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 Aug 11, 2011 at 9:30 AM ET
Following Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s selection of his delegates to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House John Boehner have named their choices for the committee. From the Senate are Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Jon Kyl of Arizona, and Rob Portman of Ohio. The selection of Toomey, a one-time president of the Club for Growth, is likely a nod to his broad Tea Party support, and while Portman previously served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush, Kyl is notorious for walking out of budget talks with Vice President Joe Biden. On the House side are Jeb Hensarling of Texas, Dave Camp, and Fred Upton, both of Michigan. Hensarling, chairman of the House Republican Conference, will serve alongside Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) as co-chair of the committee. Camp served on the Simpson-Bowles Commission, although he voted against all his recommendations, and Upton serves as chairman on the Committee on Energy and Commerce. All six appointees have signed Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge. [National Journal]
Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) has come out strongly against the hyperpartisan environment that led to the debt ceiling debacle, saying she was embarrassed by lawmakers’ behavior and calling the current Congress “the worst” she’s ever seen in her political life. Snowe, a moderate Republican, is being targeted by multiple Tea Party challengers for the 2012 primary. [Huffington Post]
A group of moderate to conservative Democrats in the Blue Dog Caucus, including Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Michael Michaud of Maine, and Mike McIntyre of North Carolina, have signed a letter urging Speaker Boehner to cancel the House of Representatives’s August recess so as to address the fiscal crisis currently facing the country. [The Hill]
For the third time in the last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged by more than 500 points Wednesday, falling 4.63% to 10,718 points, a drop of 520 from the previous day. This brings the total decline in the index to more than 2,000 points in the last three weeks. Other American indices performed similarly Wednesday, with the NASDAQ and S&P 500 both dropping by around 4%. [Huffington Post]
Standard & Poor’s has released some of its specific reasons for downgrading the United States to a AA+ bond rating, and it is more political than fiscal. Citing the political gridlock in Washington, and in particular the Republicans’ unwillingness to compromise on raising revenues, the report sends the message that S&P does not believe that any sort of meaningful debt-reduction compromise can come out of the current political environment in Washington. [Reuters]
Last month’s launched of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau might never have happened were it not for the inspiration of contributing RP Andrei Cherny.
Read this excerpt from Politico‘s “On The Media”:
Elizabeth Warren first laid out the idea for the agency in an essay in the summer of 2007 in the journal “Democracy: A Journal of Ideas.” Jake Tapper flashed the issue during an interview with Warren earlier this week, during which Warren marveled at how far the idea had come in four years.
“Of all the ideas that get published in academic journals like that, not so many make it into law,” she said.
Andrei Cherny, now the journal’s president, was co-editor of the publication at the time, and had known Warren from his work with John Kerry’s campaign in 2003 and 2004.
“I was talking with her about some of the ideas that she had put forward, and this is something that was in its beginning stages, so we asked her to write it up for us as a proposal,” Cherny said.
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET
The NATO hospital at Kandahar Airfield is among the most advanced treatment facilities to ever operate in a war zone. Its job is to save the war’s worst casualties. [Virginian Pilot]
It’s a recession for everyone.. including the Tooth Fairy. [CNN]
Listen up, ladies. Gloria Steinem, a major pioneer in the fight for women’s rights, says there is still work to be done. [The Daily Beast]
Here’s hoping the economy starts recovering fast- today, one citizen expressed their discontent with Wall Street in a very unconventional way. [Huffington Post]
London is burning… and here’s what British citizens are reporting about the riots on Twitter. [Time]
Our second installment of RPTV’s Great Debates features a regular here at The Recovering Politician, former Atlanta Deputy Mayor and contributing RP Lisa Borders debating our newest team member, GOP pollster, rising political star and Friend of RP Kristen Soltis.
Speaking of music, below the debate video you can find links to the No Labels theme song that Lisa co-wrote with the rap star Akon, as well as the music video of “The Frustrations,” featuring Kristen on lead vocals.
(Oh, and by the way, since the RPettes weren’t around to help the RP figure out how to Skype properly, there’s no video of Lisa, only her disassembled voice. This is not a Newsweekian attempt to demean a powerful female leader, just simple incompetence on the RP’s part. We have provided a picture of Lisa below to allow you to pretend that you can watch her on the video.)
