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 Mon Jan 23, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
“Membership Has Its Privileges.”
Oh, yes it does!
I am now a Speedy Rewards Card Club Member. Just received my “membership card.”
I have no idea what the criteria is, how many apply and are rejected, but I was offered membership on the spot without references, an interview, or even a short bio.
I had never given Speedway service station/convenience store much thought before….but I am awfully impressed with their judgment, perceptiveness, and obvious rigorous standards for from the membership selection committee. I look forward to membership festivities, camaraderie and friendships sure to develop for new “club members.”
These Speedway folks know quality when they see it. Well….and I guess I like to think I do too. I now put Speedway right up there with Costco as one of the great American retail chains.
(Full Disclosure: I am a Costco Wholesale “Executive Member” Black Card holder.)
A couple of observations based on what others have said:
Rod Jetton and Ron Granieri ask the plausible question why Tim Tebow has engendered so much buzz when religiosity and good works in the sportsworld are pretty common; Dirk Meneffee at CBS’ NFL Today asked a similar question on air, in response to Terry Bradshaw’s rave about how Tebow is providing inspiration to a hero starved culture. It’s a sore subject, by the way, in some sectors of the African American community, who recall Reggie White and a host of other black athletes who aided young people and celebrated their faith every bit as enthusiastically as Tebow without the fame or the credit.
We’ll save for another day a foray into the differences in how black and white athletes are covered by the media (Robert Kahne sort of goes there in his observations about the lack of acclaim for Cam Newton, whose rookie season only produced more passing yards than any rookie QB in NFL history, and who is a superior quarterback and athlete to Tebow, but has received a fraction of the attention that Tebow has garnered–then again, Tebow wins games, and in improbable, breathtaking ways, a characteristic that has eluded Newton at the professional level).
I do think, however, that Tebow’s faith has garnered more interest than his predecessors because it seems to have a larger worldview around it than just sports. As Rod Jetton recalls, Reggie White was unabashed about his faith, even practiced as an associate minister, but if memory serves, Reggie White never ventured into the secular realm of public policy. Similarly, when Kevin Durant, the single best player in the NBA today, opens his post game interviews by thanking God for giving him the opportunity, it seems heart-felt, and often touching, but it is as apolitical as it could be. Tebow follows a bolder path–he made an ad promoting the pro-life cause; he endorses abstinence; and he comfortably appears in conservative forums like Mike Huckabee’s and Sean Hannity’s programs on Fox News.
I don’t mind Tim Tebow. I just can’t stand his fans.
Tim Tebow is a man I have often hated. Hailed as “The Greatest College Player Ever” by many, while he played for Florida, he was one of my most despised players ever. Tim Tebow ended the greatest run of Kentucky football ever in 2007 when Florida defeated Kentucky one week after Kentucky had taken down then-#1 and eventual national champion LSU and eventually rose to #8 in the AP poll. After the defeat of my beloved Wildcat at the hands of Tim Tebow, Kentucky started a downward trend which they are still striding upon. I listened with malice in my heart as Thom Brenaman (perhaps my least favorite sports personalities ever) gushed over him during the 2009 Sugar Bowl, and was extremely frustrated when he was indeed selected in the first round of the NFL draft by Josh McDaniels (perhaps my least favorite person to ever have coached professionally). But once he got to the pros, things changed a bit for me.
I am a fan of anti-heroes. I think they give us a unique perspective to grapple with which makes a narrative much more thoughtful. Tim Tebow has become one of the most interesting anti-heroes ever. Football purists cheer against him with all their might because he doesn’t fit into their mold of what a quarterback should be. I like Tim for this, because I think that if you find a unique way to find success, that should be celebrated, not demonized. Many criticize Tim for being an outspoken believer in evangelical, conservative Christianity. Though I don’t agree with him, I believe any individual in any line of work should be allowed to speak out about how they feel about any issue–and as long as people give you platforms on which to share, you are totally within your bounds to say whatever you will. I will never begrudge anyone’s success–those who are given much are lucky bastards, and good luck to them. I do, however judge what people do to success, and if I were in Tim’s shoes, I would be acting very similar to him, except for you can substitute my version of Christianity for his.
Read the rest of… The RPs Debate Tim Tebow: Robert Kahne Rebuts
I have to admit that I have had a serious bias against Tim Tebow since his college days, a bias that has its roots in a fundamental theological difference.
You see, everything about Tim Tebow is an affront to my deeply held beliefs, as communicated to me through the Church to which I have belonged since birth.
I am referring, of course, to the Church of the Classic Drop-Back Quarterbacks.
How well and with such joy I remember sitting on Sundays in The Church of the Three Holy J’s [Jack, Joe, and Jim—three names holy to all Western New York football fans] as the priest opened each service with the Sign of the QB: “In the name of Unitas, and of Starr, and of the Perfect Spiral, Amen.” I can still recite entire passages from Scripture, such as this from The Sermon of Yankee Stadium, 1958 [John 19: 82]:
“Blessed are they who, when the game is on the line, can stand in the pocket and deliver the ball, for they shall win The Greatest Game of All Time.”
I also clearly remember the passages from the old Baltimore [Colt] Catechism:
Q. Why did God make the Quarterback?
A: He made him to read the defense, to identify the open receiver, and to lead that receiver to the End Zone with an accurate throw.
