Please sign the petition below to remove the statue of Jefferson Davis currently in Kentucky’s Capitol Rotunda, and replace it with a tribute to Muhammad Ali, “the Louisville Lip” and “the Greatest of All Time.”
I just heard from the Ali family: It is the Champ’s belief that Islam prohibits three-dimensional representations of living Muslims. Accordingly, I have adjusted the petition to call for a two-dimensional representation of Ali (a portrait, picture or mural) in lieu of a statue.
UPDATE (Tuesday, December 2, 2014)
In this interview with WHAS-TV’s Joe Arnold, Governor Steve Beshear endorses the idea of honoring Muhammad Ali in the State Capitol (although he disagrees with removing Davis). Arnold explores the idea further on his weekly show, “The Powers that Be.”
Click here to check out WDRB-TV’s Lawrence Smith’s coverage of the story.
And here’s my op-ed in Ali’s hometown paper, the Louisville Courier-Journal.
UPDATE (Saturday, June 4, 2016)
In the wake of the 2015 Charlestown tragedy, in which a Confederate flag-waving murderer united the nation against racism, all of the most powerful Kentucky policymakers — U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, Governor Matt Bevin, Senate President Robert Stivers and House Speaker Greg Stumbo — called for the removal of the Davis statue from the Rotunda. Today, as we commemorate last night’s passing of Muhammad Ali, there is no better moment to replace the symbol of Kentucky’s worst era with a tribute to The Greatest of All Time.
UPDATE (Wednesday, June 8, 2016):
Great piece by Lawrence Smith of WDRB-TV in Louisville on the petition drive to replace Jefferson Davis’ statue in the Capitol Rotunda with a tribute to Muhammad Ali.
UPDATE (Thursday, June 9, 2016):
Excellent piece on the petition drive by Jack Brammer that was featured on the front page of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Highlight of the article:
Miller said he has received a few “angry comments” on his call to honor Ali.
“One of them encouraged me to kill myself,” he said. “You can quote me that I have decided not to take their advice.”
UPDATE (Friday, June 10, 2016)
The petition drives continues to show the Big Mo(hammed): check out these stories from WKYU-FM public radio in Bowling Green and WKYT-TV, Channel 27 in Lexington:
UPDATE (Saturday, June 11, 2016):
Still not convinced? Check out this excerpt from today’s New York Times:
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Mar 12, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Quentin Crisp
My introduction to foreign doctors and how the language barrier can have serious consequences ––but also teach important life lessons.
When I was 19 years old I moved to Los Angeles, CA to attend the University of Southern California (USC), famous at the time for football more than academics, but I was shooting for the stars academically and it was the best college I could get in at that time. albeit on probation. Sure, I was excited about attending a big name school like USC, but I was a lot more excited about living in the City of Angels, Los Angeles, California.
I didn’t know much about LA and was just excited to be a kid from KY moving into the big city and trying to fit in. My first few weeks out there I watched David Letterman ever night on my rented television and one night he interviewed and exotic and eccentric writer named Quentin Crisp who commented about the differences in LA and NY City. Crisp said, almost verbatim, “Los Angeles is an endless sunny paradise where everyone is beautiful and rich and awards grow on trees. But if you want to rule the world, you have to live in NY.” Heaven knows why I remember that quote, but it stuck with me and I never quite looked at LA the same after that. Clearly, it was a “beautiful people” town and although I wasn’t really cut out for that, I wanted to try to blend in and hopefully not stick out.
My first week as I was moving in, a female student from UCLA with the guys helping me move my furniture, made conversation with me and then asked her female friend to come over with her to talk to me. I was nervous and excited —but ultimately disappointed when I realized why she summoned her friend. “Oh my God, listen to him talk. Say something. He’s got the most country accent. Say something. Anything.” They then asked where I was from and I told them Kentucky. “Is that a state?” she asked. I said, “No, Kentucky was a small city in Nashville, which was a state next to the state of Tennessee.” No one laughed so I finally explained the joke. And no one laughed again. Although I was asked to repeat parts of it for the accent affect alone.
I went to the beach a lot the first few weeks. I didn’t surf or even know how to hang out at the beach like other guys in LA my age, so I tried to up my game by using something called “Sun In” to lighten my hair making it blonder and more L.A.-ish. It worked well the first day. And second day. The third day, I rubbed it in like shampoo. And it turned my hair what I suppose is a very intense shade of blonde. But most people would just call it orange. Fortunately for me, orange hair wasn’t as out of place in LA as it would have been back home in Lexington or Louisville. I just went with it and was told it would eventually grow out and that “It wasn’t obviously orange. Just from certain angles.” In other words, from some very narrow angles, I may look a little like a blonde surfer dude. But from most other angles I looked like a Southerner who had just moved to LA and tried to bleach his hair blonde but failed and accidentally dyed it orange.
