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:
Q: I recently lost a primary race, largely because a bunch of elected officials I had helped for years ended up screwing me. What’s the best way to get back at them? —Name and location withheld
By not spending another minute thinking about getting back at them.
One day in prison, a veteran convict pulled me aside and told me that his brother-in-law had told the feds where his (cocaine) bricks were. “Wow,” I said. “What did you do to him?”
“Thought about the motherf—– for my first three years straight,” he said. “Laid awake every night. Worst three years of my life. But then one day I let it go. Just like that. ’Cause you can’t do time like that. Your boy with the wire…you can’t even think about [the] dude. It’ll make you crazy.” It was the best advice I got in prison; after that, I rarely thought about my ex–best friend.
Your resentment is weighing you down and will reduce the odds of you succeeding in your next endeavor, which would be the best revenge.
By the way, in the future, don’t help others in the hope that they’ll reciprocate. Help people you truly want to see succeed, and then be pleasantly surprised if they reciprocate.
Q: In your last column, some would-be candidate told you he hated asking for money. Instead of providing constructive advice on how to do it, you gave him glib advice about marrying a rich person and other long-shot strategies. How about a better answer? —J.J., New York City
Asking for money can be soul-crushing. But unless we enshrine the public financing of campaigns, it will be a necessary evil. That said, here’s some practical advice about how to make it feel less seamy—and how to succeed at it:
When you first meet a prospective donor, ask for general advice. A few weeks later when an issue arises on which she has expertise, call her and ask for specific advice, but do not ask for money. Then two weeks after that, ask her if she’d be willing to serve in an advisory role on your campaign, a member of “Businesswomen for J.J.” or something. If she agrees, ask for money two weeks later.
Why will this work? First, because now she’s much more invested in you than she would have been had you asked initially. Second, it’s like dating: An attractive woman at a bar gets hit on 10 times a night. A guy can distinguish himself by approaching her without asking her out. When he leaves, she often thinks about the guy who didn’t hit on her more than about the dozen who did.
In other words, after the first few conversations, your prospective donor may be intrigued by the fact that you haven’t asked for money. It’s a fine line to walk, but you can be persistent without being desperate.
Read the rest of… Jeff Smith: Do As I Say — A Political Advice Column
In last week’s debate, Mitt Romney opened a can of worms, threatening to cut PBS funding even though “he loves Big Bird”. People started tweeting, chirping, and otherwise chiming in almost instantaneously – sure, there were plenty of comments about the basic math mistake (PBS funding is .012% of the national budget, so it hardly counts as responsible for our borrowing from China), misplaced priorities (how come adding a $5 trillion tax cut and boosting an already inflated defense budget don’t also concern Romney), and more, but the biggest outcry came on behalf of the big yellow bird himself. Now even without public funding, Sesame Street would go on, thanks to generous viewers, sponsorship, and highly successful merchandising (“Tickle Me Elmo”, anyone). But it was a fascinating illustration of the huge impact of public television for children, now that a couple of generations have grown up with Sesame Street and the other popular shows.
I’m going to date myself here by admitting that Sesame Street didn’t go on the air until I was already in elementary school, but I still remember it vividly (and loved to watch the other shows from my day, including the original Electric Company). My husband was 3 at that time, so he was the absolute perfect target audience and watched avidly. (Yes, I’m a cradle-robbing cougar, and I love it!) And I was re-introduced to PBS kids’ shows when I had my own kids – they particularly loved the music videos, like “Put Down The Ducky (If You Want To Play The Saxophone)”. I loved the puns that were clearly designed to keep us bleary parents entertained, like Ethel Mermaid singing “I Get a Kick Out Of U”. And PBS was great about generally making sure its kids programming appealed to parents – I can’t be the only mother who noticed that the adorable young men who hosted Blues Clues were pretty easy on the eyes.
Whether you agree or disagree with him, Romney clearly touched a nerve – so in tribute to PBS programming in general, Big Bird in particular, and the Sesame Street tradition of fun music, here’s a musical plea for our favorite large yellow non-flying bird . . .
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Tue Oct 9, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
Welcome to the new and improved Tuesday edition of your Recovering Politician Bowl update!
Our low scorer of the week, at 70 points was the aptly named Bungals, managed by RP Webmaster Justin Burnette, while the week’s high scorer at 126 points was The Dirty Diapers, who are managed by Friends of RP Rebecca and Jacob Parker.
This week saw yours truly, the hero of this story, take his rightful place at the top of the leaderboard with a 4-1 record. Bringing up the rear of the standings are the Bandits and Augies, each at 1-4.