For one whose beliefs are as deep and traditional as my own, Tim Tebow’s style of play is nothing less than blasphemous. Of course, I am used to having my beliefs insulted by both players and an elite sports media that has rushed time and again to declare my beliefs antiquated and ill-suited to the present. How often have we been told that the “Quarterback of the Future” will be more mobile, less reliant on the Deep Out? Who after all can forget Sports Illustrated crowning Randall Cunningham as “The Ultimate Weapon,” the infamous “Slash Heresy,” or even the outburst of Flutopian Enthusiasm in my own home region? Of course, in each case, I have watched those heresies flower and wither, as championships continue to be earned by classic quarterbacks such as Brady, Rodgers, Warner, and Manning.
Read the rest of… The RPs Debate Tim Tebow: Ron Granieri Rebuts
Jonathan has some great points on Tebow that I agree with. I’m an Evangelical Baptist preacher’s son, and I admit I have found myself rooting for Tebow this season.
There are two reasons I have become a Tebow fan:
First, he made games exciting. I am a Green Bay Packers fan and a huge Brett Favre fan. I loved rooting for Favre because he gave 100%, and you never knew what would happen. He sometimes lost, sometimes threw a pick, but more times than not, he did something unbelievable and won the game.
Tebow is like that too. Yes, he has some terrible throws, and makes some really bad plays, but you never know whats going to happen in a game. While it’s too early to compare him to Brett Favre, like Favre, he has won more than he has lost. He gives 100%, and his first year reminds me of when Favre first started for the Packers in 1992. Coaches, critics and fans all wondered if Favre, and his unconvential style, could ever produce consistent wins.
Well, we all know how that story ended. He worked hard improved and started having more good plays than bad and in 1995, 1996 and 1997 was the NFL MVP, including 2 Super Bowl apperances, one SB win, and one of the highest winning percentage of any quarterback in leauge history.
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Mon Jan 23, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET
Legendary football coach Joe Paterno passed away on Sunday, yet rumors of the coach’s death were flying around Twitter on Saturday. How did the mass media commit such an error? [Washington Post]
I’m a Tim Tebow fan–I like his tenacity, and his ability to consistently turn ridicule and derision into motivational points, and I think its good for football that he shows a path to win without the conventional quarterback’s skill set. He’s an underdog who makes good–that itself makes him a legitimate role model.
I’m untroubled by the intensity of his faith; actually, as a Deep South native, I don’t even find it terribly eventful. I come from a culture where the kids in the high school football game pray not just to avoid injury, but to win, and to let their individual talent shine, and see nothing sacrilegous about asking God to be a football fan for an evening.
But I recognize that there is a major segment of the national community that hasn’t seen Tebow style faith in action, certainly not by a pro athlete, certainly not by a 24 year old who is about to become fabulously rich and famous. If you are a conservative, its all good. The fact is that evangelical Christianity can use a voice that is conservative and relentlessly congenial and optimistic at the same time; its a helpful thing, that his faith seems as engaged with compassion for disabled children as it is with the pro-life life movement that he has embraced.
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Jan 23, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET
Over the past two weeks, we’ve launched a new tradition at The Recovering Politician: a great virtual debate on the issues of the day among our recovering politicians; with provocations, rebuttals, responses, and defenses. Our first discussion focused on presidential leadership; our second on legalizing marijuana.
This week, the RP goes where no progressive has gone before: a liberal defense of Tim Tebow. The RP starts off with his provocative article from The Huffington Post. Tune in every half hour to read what other RPs have to say.
Like much of the spiral-pass-challenged intelligentsia, I’ve held a high-school-rooted grudge against many of America’s handsomest sports heroes; they too often remind me of the spoiled jocks who applied wedgies, received special treatment in the classroom and always got the girl. Fortunately, Tom Brady (the supermodel-marrying quarterback of my beloved New England Patriots) helped relieve me of this affliction. (Click here to read my ode to pretty boys I begrudgingly admire.)
Tim Tebow, of course, presents a different and, indeed, unique case. (The 24-year-old virgin isn’t exactly stealing and breaking the hearts of other guys’ girls.) Tebow instead plays to a different one of my childhood insecurities — that of being one of the few Jewish kids in my Bible Belt home of Lexington, Kentucky.
Certainly, there’s no athlete in recent memory who’s worn his Christian faith more on his sleeve — and sometimes even his eyeblack — than Tim Tebow. Tebow’s constant public declarations of devotion to Jesus Christ remind many of us non-Christians and Christian liberals of the small — but much-over-publicized — collection of angry tele-evangelists and hypocritical politicians who manipulate religion to multiply support by fostering division.
Read the rest of… The RPs Debate Tim Tebow: The RP Provokes
By Michael Steele, on Sat Jan 21, 2012 at 10:31 PM ET
So it was supposed to end in South Carolina. In fact, it is just beginning.
For some time now many in the GOP Ivory Tower have whined, moaned and sighed heavily about the candidates, the process and the fact that they weren’t getting their way. From wishing for some super hero to climb into the ring to fantasizing about a brokered convention (word is some of the political intelligentsia are at this moment trying to figure out how that might work) those who fancy themselves smarter than the rest of us just knew South Carolina would be the perfect beach head on which to end the charade that anyone other than Romney would be the nominee. While Romney may still become the nominee, it was clear the base wanted all to know that this primary was less about who would (or should) win and all about sending the clear and unmistakeable message: “we got this.” It appears that’s exactly what they did.
The fight for the nomination now turns to Florida and with each passing day, the Establishment will get more restless and the base more empowered to assert control over this nominating process. For them, “We the People” still means something.
Blog this!