By Robert Kahne, RP Staff, on Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 10:00 AM ET
The Politics of Baseball
Barry Bonds’ lawyers are trying to get his conviction overturned. This is a sad saga, and I hope it ends soon. [Wall Street Journal]
A few days ago, the Phillies and the Giants got into a big fight, and Shane Victorino was suspended for a few games. He, as well as all of Philadelphia, were none to pleased with that. Read Philly’s take. [Philly.com Sports]
Alex Rodriguez was caught about a week ago as a participant in a high stakes poker game which may or may not be illegal. At this ESPN link, Colin Cowherd tells us its no big deal, and we get some information about the future of this incident. [ESPN]
In Cincinnati, two MLB.com writers were robbed at gunpoint. Watch out at Great American Ballpark, especially if you are a media member (I’m looking at you, Thom Brennaman). [The Big Lead]
If you read that above link about the Phillies, and though they were disgruntled, you should see what the loser Cubs think about their new-ish owner (hint: its nothing good). [Chi City Sportsfan]
A few days ago, David Ortiz got a hit, and two runs scored. The scorekeeper gave an error on the throw, which resulted in David Ortiz being given only one RBI instead of two. He was none to happy–which you can see in this video (which is NSFW). He has since been given the second RBI. [Deadspin]
By Patrick Derocher, on Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 9:31 AM ET
Washington Democrat Patty Murray will likely be the Senate co-chair of the new bipartisan committee tasked with reducing the US deficit.
On a deadline to appoint members to the bipartisan Super Congress by next Tuesday, August 16, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appointed Patty Murray of Washington, Max Baucus of Montana, and John Kerry of Massachusetts to the panel, designating Murray as co-chair. Murray, currently head of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and a senior member of the Senate’s Budget Committee, is expected to chair the new committee, formally known as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, alongside a yet-to-be-named House Republican. Baucus was selected for his position as chair of the Finance Committee (and he has been a member of several bipartisan coalitions, including the original Gang of Six in 2009), while John Kerry, who was the party’s 2004 Presidential nominee, was chosen because of his seniority within the caucus. [National Journal]
Following its near-catastrophic 634-point drop the day before, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied by 429 points (3.98%) on Tuesday. Mirroring its rise was a 4.7% increase in the S&P 500. Price levels had been inconsistent over the course of the day, with the final surge resulting from the Federal Reserve Bank’s mid-afternoon announcement that interest rates would remain very low through the middle of 2013. Early Wednesday trading saw increases in stock indices in Japan, South Korea, and Australia. [NY Times]
Following Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade United States debt from AAA to AA+. the Securities and Exchange Commission has released, in part through an 84-page letter to S&P, guidelines on changing rating agencies’ reporting requirements; perhaps unsurprisingly, S&P has not reacted well to the proposal. Notably, the regulations would require such groups to state publicly and on their website when an error has been found in their calculations. This particular stipulation has been met with ire from Standard & Poor’s in large part because the US government has accused the agency of making a $2 trillion error in its calculations that the Treasury Department believes should have affected the decision to downgrade American debt. The entire set of regulations is 517 pages long and is more broadly aimed at reforming the ratings agencies that massively overestimated the dependability of certain loans in the months and years leading up to the 2008 fiscal crisis. [Reuters]
In a moment of stunning irony, the S&P downgrade may have brought some level of bipartisan agreement to the halls of Congress. Members from both sides of the aisle, including some with ideologies as disparate as those of Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) are calling on investigations as to the why and wherefores of the downgrade decision, including whether or not S&P may have benefited from it. Overall, the consensus seems to be that ratings agencies should play a smaller role in the United States’s government and economy. [Wall Street Journal]
In other government dysfunction news, the results of the Wisconsin State Senate recall elections are in, and though Republicans will maintain control of that body, Democrats have picked up two seats in that body, though they may lose more as two Democratic senators are up for recall elections on August 16. Although the results are, on the surface, a loss for Wisconsin Democrats, there has been speculation that the close results of some races may bode well for an effort to recall Republican governor Scott Walker [MSNBC]
As the dog days of August trudge onward, there’s one universal truth:
We are all sick to death of politics.
So, beginning next week, and proceeding the week after, like any good politico, The Recovering Politician will temporarily change its format to reflect the prevailing public mood. But unlike too many politicians these days, we are also soliciting your help.
Next week — the week of August 15 — we will be celebrating Politics-Free Week at The Recovering Politician. There will be no talk of anything policy or politics oriented, as we focus on everything else under the sun.
And you, the RP Nation, are invited to join us. If you are game, please send us your best Top 5 pop culture list by Saturday night, August 13 to Staff@TheRecoveringPolitician.com.
Then the following week, the week of August 22, we will dedicate the site every day to what’s wrong with politics and how it can be fixed.
Of course, we want to hear from you as well. Please send us your essays on how to fix the American political system — one specific part, or the whole darn thing (1500 words or less) — by Saturday night, August 20 to Staff@RecoveringPolitician.com.
August may be dull, hot, and humid. But with your help, The Recovering Politician will experience a cool breeze of fun dialogue and fresh ideas for the nation’s future.
By Robert Kahne, RP Staff, on Tue Aug 9, 2011 at 3:30 PM ET
Captain America
I’m pretty good at Marvel superhero trivia. I was one of those nerds who was mad when the 2002 Sam Rami Spiderman film did not have mechanical web shooters, and was geekily excited to hear that the reboot would ditch the organic webbing. In the same vein, I was livid at what X-Men 3 did to the continuity of the comic book, and that Iron Man wasn’t really an alcoholic. I’m THAT GUY. But, for whatever reason, I don’t know that much about Captain America 1. I don’t know why, since he is one of the original Marvel heroes, but his story never interested me very much. However, that was a mistake on my part. It’s a pretty awesome story.