Biden will most likely be on the attack from the start.
I think his first attacks will sound good and score points, but his problem will be Ryan knows the facts better than Biden and his counterpunches will land and Joe won’t know what to do. That is when we will get the gaffe or crazy sound bite we are all expecting.
The only thing Biden has going for him is everyone thinks he will mess it up and the expectations for him are very low. This is Ryan’s first big debate so nobody knows what to expect from him but I bet we will get a heavy dose of gas prices, personal income and deficit talk. If Biden hits to hard it will be easy for Ryan to use some of his own comments against him.
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Oct 9, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Disappointing iPhone discoveries.
I am very disappointed with the camera app I discovered last night on my iphone that also records video.
It’s a very cool app, for sure. Not being critical of the app or of how it works. In fact, it actually works extremely well–which is really the cause of my problem.
It was the disappointing quality of what I decided to record that is bothering me.
But then again I am probably being way too hard on myself.
I mean think about, how many people have ever said the words, “OMG, I just recorded myself singing and I sound much better than I even imagined I would.”
Not many. And I am in the majority.
Was hoping I sounded like an aging American version of Paul McCartney singing Blackbird. Instead it sounded more like my father’s half-hearted attempts to sing along with the hymnals at church before he’d eventually stop because he didn’t want to call attention to himself for carrying a poor melody.
Maybe Apple should include a warning saying, “Actual recordings will sound like a time your parents sang and embarrassed you and not like the singer you are impersonating.” That might help a little.
Very disappointing discovery, and the last time I’ll be pointing that app in my direction.
Here’s my last video recording of me ever on my iPhone. Without the audio. Because, frankly, I learned last night that I look much better singing “Blackbird” than I sound.
In an aptly headlined article in The New School News, “Recovering Politician on the Political Divide,” contributing RP Jeff Smith is profiled on his heightened visibility during the media’s inquiry into controversial comments made by Smith’s former legislative colleague, Missouri U.S. Senate candidate, Todd Akin:
Following Representative Todd Akin’s controversial statement about “legitimate rape” in August, much of the media expected the Republican senate nominee from Missouri to give up his election bid. But Jeff Smith, assistant professor of politics at the Milano School for International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy, knew better. Having served as a Democrat in the Missouri State Senate from 2006–2009, Smith is accustomed to Republican Party dominance in his home state—and understands why Akin’s extreme views could be an electoral advantage.
When teaching graduate students at The New School about the electoral and political system, Smith has more experience than time spent in the statehouse. As punishment for a minor campaign law infraction, Smith spent much of 2010 in federal prison, giving him a particularly personal understanding of the gray areas of campaign management and the legislative process. For Smith, Missouri is a perfect microcosm to discuss the widening divide between the left and the right at the national level.
“I think red states are getting redder and blue states are getting bluer,” says Smith, attributing this movement in part to increased mobility that accompanied the Interstate Highway System and inexpensive air travel. “People like to live near people who are like them,” explains Smith. “When travel is relatively affordable, conservatives can easily move from the coasts to the heartland, and liberals can move from the heartland to the coasts.”
By Nancy Slotnick, on Tue Oct 9, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET
I just recently heard this phrase “what’s your scary age?” It refers to women’s biological clock. It implies that women are scared of the limitations of their own bodies when it comes to fertility. Which we are.
There’s nothing like the last minute. In college I used to wait until the day before a paper was due before starting it. The theory was that if I started earlier the work would just expand to fit all that extra time that I had. If I waited until the night before and had some good coffee (or Jolt- the predecessor to Red Bull- you can see I’m at a scary age!) then the pressure of the procrastination would Jolt me into getting it done. That drink was aptly named.
Except there was that one time. It was supposed to be the biggest “gut” class. An easy A. They called it “gas stations” because we literally studied the landscape of gas stations and every day places that you never notice. The stakes were higher because this paper was a 15 pager and the professor had a hang-up about lateness of papers and never gave extensions. So of course I choked. I waited until the last minute as usual, drank too much Jolt and had a caffeine overdose reaction. Then I fell asleep. Go figure.
What is the moral to this story? Don’t trust a beverage whose slogan is “All the sugar and twice the caffeine!” That I figured out even before I graduated Harvard. But what has taken me all of these years later (I’m getting dangerously close to my 25th reunion) to learn? You don’t have to wait until you’re scared before you kick your butt in gear. And when the pressure’s on, it’s even more likely that you’ll choke. And you don’t want to choke on something as important as marriage and kids.
Read the rest of… Nancy Slotnick: What’s Your Scary Age?
Blog this!
