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 Apr 24, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
I heard the most inspirational and insightful quotation the other day and have been trying to recall it specifically. It’s called “Our Deepest Fear” and goes something like this.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate or will fail.
We may fail, we may be inadequate, or even a loser.
But that’s not the important point. Not by a long shot.
Something else–another point that is eluding me at the moment–is an even more important point. And it’s very inspirational too.
Oh yeah, it says we’ll succeed even if we fail.
Why?
Because to simply believe in yourself is …. while not technically “success” per se…. it is something we can all do that is positive and makes success more likely over time.
We should do this daily. And if we want to tell others, that’s probably OK too. But tell ourselves for sure. In the mirror each morning.
Most of all don’t fear failure because….it’s just wrong to. It’s wrong. Don’t even think about it. OK?
It’s not even important to know why you shouldn’t fear failure. Just know that you shouldn’t –and I remember that part of the message in the quote very clearly.
(If you have to know, email me and I’ll try to find out the answer. But for now please just go with it. This is the best I can do and I’m on sort of a roll now…and I do remember the last part verbatim.”
Main point: Don’t fail–or fear failure –because you are really afraid of success. That’s the absolute worst. Just terrible. Don’t do it.
And one last thing: The capacity we have for fearing failure because of fearing success even more—which is really true for a lot of people. really. I’m serious. Well, that fear is a powerful force beyond all measure.
I mean we have the ability to overcome that fear because of a powerful force beyond all measure. That’s inside of us or something.
OK, I didn’t remember the last part verbatim.
But you get the general idea, right?
Isn’t it great? Just what I needed this morning. And if you’ve read this far, probably what you needed too.
Don’t thank me. Just “pay it forward.” Share this with a friend. That’s thanks enough for me.
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Apr 24, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET
The RP’s proudest display — the front pages of the Lexington Herald-Leader from each day after the University of Kentucky Wildcat basketball team secured an NCAA Championship in his lifetime — just got supplemented.
At a moving ceremony, featuring the woman who sits in the desk across from the RP’s office, the lawyer in his office next door, and former U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali, the RP unveiled a frame of the Herald-Leader front page from April 3, 2o12, the day after the Cats’ 8th national championship, and 4th in the RP’s lifetime.
The assembled crowd broke into sustained applause at the remarks of keynote speaker Boutros Boutros Ghali, who concluded: “Yo Yo Ma, what a team!”
By Jason Atkinson, on Tue Apr 24, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET
Contributing RP Jason Atkinson was recently featured in an article in the Portland Mercury entitled “Bikepartisan Politics.” Enjoy this excerpt:
HERE ARE FIVE simple reasons why Jason Atkinson is more badass than you liberal dweebs: He’s an Oregon state senator. He’s a Republican. He’s a bike racer. He shaves his legs, which shows a profound sense of masculine confidence. And he once got shot by a gun while repairing a friend’s bike (there was a loaded gun in the saddlebag).
Now he’s (tentatively) back on two wheels after that 2008 accident—but even when he’s been kept off the roads, the Southern Oregon legislator has never quailed from a fight for bike rights statewide.
Senator Atkinson jumped into the absurd 2007 debate over requiring extra brakes on fixed gears and, more recently, tried to boost bike funding from its measly one percent of the state transportation budget.
MERCURY: How does bike advocacy jibe with your Republican ideals?
JASON ATKINSON: I fell in love with bicycles when I was a kid, long before I knew what Republicans or Democrats were. I was lucky in that I had a modest amount of talent in racing bikes, which took me all over the world to race. When I got into politics, I didn’t see bikes as a partisan thing at all. I’ve been very supportive of everything from velodromes for economic development to jumping into the middle of the fixie debate a few years ago. I think people don’t really understand what bicycle culture is.
What do your colleagues get wrong about bike culture?
Well, like, when we got around to doing the fixie bill, no one knew what a fixie was. I don’t think a lot of folks have a full grasp of the health benefits of biking. I’m not going to pick on my fellow politicians on either side of the aisle. If you ride a bike, you get it. If you don’t, you usually don’t.
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Apr 23, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
Leave trail of bread crumbs
I used to love the message of this song as a young man. It seemed inspired.
I thought I even tried admirably to break on through to the other side. But after awhile I quit trying. And even forgot I ever tried.
Then one day I woke up on the “other side” and have no idea how I got there. It just happened. And now all I want to do is get back to where I started from.
Even if I have to break through something to get there. But I don’t know how to get back.
And Jim Morrison isn’t around to tell us how “get back to the other side.”
Imagine you’re signing up for college classes. You find one that sounds too good to be true – something like “The History of Rock and Roll.” The professor sends you the syllabus in advance, and it’s everything you wanted. With excitement you show up on the first day of class ready to, well, rock.
The first class is great, but as the weeks go on, you’re thrown for a loop. First, your professor ditches Elvis and the Rolling Stones for Mozart and Bach. “It’s not my fault,” he says with his hands thrown up. “The department made me do it!” He continues to veer sharply away from the syllabus, requiring extra essays on top of the previously scheduled exams. This time he announces to the whole class: “The Dean isn’t cooperating with me!”
Finally, your professor changes the class’s meeting times only weeks before the end of the semester. Yet again he cries innocence, e-mailing all of you with this message: “I’ve been stone-walled by the registrar’s office. Don’t blame me.”
