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:
Memo to the mayors – hold your horses! I’m just as outraged as you are by Dan Cathy’s comments about same-sex marriage, and I certainly chose NOT to patronize one of his establishments on Wednesday (which wasn’t a hard choice, because I live in the San Francisco area, and there aren’t any Chick-Fil-A restaurants around here since everyone knows liberals only eat endive and tofu). But threatening to bar him from opening an outlet in your cities is an over-reaction, turning him into a free speech martyr and distracting us from the deeper issue here.
Mr. Cathy’s comments aren’t “just a citizen expressing an opinion” – his company has spent millions promoting the view that our country should be operated along conservative Christian beliefs, and claiming we’re going to hell in a handbasket because we disagree with the divine definition of marriage. First, there’s the hypocrisy of the biblical directives Cathy & his cohorts selectively ignore. I remember learning in Hebrew school about how the Torah included laws like getting stoned to death for mixing crops or disrespecting parents – who says G-d isn’t just as pissed off at us for doing any of those things as for redefining marriage?
But more importantly, wasn’t this a country founded on religious tolerance and freedom? When did we become a solely Christian nation, and why wasn’t I consulted? I thought it was just in December that I felt like an alien because I didn’t have inflated reindeer on my lawn, and people accused me of killing Christmas because I actually would prefer to hear ‘happy holidays’. Now guys like Dan Cathy are telling me I’m a pariah year-round – and it’s getting to me!
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Aug 3, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Inspirational Facebook Stories
It is hard to move ahead in the present until we can make peace with our past.
Facebook has allowed us to have an unprecedented opportunity to find people from our past and find ways to work through past differences.
Last night I looked up a guy who bullied me mercilessly in 6th grade. I hadn’t seen him since middle school.
I looked at his pictures on Facebook and at his life and saw him as he really was (and still is): A scared and lonely and lost boy with a seemingly empty life. I looked into his eyes and felt sorry for him and let go of the anger I had felt toward him for all these years.
I forgave him.
And then, in my imagination, I walked over from my Facebook page to his and beat the crap out of him.
As I was walking back, I turned and saw him getting up and about to come toward me.
“No, no. You don’t want to do that.” I said.
He had that resigned look on his face as if to say, “I know. You are right,”
“Be glad you caught me in a forgiving mood. If I ever see you on my Facebook page, I’ll knock you into last year’s Facebook Timeline. We clear? We good?”
“Yes, sir.”
And just like that, thanks to Facebook, I was able to make peace with a part of my past. And then some.
By Bradford Queen, Managing Editor, on Fri Aug 3, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET
The Politics of the Screen
The celebrity brand of Marilyn Monroe remains as strong as ever as the 50th anniversary of her death approaches. [The Washington Post]
Jimmy Fallon is in the midst of talks with producers to host the 2013 Oscars, but ABC isn’t on board. [LA Times]
‘Vertigo’ has replaced ‘Citizen Kane’ as the best movie of all time in a new list by the British Film Institute. ‘Citizen Kane’ had topped the list for 50 years. [The Hollywood Reporter]
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Aug 3, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET
As you read this, hundreds of Kentucky’s political activists are driving down the Western Kentucky Parkway to attend a weekend-full of political festivities, centered around the celebrated Fancy Farm picnic that will take place tomorrow at St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in the tiny hamlet of Fancy Farm, Kentucky.
Fancy Farm weekend represents the very best of American politics — a nostalgic revsiting of true grassroots, retail politicking, filled with stump speaking, great Southern cuisine, and special, deserved attention paid to rural far-western Kentucky, the most physcially remote area of the state, that too often is ignored by the state capital.
Unfortunately, the two-to-three hour political speaking forum at the Fancy Farm picnic represents today’s politics at its very worst — an ugly, often disgraceful exercise in mean-spirited, hyper-partisan name-calling, a microcosm of everything that’s wrong with today’s politics.
Check out this column that I wrote after last year’s Fancy Farm for The Huffington Post:
The first Saturday in August is permanently etched into the calendar of every aspiring state politician — and most political junkies — who make pilgrimage to far Western Kentucky to endure insufferable heat and humidity, feast upon some of the country’s most savory barbecue (Try the mutton… seriously), and participate in a weekend’s worth of small-town meet-and-greets, bean suppers and ham-and-egg breakfasts all over the Jackson Purchase.