These guys are not stylish in the 21st century.
Making this film must have been tough. You have essentially a jingoistic, America is #1 in the world character who is campy and ridiculous–he has wings on his helmet and wears blue tights and has a shield. While during the 1940s, that stuff probably seemed really hip, it’s relevancy has certainly waned as time has worn on. America’s relationship with jingoism has really soured as the 20th century has worn on, and superheroes and tight quit being awesome after the original X-Men series went off the air. So, making a movie about Captain America that was both relevant and also respected the hero’s story could not have been easy. However, Joe Johnson really got it done with this film. They gave us the real story–the one from the comic book–and managed to make it relevant to today by adding several modern sentimentalities to the plot.
Hugo Weaving: The Villain of our Time.
The acting was top-notch, especially by the older guys. Hugo Weaving stole the show, in my opinion. His portrayal of the villain Red Skull captured the evil madman pitch-perfectly2. Not to be outdone, Tommy Lee Jones did great as Col. Phillips. Chris Evan’s portrayal of Cap was good–I think he fulfilled his duty of capturing the essence of Captain America–but it wasn’t as outstanding as Weaving or Jones. Evans is given to overacting and melodrama. The supporting cast did well also, especially Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugger and Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark.
The film was not without its flaws, however. The love story felt shoehorned into the film. It was never very fulfilling or resolved, and the plot could have done without it. As I said earlier in reference to Chris Evans, the film is rife with melodrama–the script really didn’t help Mr. Evans out in this regard. However, the action was still good, and this is a movie a 24 year old superhero aficionado can watch and enjoy.
If you enjoy comic books and superheroes as much as I do, you need to see this movie. Even if you only like superheroes half as much as I do, you should go see this movie. However, if superhero movies have started getting on your nerves and you are starting to wonder why so many of them are getting made, this film will do nothing but frustrate you. When I reviewed Green Lantern several weeks ago, I said that there is still a future for comic book movies–but only as fan service, not as big-blockbuster pictures that merit gigantic media blitzes and multi-million dollar advertising budgets. Captain America may have been pretty ubiquitous in commercials and branding, but it is the type of movie that the future of comic book films need to be–a film for fans of the character. This film did a great job of getting me super excited for The Avengers next year. Joss Wheadon, you are up.
This Movie Is Good.
Beginners
The film Beginners is absolutely fantastic. At its core, its a film about people who have no idea what to make of relationships–a subset of people which absolutely includes me. The film gives a treatment of relationships between lovers and family which is sweet and genuine and which has heart, and I think you should go see the movie, already!
In this film, Ewan McGregor plays Oliver, a man whose elderly father comes out as gay to him after the death of his mother. The ploy is threefold–it includes scenes about his father’s homosexuality and his eventual death from cancer, as well as scenes about his present relationship with a French actress with whom he begins a relationship, and scenes showing Oliver’s youth and his relationship to his mother. The film is able to weave these three time periods together in a way which is focused and meaningful–reveals are made about the past which relate to scenes the audience has already seen which take place in the present which provide us with greater nuance with which to treat the various characters. The skipping between time periods really works for this film.
Ewan McGregor does a fantastic job of portraying Oliver, a man who is obviously damaged by his parents strange relationship, which fiercely loving both of his parents. He and Melanie Laurent (who plays his girlfriend Anna) are also dynamic. We often hear of chemistry between lovers on screen referred to with terms such as “sparks” or “sultry,” but this relationship is very honest. It is hot and sensuous at times, and cold and distant at other times. All of the feelings seem honest and real, and that is a credit to these actors.
However, the heart of this film is in its treatment of LGBT issues. I have a lot of trouble empathizing with LGBT characters in film–probably because their experiences are very different from my own–and have always been frustrated by my lack of sympathy for their character’s unique struggle and the impossibility of me understanding the complexities and motivations of LGBT characters. This film, however, presents a straight man, dealing with LGBT issues. In this movie, I found a person who is grappling with the role which homosexuality plays in the 21st century with whom I could relate, and with whom I could empathize. This is the greatest gay film for a straight audience, in my opinion, and there is a lot of credit due to this film for that.
This film is one of my favorites of the year. I cannot recommend it any more than that. If it is showing in your city, I strongly suggest you make a trip to see it. You won’t regret it.
1However, I have been watching the cartoon The Avengers: Earth’s Greatest Heroes, which has caught me up a lot on Cap’s backstory. Like I said, I am a total nerd. 2The things I would do for a movie with Christoph Waltz and Hugo Weaving as European bad-guys are unspeakable.
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