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 Patrick Derocher, on Thu Jan 19, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET
Yesterday, of course, was a semi-official protest day against the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act, the House and Senate versions of a bill that would, in an effort to protect copyright owners, severely clamp down on websites that reproduce copyrighted materials. The reactions were many, ranging from the juvenile to the nuanced, from the cosmetic (Google blacking out its logo) to the Earth-shattering (fortunately for this blogger, French Wikipedia remained active). Attached is a personal favorite from comedy site “The Oatmeal.” (Warning: Very funny, but borderline not safe for work.) [The Oatmeal]
Bruce Springsteen, the RP’s idol, has just released his latest song, “We Take Care of Our Own” from his forthcoming album, “The Wrecking Ball.”
And as is the case with many of the Boss’ recent work, it is a politically charged indictment of American politics:
Where are the eyes, the eyes with the will to see? Where are the hearts that run over with mercy? Where’s the love that has not forsaken me? Where’s the work that set my hands, my soul free? Where’s the spirits that will reign reign over me? Where’s the promise from sea to shining sea? Wherever this flag is flown, we take care of our own.”
Watch the powerful video below, and let us know what you think:
By Patrick Derocher, on Wed Jan 18, 2012 at 12:30 PM ET
An attempt at mediating Ohio's congressional redistricting woes has fallen on deaf ears.
We start the first Politics of the States for quite some time in Ohio, where Secretary of State Jon Hustead has reached out across party lines to reform the redistricting process in a state marred by partisan gerrymandering and other redistricting woes. Hustead, a Republican and former state Senator and Representative, sent a letter to Republican Speaker William Batchelder and to Vernon Sykes, a Democrat on the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission, calling for an improvement to the system and restoration of trust in Ohio’s government. A spokesman for Batchelder, who represents a rural area outside of Cleveland, said the Speaker would “look into” the Secretary’s concerns. [Columbus Post Dispatch]
Judgeships are at work creating partisan divides in Wisconsin again, though this time, mostly within the Republican Party. A dispute has arisen in rural Marinette County, near the border with Michigan’s Upper Peninsula between two potential appointees to a vacant seat for a circuit judge in that county; the applicants are a lifetime Marinette resident and a former resident who had been living just over the border in Menominee County, Michigan. The details of the case are complex and deal largely with Wisconsin Republican politics, but it nevertheless highlights, as the article points out, the extent to which supposedly non-partisan judicial appointments and elections are driven by political affiliations. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Florida is looking to reform car insurance, an industry that sees more than $1 billion in fraud per year in the Sunshine State alone. At the behest of Governor Rick Scott, several plans are being explored in the State Senate and House of Representatives– By Republicans. Surprising no one, these myriad plans have yet to attract any substantial measure of Democratic support in a state where the GOP controls both the executive and legislative branches. As a result of the lack of support from the left side of the aisle, legislators are beginning to look at proposals that had been discarded out of hand. [Tampa Bay Times]
It may be generously described as good news for California, but is certainly bad news for Illinois, as the Golden State has fallen behind the Land of Lincoln as the US State with the worst credit rating. Moody’s Analytics downgraded Illinois to an A2 rating as a result of that state’s inability to deal with outstanding pension liabilities, while California has slowly been crawling out of its massive debt hole, although a failed debt reduction deal earlier this year contributed to an increase in the state’s deficit. [Sacramento Bee]
It hasn’t been dominating headlines, but New York has been having a bit of a fight over whether to expand the State Senate to 63 seats from its current 62. The sides in the debate have fallen along, what else, party lines. Albany’s Times Union provides an interesting overview of the situation. [Albany Times Union]
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Jan 18, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
A young friend on Facebook (age 25) asked me what –if anything–is there to look forward to as we grow older.
I gave the standard lines that you 1) worry less, 2) have fewer people to impress and 3) regret not enjoying your youth more than you did.
It seemed like a good answer at the time. Upon reflection, though, it’s really not. I actually don’t worry less.
I’ve just become use to worrying–become inured to it. It’s like becoming use to having 3 or 4 pebbles in each shoe. It’s annoying at first. But after 20 years, you really don’t even notice they’re there — and may even miss them if removed.