Read the rest of… John Y’s Musings from the Middle: A Kentuckian in LaLa Land
By Artur Davis, on Tue Mar 12, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET
Chris Christie has conservative admirers left, and I’m hardly the only one. The Christie following on the right includes much of the audience that heard him at the Reagan Library in 2011, delivering what stands then and now as the sharpest, best rhetorical critique of Barack Obama’s contribution to Washington’s divided ways.
It takes in social conservatives who know the isolation of living inside hostile lines in the Northeast, and who have relished a voice that defends unborn life and opposes same sex marriage and can do so without resorting to condescension or seeming stuck in a time warp.
The camp also includes critics of what public sector unions have done to bloat state budgets, and what teachers unions have done to make teaching the least accountable public service, and who recognize that Christie has tamed both forces in a state where they traditionally make politicians cower.
I will claim conflict of interest on the question of whether Christie ought to speak at the upcoming CPAC event (full disclosure, I am one of what an MSNBC reporter called the developmental league of lesser talents who will speak at the convention: it’s a chance to hone our meager skills before a small intimate gathering!) But the broader question of whether Christie helps strengthen the Republican coalition is not really close. While lacking Mitt Romney’s capacity to write a $3800 check, I’ll cast the same vote in favor of Christie’s relevance and his potential.
By Lisa Borders, on Mon Mar 11, 2013 at 3:00 PM ET
Wow, that happened faster than I ever imagined.
Our problem solvers group has been growing by leaps and bounds. And now we’ve hit an unbelievable milestone – we added our 50th member of Congress!
You read that right. No Labels has brought 50 members of Congress to the table, ready to put their differences aside and build trust across the aisle.Finally, our leaders have a place to work together, face-to-face.
In this age of political dysfunction, that’s no small feat. But this is how our democracy is supposed to look.This is how we fix Washington and build a brighter future for our country.
By joining the group, these lawmakers are putting their country ahead of their party and we need to support our problem solvers and thank them for their commitment.
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Mar 11, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET
If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Recovering Politician‘s KY Political Brief (click here RIGHT NOW to do so — It’s delivered daily to your inbox FOR FREE!), here’s what you missed over the past few days about the potential epic 2014 U.S. Senate battle between Ashley Judd and Mitch McConnell, as well as the potential 2016 presidential bid of Rand Paul:
ASHLEY JUDD : Actress, Activist Planning To Declare Candidacy, Sources Say – Howard Fineman – “Judd told one close ally that she plans to announce her run for the Democratic nomination for the 2014 race “around Derby” — meaning in early May when the Kentucky Derby brings national attention to Louisville and the Bluegrass State. … “I know she knows she has to declare soon,” said one source, a highly placed elected official who declined to be identified because he was discussing private plans. …”She could always change her mind,” he added. “I changed my mind twice before I finally declared. But as of now it is a done deal.” She has discussed her plans, sources say, with former Gov. Wendell H. Ford, the 88-year-old dean of Kentucky Democrats, among others.” [HuffPo]
—How Ashley Judd Can Win – BuzzFeed – “If Ashley Judd wants to get serious about running for U.S. Senate, she’ll have to do in Kentucky what her predecessors — and she has many — did before her to get out of Hollywood and into politics. Clint Eastwood and Sonny Bono; Arnold Schwarzenegger and Fred Thompson; Al Franken and, of course, Ronald Reagan all faced the same suggestions that they were just lightweights playing their latest roles. But they all won, according to the people who ran their long-shot races, by following roughly the same formula: starting early, staying local, and preventing their celebrity from weighing “like a huge tire around the neck” on the campaign trail.” [BuzzFeed]
—Ashley Judd Will Have to Launch Charm Offensive to Overcome Liberal Past [US News & World Report]
—What Ashley Judd could learn from Al Franken [National Journal]
2014 DERBY — Are Clinton and Ford holding out for Grimes as the Democrats’ 2014 Senate candidate? [CN|2 Politics]
—Possible McConnell challenger denies any role in trading scandal at former firm [The Hill]
RAND PAUL op-ed: My filibuster was just the beginning – The Washington Post – “If I had planned to speak for 13 hours when I took the Senate floor Wednesday, I would’ve worn more comfortable shoes. I started my filibuster with the words, “I rise today to begin to filibuster John Brennan’s nomination for the CIA. I will speak until I can no longer speak” — and I meant it.
