awareness toward an “anti-pretty boy bias,” but while Redford’s acting was always under-rated, and his film festival hosting and environmental activism are quite admirable; when it comes to direction, he does not belong in the same league as Scorsese. And worst of all, it would be precisely a decade later when another pretty boy with environmental inclinations would steal yet another Best Picture and Best Director nod from the much more deserving Scorsese…
Read the rest of… The RP’s Five Worst Oscar Robberies of Italian-Americans
By Andrei Cherny, on Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 11:00 AM ET
It has become a universally acknowledged truth in coverage of the 2012 presidential campaign, one repeated with increased fervor with each dismal jobs report, that no president has won reelection with an unemployment rate above 7.2 percent. But always there is the caveat: . . . since Franklin Roosevelt in 1936.In the aftermath of Thursday night’s presidential address on jobs, that caveat should be more than an afterthought. FDR’s victory three-quarters of a century ago has important parallels to the situation in which President Obama finds himself and provides vital lessons if he is to be similarly successful.
While Roosevelt had been elected in 1932 during a period of economic collapse, four years later the economy was still struggling. Unemployment in 1936 was 16.6 percent. The moment of national unity that marked Roosevelt’s first hundred days had petered out, leaving behind a general dissatisfaction with large-scale, inefficient government bureaucracies and their stratospheric levels of federal spending and debt.
Newspapers had coined the term “boondoggle” to describe the high-end dog shelters, city zoo monkey houses, safety pin studies and other New Deal projects that attempted to stimulate the economy. New entitlement programs such as Social Security had been passed, over strong opposition, but had yet to take effect.
While Obama might confront the propaganda machine of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News, Roosevelt faced off against a relatively more powerful William Randolph Hearst and his newspaper empire. In 1936 two-thirds of Americans read newspapers, which were vociferously anti-New Deal. Today, the Tea Party and a network of organizations funded by the Koch family and others focus their attacks on Obama. In 1936, charges of creeping socialism and the savaging of the Constitution were launched by the Liberty League and its affiliated groups, funded by a flood of money from the du Pont family and major corporations.And yet when Election Day arrived, Roosevelt won by a landslide of historic proportions.
The differences between Roosevelt’s era and Obama’s are too numerous to list. Nevertheless, Obama and his advisers have much to learn from Roosevelt’s triumph.
First, Roosevelt constantly underscored the contrast between his plan and his opponents’ fealty to the policies and ideas that, in the decade before his election, had led directly to the Great Depression.
Read the rest of… Andrei Cherny: FDR’s Lessons for Obama
More than five months into this grand Web experiment, we continue to tinker with the site to address your suggestions and interests.
Beginning today, we will start a new feature: “Breaking News” Every day, when the moment suggests, we will provide some news and links to critical news, politics and culture information. We’re hoping to make The Recovering Politician a one-stop shop for all of your information needs.
Initially, we continue to expand our roster of subjects. Stay tuned for weekly updates on “The Politics of Food,” “The Politics of the States,” and “The Politics of College.”
And as always, we want to hear from you. What are we doing wrong? What can we do better? What are we missing?
Just send us your emails to staff@TheRecovering Politician.com or comment below.