Same with impressing people. The stakes are even higher now, and I actually worry more. I can’t claim youthful indiscretion or ask for a second or third chance at my age. I just figure if I blow it and end up ruining my reputation, I don’t matter as much as I used to imagine —and that would make accepting my life as an utter disgrace a little easier.
And “regretting that you didn’t enjoying your youth more” is not something that makes the aging process somehow better or easier. That part of my answer makes no sense.
I guess I’ll wait until the morning and correct my answer that there’s nothing to look forward to as you get older and to please stop asking such offensive and idiotic questions.
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Wed Jan 18, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET
You may have seen the Association of Magazine Media’s ads promoting the power of print in your favorite magazines. Their newest campaign takes it a step further, actually taking a jab at the Internet. [NY Times]
Jon Huntsman had a good chance to beat President Obama in 2012, but the only problem was he was too mainstream and bipartisan to be nominated by the Republican party this cycle.
As a Democrat, I admired and respected his resume, intelligence, and ability to put pandering to his party’s base aside. A lot has changed in a week.
Why would a candidate whose campaign has ran more anti-Romney videos on their website than any other campaign suddenly endorse Mitt Romney?
Why would a candidate who has had deep family issues and a rivalry with the Romney’s now come to Mitt’s side?
One word…Ambition. There is no doubt Huntsman is coming to Romney’s side now for a potential secretary of state appointment should Romney take over the presidency.
Read the rest of… Jason Grill on Jon Huntsman’s Withdrawal
To Artur: If there is any message where there is common ground in this debate, it’s been the one you’ve raised — it is critical that we revisit discriminatory enforcement practices against minorites. We may not all agree that the drug should be legalized; but all people of good faith should insist that we treat all Americans equally in the criminal justice syste,.
To Jeff: There is no denying that you are right that we have lost the War on Drugs, and I agree that we need a cease-fire when it comes to marijuana. I just can’t go as far as you do when it comes to harder drugs. Society has to draw a line somewhere when it writes laws, and I simply think that the dollars we could save in reducing enforcement of harder drug use and distribution are not sufficient to countenance the lives that would be destroyed if the drugs are made more available.
To David: I appreciate your conflict on this issue as you apply your conservative values to this debate, and applaud you for understanding the need to revisit the harsh prison terms applied to marijuana users and distributors. And no question, we can never lose the message that marijuana is terrible for kids. Where I disagree is that I believe that it will be very easy for law enforcement to distinguish between the drugs that do great harm to society and those that don’t, as we have since Prohibition. I also don’t think keeping marijuana illegal will do anything to help law enforcement crack down on the sale and distribution of harder drugs. My ultimate point is that society can and must draw a line between soft and hard drugs and develop policies that protect people on both sides of the line.
To Don: I’m very grateful to you for sharing your obviously very passionate and educated views on the subject, as well as stories of how the War on Drugs has gone tragically wrong at times. I also am fascinated by the Portgual example and want to investigate further. However, for reasons I have elaborated in earlier posts and in my response to Jeff above, I feel strongly that we must draw a line between marijuana and harder drugs; that as a society, we cannot countenance legalizing a drug whose very use — not abuse, but simply use — causes harm to its user, and which has been demonstrated to dramatically increase the propensity to violence.
To the RP Nation: Thank you for joining us in what has turned out to be one of the most excited and most trafficked days of the site. I promise many more debates like these as the weeks progress,a nd I look forward to your opinions and input on topics.
The author is an Oscar(TM) and Emmy(TM) award-winning sound engineer, as well and a student of metaphysics and reason for more than two decades.
On March 26, 2009, in a CNN town hall meeting, President Obama stated (slightly edited), “There was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high, and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation, [and I don’t know what this says about the online audience, but this was a fairly popular question], and the answer is no, I don’t think that is a good strategy to grow our economy.”
On the campaign trail a couple of years earlier, our President admitted that there was a time when he smoked cannabis, and when asked if he inhaled, he said he did, that was the point.
Obviously no one would suggest that President Obama has been stunted in his personal or political aspirations as a result of engaging in this (by federal definitions) immoral, illegal, and criminal activity: indeed, we elected him to the highest office in the land.
So what is the story with criminality and drugs? People take drugs, and take them for all kinds of reasons; and I think it’s safe to say, there has never been a point in history when there have been so many drugs to choose from.
Read the rest of… The RPs Debate Legalizing Marijuana: Don Digirolamo Rebuts
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