Most of Fancy Farm weekend features some of the very best of politics, just the way the old-timers remember it: plenty of hand-shaking and baby-kissing and back-slapping and stump-speaking. For one weekend, the most remote area of the state (and one of the country’s regions worst hit by the flight of manufacturing jobs overseas) gets the full respect and attention of the big city slickers and the state capital politicos. The beleaguered, budget-debilitated press corps also attends in full force, hyping effusive praise on one of the few events that their editors will still pay for them to attend. Big money media buys be damned: This is grassroots politics at its finest.
But unfortunately, for two hours on Saturday, Fancy Farm represents politics at its very worst. As political candidates take the stage at 2:00 PM to prepare for their five- to ten-minute speeches, angry, super-partisan crowds lurk right next to the stage, ready to unleash vocal abuse on their perceived enemies. Once the first speaker clears his throat, the acrimonious chanting, the blindly furious yelling, commences. To describe this as “heckling” would be absurd understatement. This is verbal warfare, and the language used and the insults hurled make a mockery of the tranquil church setting.
A bipartisan group of senators and political strategists are pressing for a national presidential debate on the Bowles-Simpson deficit-reduction plan.
The new effort is aimed at highlighting the nation’s grim fiscal outlook and forcing President Obama and Mitt Romney to provide specific solutions to tackle the nation’s record debt. Neither Obama nor his GOP rival has embraced the recommendations of the Bowles-Simpson commission.
In a letter released Wednesday morning, Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) called on the Commission on Presidential Debates to address the national debt this fall.
“Specifically, we request that you ask the presidential candidates which of the recommendations of the [Bowles-Simpson proposal] they would adopt as part of their plan to reduce the deficit. As part of this discussion, we believe that it would be essential to engage the candidates in a detailed discussion of their priorities for tax and entitlement reform,” the letter from the four senators states.
Three presidential debates have been scheduled: Oct. 3 on domestic policy; Oct. 16 town hall on foreign and domestic policy; and Oct. 22 on foreign policy. The vice presidential debate will occur on Oct. 11.
All four senators who signed the letter have demonstrated an interest in deficit-reduction deals during this Congress. Chambliss was a major player in the so-called Gang of Six, which unsuccessfully sought to craft a deal based on Bowles-Simpson.
A bipartisan group of political heavyweights on Wednesday night echoed the senators’ concerns in a letter sent to the Frank Farenkopf and Mike McCurry, co-chairmen of the Commission on Presidential Debates. The signers included former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, ex-Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), former White House special counsel Lanny Davis and former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.). (Davis and Gregg are columnists for The Hill.)
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Aug 2, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
It wasn’t long ago that this was the only option for TV entertainment after 1 am.
And now you can’t find the DVD series anywhere. I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
The writing was weak. Nothing much happened. Yet it was nice knowing it was an option. And when I did stare at the Indian test pattern, it had a calming effect on me.
And it became a TV institution.
I suspect someone somewhere in Hollywood is thinking of a modern remake of this time honored piece of TV history.
Maybe starring the Indian guy from the Twilight series who turns into a werewolf. I actually liked him a lot. He inspired me to start working out and I thought he was a more compelling and interesting character than the guy who played Edward Cullen.
On the other hand, the Indian role in the test pattern is eerily similar in breadth and scope to the Edward Cullen character. Quiet, stoic, brave, eccentric, bit of an outcast, and up all night without much nuance. Yeah, maybe the guy who plays Cullen would be a better fit.
This remake idea could be big. I am already seeing a sequel in the works before the first one is finished.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Aug 2, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET
The Politics of Tech
A new bill moving through the House of Representatives would force patent plaintiffs to pay the defense’s legal fees when the plaintiff loses. This is an obvious effort to stem the tide of ridiculous patent litigation that we have seen increase over the past couple of years. [ars technica]
In a “real Robin Hood” moment Anonymous tracks down, turns over hacker who destroyed a Kiwi website that was raising funds to help feed hungry children. [NZ Herald]
Betaworks, the people who bought up the remaining Digg assets, have deleted all the content and archives from the site. Do you love dead links? Then you should be a fan of this decision. [SF Weekly]
When you make something that can bring down powerful people – powerful people will pay attention to you. [Wired]
“Startup Claims 80% Of Its Facebook Ad Clicks Are Coming From Bots.” I can’t wait to read Facebook’s response to this. [TechCrunch]
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