Would you sign up for another class with him? If your boss gave similar excuses for unexpected changes to your contract or workplace, would you want to continue working for him?
This piece is supposed to be about why “my” generation should vote for Mitt Romney. I could write about Romney’s simpler, smarter tax plan. It disregards President Obama’s gimmicks like the “Buffet Rule,” and focuses on long-term solutions like a corporate tax rate that will allow American companies to compete globally and hire more workers in their twenties and thirties.
I could write about Romney’s common-sense, comprehensive debt-reduction plan. President Obama has added $6.5 trillion to the national debt in one term. The first forty-three presidents COMBINED accumulated $6.3 trillion. Romney will cap spending at 20% of the GDP, reduce the Washington waste, fraud, and abuse, and consolidate federal agencies to create a more efficient and effective government.
Read the rest of… Zac Byer: Gen Y He Said — Romney for President
The race to the White House is off to a fast start now that Mitt Romney is the presumptive Republican nominee. As a Kentuckian who has watched too many horse races to count, I know that consistency of performance is the most important factor in determining who will be wearing the roses at the end of the race. In the midst of an economic recovery that has no simple or easy solutions, and high stakes for the future of our Millennial Generation, we need to place our bet on President Obama to lead us through.
The result of this election will determine the direction our country will take for years to come, and as young people we will have to live with the consequences, good or bad, of the policies of the next President. I would argue that President Obama has best represented my generation’s interests on every issue since he has been in office. From making higher education more affordable to protecting the environment we live in, from championing reproductive freedom to shaping a responsible foreign policy, President Obama has proved that he is committed to protecting our future.
The economy is the issue that has been at the forefront of this election, as it should be. Many of us are wondering how we are going to pay off our student loans, find a good job, buy a house, and support children. While Mitt Romney seems to think that simply being a child of privilege and making a lot of money qualifies him to be President, it is President Obama who has proven that he can turn the economy back in the right direction. He understands that strengthening the middle class so that they can contribute to economic growth is the only way to truly rebuild an economy that was wrecked in the first place by Republican policies that favor the rich.
Read the rest of… Jordan Stivers — Gen Y She Said — Obama for President
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Apr 23, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET
This morning we introduce a brand new feature at The Recovering Politician: the Gen Y “He Said; She Said” debates.
“He” is Zac Byer, a longtime staff contributor at the RP, who also happened to study at the University of Pennsylvania under the tutelage of Friend of RP (also the RP’s college roommate) Ronald Granieri. Zac is an outspoken Republican, and currently works for one of the leading minds behind GOP national strategy, Dr. Frank Luntz.
“She” is Jordan Stivers, a recent graduate of the University of Kentucky, a former volunteer for the RP, and a passionate Democrat who currently serves on the communications committee of the newly formed Young Democrats of America Faith and Values Initiative.
As you might be able to tell, “He” and “She” are dating. Or talking to each other. Or in a relationship. Or whatever Gen Y calls these types of relationships.
This morning, we will be featuring the first of their Gen Y “He Said, She Said” debates — discussing critical issues from the perspective of their generation. Today’s debate: the 2012 Presidential election. At 9:00 AM, Jordan will argue that Barack Obama’s reelection will best serve the interests of their generation. At 10:00, Zac will counter that his generation needs the change represented by Mitt Romney.
So tag along, and enjoy a younger version of Carville and Matalin. In reverse.
By Chris Schulz, RP Staff, on Fri Apr 20, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
As electric cars become more popular make sure that you consider where the electricity is coming from. In coal heavy states they are not as clean as you may think. [yahoo.com]
It is no surprise that the majority of Americans link the unusual weather this year to climate change. [nytimes.com]
New data shows that our obsession with sprawl may be over. More people are moving back into cities. [usatoday.com]
We now have an answer of which came first, the chicken or the egg? [bbc.co.uk]
By Jason Atkinson, on Fri Apr 20, 2012 at 2:00 PM ET
A great article from Oregon Live on contributing RP Jason Atkinson, and his decision to take a hiatus from politics:
Wearing rubber boots and faded jeans, Jason Atkinson shows off a bridge he built based on a Leonardo da Vinci drawing. Then there’s the horse he’s caring for that’s blind in one eye, a chicken he trained to sit and be petted, an extensive collection of racing bicycles and a YouTube video he made about fly-fishing on the Owyhee River.
And that’s just the first 15 minutes. He’s a classic never-sit-still Type A, with a cell phone that rarely quits beeping and a dozen jobs on the to-do list at his farm in the hills of southern Oregon.
For all that, Atkinson is about to “push the pause button,” as he puts it, on perhaps the most defining part of his life. After 14 years in the Oregon Legislature, including a run for governor in 2006, Atkinson is stepping out of politics and into an unpredictable future.
“I wasn’t at peace,” he says about his decision not to run for re-election this year. Under growing financial pressure at home, he also endured attacks from his own caucus for siding with the environmental lobby and became increasingly unhappy with his own party’s gamesmanship. It was time, he says, to take a break and, like thousands of other Oregonians, look for a better-paying job.
Under different circumstances, Atkinson, 42, would be entering the prime of his political career — an experienced, tested campaigner whose increasingly centrist views offer the kind of statewide appeal Republicans need to win. The fact that he’s heading for the exit ramp speaks volumes about not only his experience in Salem but also about the state of the party he says all but ostracized him.
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