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 Robert Kahne, RP Staff, on Thu Jul 28, 2011 at 2:00 PM ET
Should we?
I’ve worked in the field of higher ed sustainability for several years now. Many of my colleagues, when asked to identify the main hurdle towards sustainability in existence today would respond with “America’s consumerist culture.” Not a bad answer, at first glance. Just looking around my room, I see dozens of items which I don’t use and indeed, many which I have NEVER used–and I’m supposed to be the sustainable one! It is not usual at all for American families to have 2 cars, 3 televisions, and a computer for every person in the house. Lots of people out there want to rethink this, especially in face of the facts such as “the useful life of a power drill is about 4 minutes.” and “there is a portion of the Pacific Ocean filled with plastic which is twice the size of Texas.” To fight this problem, people have set up system of “sharing” in which several people will buy 2 cars, or 1 vacuum cleaner, or one washer/dryer set, and share amongst themselves. People have even reformed their libraries so that if you need a power drill, you can check it out like you would the most recent George RR Martin book. A good idea, right?
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Its true, it takes a lot of energy and carbon emissions to make a lot of the stuff that we don’t use, and it is further true that increased carbon emissions are heating the planet to the point that the world will likely become something none of our grandparents would recognize by the time we are dead. Ergo, reducing our consumption of stuff and sharing makes sense, right? As is true with everything, nothing is quite that simple. Our economic system is a complex system of purchases–purchases of big things like cranes and roads and tanks; purchases of important things like labor and art and food, and yes, even purchases of junk like McDonald’s toys and plastic spoons and cheez-its. When a piece of this consumption train breaks down, it causes all sorts of economic pain and suffering. In a piece published last Saturday in the New York Times Sunday Review, David Leonhart examined the effect which falling consumer purchases have prolonged the economy. His conclusion was that the old, consumerist economy, was dead; we need to build “an investment and production economy, with rising exports, expanding factories and more good-paying service jobs.”
Image from NYT article
Okay, that’s fine, but if we build one of these “investment and production economies” and shy away from the debt which helped us to build this huge consumption bubble, don’t we still need people to export to, and people to buy the things we make in these new factories? Don’t we need people who sell things to spend their money in places where these “good paying service jobs” still exist? I know that Leonhart is not making a case for sustainability in his article, but I think the solution he posits in his article still keeps relatively the same system in place which created the consumer problem in the first place: in order to create growth, stuff needs to be sold. Paradoxically, the more stuff that gets sold, the worse off the world is.
For as long as I can remember, complaints about “dysfunctional” government have permeated the public dialogue about Washington.
I was swept into congress in 2006 on a tide of “change” and swept out in 2011 as the pendulum swung the other way. During my time as a candidate and as a member I was enmeshed in a system that prized raising money above all as the key to credibility, power and effectiveness.
I was good at raising money. I set fundraising records in my small home state both as a candidate for the House and during my Senate run. I loved my work and my colleagues. I worked with high-minded people who wanted to do the best they could for the American people.
I also saw that or campaign financing system had developed into a system which was often at odds with the best interests of the people who we served. “Money talks, nobody walks” was an advertisement from my youth. In our system, money talks and those with it ride comfortably while those without walk behind. The power of money gives disproportionate power to those who have it and threatens the fabric of our democracy.
I felt first hand the deleterious effects of the abhorrent Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case as unnamed corporate interests barraged my state’s airwaves with millions of dollars in ads tearing me down. The money and the pursuit of it subtly corrode even the most principaled representative. The first time a member thinks to him or herself “If I vote this way, I’ll lose X”, that subtle corrosion is at work.
I was privileged the other day to sit on a panel with former Republican Senator Larry Pressler at the screening of a film titled “Priceless”. Go see the film. Think about how much easier it would be to get things done with a change in our campaign finance system.
Visit the website of Americans for Campaign Reform. I believe changing the way we finance elections is at the core of ensuring the future of our representative democracy.
By Patrick Derocher, on Thu Jul 28, 2011 at 9:30 AM ET
The passage of John Boehner's debt-reduction plan in today's House vote hinges upon his ability to organize the Republican Caucus.