‘I wanted to sound an alarm bell from coast to coast. I wanted everybody to know that our Constitution is precious and that no American should be killed by a drone without first being charged with a crime. As Americans, we have fought long and hard for the Bill of Rights. The idea that no person shall be held without due process, and that no person shall be held for a capital offense without being indicted, is a founding American principle and a basic right. …
‘At about 6:30 p.m., something extraordinary happened. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who has been recovering from a stroke, came to the floor to give me something. I was not allowed to drink anything but water or eat anything but the candy left in our Senate desks. But he brought me an apple and a thermos full of tea — the same sustenance Jimmy Stewart brought to the Senate floor in the movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” That was a moment I will never forget.” [The Washington Post]
Personally, I am still confused by the difference between time being “digital” or “analog.”
===
I thought I could pull it off today for the very first time. In fact, I was determined to and even promised myself I would not retreat from my commitment–no matter what.
And I held off for a record period of time. But I just can’t pull it off and have to come to grips with the fact that I am going to have to, no matter how humiliating and degrading and personally disappointing to me and those who count on me, ask….
“Would somebody please tell me what time it really is now?”
By Erica and Matt Chua, on Mon Mar 11, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET
Are we going to see a bunch of sand? Do we have enough water? Why are we visiting the desert anyways? These are the questions I asked myself as the alarm sounded at an alarmingly early 7AM. The desert doesn’t have much to offer us humans, in fact, the word “inhospitable” comes to mind, inhospitable as in “stay out!” By the end of the day though I was glad we did some desert exploring in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
Follow this guy into the desert? Seemed like the start of an Indian Jones movie…
Visiting the desert was high on our list of things to do in Jordan, but then we got there. It cost roughly 20 times more than we were prepared to pay, offered less than half of the things we’d want to see, and, to top it all off, seemed like it was going to be way more work than I was willing to expend to be dry roasted. When I saw inexpensive tours from Dahab in the Sinai I thought, “why not?” and signed up for the Colored Canyon and White Desert Safari.
By Garrett Renfro, RP Staff, on Fri Mar 8, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET
The Politics of Faith
The College of Cardinals have gathered in Rome and settled on a date to begin the process of electing a new Pope. The Conclave is set to begin on Tuesday, March 12 and continue until a successor for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is elected. Though most Cardinals claim that the process is immune to political lobbying, many outsiders consider this to be a disingenuous assertion. In an article for the Guardian, Sam Jones discusses the vast differences and similarities among the heavy favorites. [Guardian]
The Kentucky State Senate passed House Bill 279 yesterday evening. The bill dubbed “The Religious Freedom Restoration Act” has caused a major stir over the last week. Proponents suggest that the act will help ensure freedom from religious persecution in the state. Opponents fear that the bill is a veiled gutting of local civil rights ordinances in such cities as Louisville, Lexington, Covington and Vicco. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 29-6 has been sent to Governor Beshear for his signature or veto.[C-J]
In a surprising about-face former President Bill Clinton, in an op-ed for the Washington Post, has called on the Supreme Court to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. Though President Clinton signed DOMA into law, he has now admitted that the law is Unconstitutional, acknowledging that the world was a much different place 17 years ago. Clinton’s turnabout will likely send shock waves through the gay rights movement as well as the ranks of those advocating for “traditional” marriage ahead of the Supreme Court taking the matter up on March 27.
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Mar 8, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Confession.
Not like St Augustine’s….but a more modern version with dental implications.
I would like to make a public confession about something I have been deliberately deceptive about for over 40 years.
I continue promising things will change, but frankly, they never have. And I feel guilt and shame…and mild pain that is helped only by Anbesol gel.
For over 40 years when asked by the dental hygienist and/or dentist “Are you flossing regularly?” I also lead them to believe I have been flossing more than I really have—and to make matters worse—add that I will do better before the next appointment. But don’t.
(Once I indicated a flossed with some limited regularity when, in fact, I hadn’t flossed even once in the last 6 months. Except with the corner of sugar packages and once with a toothpick.)
Over 40 years of cumulative deceit can weigh heavy on a man’s heart. And on his dental health. And I need to come clean.
So I can again, look myself in the eye in the mirror. And at the three remaining wisdom teeth when flossing.
If not for my teeth, I need to at least do it for my soul.
Blog this!
