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 Krystal Ball, on Thu Jun 28, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
Read this!!! New reporting on Fast & Furious says gun walking was never ATF policy. Looks like Fast & Furious was (as suspected) a frenzy whipped up by right-wing bloggers, covered by FOX, acted on by Congress. [CNN Money and CNN Money]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Jun 28, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Tech
Admitting to a bit of a bias here – my cousin Jeremy Ferguson is interviewed in this Forbes piece about how music licensing is changing. However, my bias aside, it is still an interesting piece. [Forbes]
Dotcom searches illegal. Judge also ruled it was unlawful for copies of Dotcom’s computer data to be taken offshore [NZ Herald]
“Evading ticketing services, comedian Louis C.K. sells tour himself” Super smart move. He is revolutionizing the way people pay for content from their favorite entertainers. [Yahoo!]
Ever wondered how LinkedIn makes money? How about what their overall business plan is? This article has the answers. [Forbes]
Janken (rock-paper-scissors) Robot with 100% winning rate – that’s all it is. [YouTube]
“Congress’s use of the Taxing Clause to encourage buying something is . . . not new. Tax incentives already promote, for example, purchasing homes and professional educations. See 26 U. S. C. §§163(h), 25A. Sustaining the mandate as a tax depends only on whether Congress has properly exercised its taxing power to encourage purchasing health insurance, not whether it can. Upholding the individual mandate under the Taxing Clause thus does not recognize any new federal power. It determines that Congress has used an existing one.” –Chief Justice John Roberts
The Supreme Court earlier today upheld “Obamacare.” The majority opinion, drafted by Chief Justice Roberts, essentially recognized that taxation to influence consumer behavior in this country is nothing new. Republican leadership is already vowing to kill it. I’m curious to know what provisions of insurance reform they will kill first . .
The first provisions include barring insurers from discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions, allowing parents to opt to keep their own children covered on their plans until they turn 26, and fixing the Medicare reimbursement gap (the “doughnut hole”) that costs seniors several hundred dollars each year. Will the GOP fight to continue medical discrimination against children? Will they kill legislation to reimburse seniors? Will they stop parents from keeping their children covered until age 26?
The law has also required states to create high-risk pools that cover individuals denied private insurance due to pre-existing conditions. Will they now ask the adult with multiple sclerosis to give up that coverage?
Moving forward, health insurance reform will establish insurance exchanges and purchasing cooperatives where insurers that currently enjoy monopolies over entire regions will face competition from other private insurers. Will the GOP kill private sector competition in favor of retaining insurance monopolies? Will they prevent small business and the self-employed from entering into purchasing cooperatives so they can enjoy the discounted coverage that results from economies of scale?
The GOP laments the effects of Obamacare (modeled after RomneyCare) on the economy, especially small business. But the only small businesses impacted by healthcare legislation are those that employ over 50 people. About 96% of all small businesses do not employ over 50 people, and so will not be effected. As for those that do employ over 50 people, most of them already provide healthcare. They will now be getting tax credits to make their coverage of employees far more affordable. Will they take these small business tax credits away?
So in the coming days, I look forward to hearing from GOP leadership, specifically, whose health care will you be killing?
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jun 28, 2012 at 1:00 PM ET
I really enjoyed my virgin “Ask Me Anything” chat at Reddit. I responded to over 110 questions in 2 hours — from No Labels, to our national political mess, to the NBA Draft, to the baseball season, to good television, we covered the whole gamut.
If you are interested in reading a transcript, click here.
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Jun 28, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Today I was reminded that habits we start in youth seem to easily become part of us for many years without questioning.
When I was 7 my Uncle Lorn told me that it bad for my neck and back to sleep with a pillow.
41 years later I still refuse to sleep with a pillow.
When I was 8 years old a friend of the family told me he liked to eat peanuts whole –shell and all. I wanted to impress him.
40 years later I still eat peanuts with the shell.
So, I did at least two things today because a 7 year old and an 8 year old decided it was a good idea at the time. And I’ve never taken the time to question either–from the perspective of an informed adult.
Which leads to the next (and scarier) question: What else did I do this week bc my 7 or 10 or 12 year old self made a lifelong decision for me many years ago?
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jun 28, 2012 at 11:00 AM ET
Today, from 11 am-1 pm, I am hosting an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit, a social network that has the ability to drive huge amounts of traffic back to No Labels and build the movement.
Ask Me Anything is a forum where you can literally ask me anything — and I’ll answer as many questions as I can.
I’m sure we will be discussing the news of the day — the NBA Draft. Oh, and there is news from another Court as well.
Please join the forum.Click here to join the conversation. Click the “UP” arrow next to my original comment to help spread the word to others on Reddit.
You can create an account by clicking “register” in the top right-hand corner of your screen.
By Patrick Derocher, on Thu Jun 28, 2012 at 10:30 AM ET
Shortly after 10 a.m. this morning, in a majority decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court of the United States has upheld the core of President Obama’s signature healthcare law, stating that while the individual mandate is not permissible under the commerce clause, it is under Congress’s taxing authority. However, the Court said that states can opt out of the law, as many have attempted in the past two years. [Washington Post]
In Plain English: The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional. There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance. However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power. That is all that matters. Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding. On that question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states would only lose new funds if they didn’t comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding.
What Makes The Person A Game Changer: Michael Stephen Steele is an American politician who served as the first African-American chairman of the Republican National Committee from January 2009 until January 2011. From 2003 to 2007, he was the seventh Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, the first African American elected to statewide office in Maryland. During his time as Lieutenant Governor, he chaired the Minority Business Enterprise taskforce, actively promoting an expansion of affirmative action in the corporate world. He co-founded the Republican Leadership Council, a political action committee.
No full meal yet, but wanted to send regards from the line in front of the Supreme Court.
I’m #42 in line to get in and hear the opinions read in the morning — as you know, the healthcare decisions are expected.
First 60 are reserved for public…so I lucked out.
But, I am so ill-prepared. One water bottle, and the same button down and khakis I wore since Tuesday morning and through a red-eye flight. Everyone has sleeping bags and pillows, foam egg crates and blankets. And 95% of us are under 25 years old!
Blog this!