After another day of fruitless debt talks, stock markets reacted negatively, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling by 1.59 percent, NASDAQ by 2.65 percent, and the S&P 500 by 2.03 percent. [The Daily Beast]
Looking to put the plan up to a vote today, Speaker of the House John Boehner revised his debt-reduction plan following a Congressional Budget Office report that said it would in fact cut less than $1 trillion from the deficit. Under the new plan, cuts total $917 billion, more than the CBO’s original number of $850 billion, coupled with a debt ceiling increase of $900 billion. Additionally, the plan will cut $22 billion in 2012 rather than $1 billion under the first draft. [The Hill]
Following a disappointing scoring by the Congressional Budget Office, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he will tweak his debt-reduction plan. Though the original plan was supposed to save $2.7 trillion while raising the debt ceiling through the end of 2012, the CBO report said it would only reduce by $2.2. Reid’s stated goal was to bring both the debt ceiling increase and spending decrease to $2.4 trillion. [Roll Call]
In spite of previous reports to the contrary, John Boehner’s speakership is not in trouble, according to Republican Representative Paul Broun of Georgia. Yesterday, various Tea Party groups came out saying that they thought Boehner should (and possibly would) be replaced as Speaker of the House. [The Hill]
The president of credit rating agency Standard & Poor has said that he does not believe the United States will default on its loans while reiterating that the country’s debt problems need to be addressed to assure its fiscal security. This comes in light of recent assertions from both Moody’s Analytics and FitchRatings that a credit rating downgrade would not be catastrophic. [The Hill]
In spite of recent recalculations by groups such as Barclays Capital, the United States Department of the Treasury has said that it will indeed run out of money to pay its obligations on August 2 if the debt ceiling is not increased. Previously, it had been speculated that the Treasury might have enough money to last through August 10. [The Hill]
Debate rages on over the dueling House and Senate budget plans, though there appear to be many similarities between the Boehner and Reid plans. The National Journal lays them out. [National Journal]
Questions have been raised about the legitimacy of President Obama invoking the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling unilaterally, but that has not stopped some Congressional Democrats. House Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn, Representative Jerry Nadler of New York, and other prominent House Democrats have publicly urged the President to raise the debt ceiling himself if Congress does not do so in a timely manner. [Washington Post]
Conservative opinion-maker Grover Norquist has called on House Republicans to support the Boehner debt-reduction plan, saying it is the only plan on the table that meets American for Tax Reform’s criterion of not raising taxes while decreasing spending at a level commensurate with debt ceiling increases. [Politico]
On Wednesday, all 51 Democrats in the Senate, in addition to both independents, signed a letter saying they would not vote for the Boehner plan, taking issue with its two-tiered approach to raising the debt ceiling, which they feel would put the country at risk of defaulting again in about six months. [Roll Call]
With strong opposition to any bill that is not contingent upon a balanced budget amendment, Speaker Boehner has been having difficulty getting the House Republican Caucus in line behind his budget plan. On Wednesday, he is reported to have told his fellow Republicans “get your ass in line” for the vote that is expected on Thursday. This is a change in tone for the Speaker, who has been criticized in the past for not being forceful enough with the Tea Party contingent of his party. [Washington Post 1] [Washington Post 2]
In a surprise and even stunning move, President Obama vetoed legislation that reached his desk today that would raise the debt ceiling in exchange for $2.4 trillion in spending cuts and the formation of a new commission to identify $1.6 trillion in additional cuts over the next 10 years.
House Speaker John Boehner earned the support of Tea Party members of his caucus and House passage of the legislation because it met their demands for $4 trillion in cuts without new revenue. The Democrats had originally hoped to close some corporate tax loopholes and end Bush-era income tax cuts on the wealthiest 2% of Americans. The compromise legislation was worked out between Boehner, Senate majority leader Harry Reid, and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell.
The bill reaching the president’s desk was seen as the last possible compromise needed to prevent American default on its loans. But was it? Apparently heeding the advice of former President Bill Clinton, Obama invoked the 14th Amendment of the constitution in insisting the country would continue to pay its bills, and practically dared the GOP to challenge his authority to do so in federal courts. “If the Republicans want to sue me into forcing America to default on its loans, that is their prerogative. But I intend to carry out my constitutional authority to authorize the Treasury to pay our bills on time. What I won’t do is be cornered into supporting legislation that devastates America’s seniors and middle-class.” One House insider who was part of negotiations commented that by challenging the constitutionality of the debt ceiling deadline by ignoring it, “the President basically took away any and all GOP leverage.”
President Obama, with one stroke of his veto pen, declared that “I will not allow fringe elements of Congress to continue to subsidize corporate loopholes on the backs of our middle class and senior citizens. I will not see Medicare and Social Security and middle class tax breaks compromised so that a billionaire CEO can pay less in taxes than his secretary, or a profitable big corporation can pay less in taxes than a small business. This legislation revealed Republican true colors, and I had to kill it. We need to tip the scales back towards a government that serves everyday people.”
In a hastily assembled press conference, an obviously stunned House majority leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) declared “President Obama is willing to send America into default and possibly a constitutional crisis in the name of raising taxes on job creators.” The political airwaves are abuzz in debate over whether the President’s move was bold or careless. Emboldened Democratic congressional leadership has indicated they will stand behind the President.
In the coming week, Obama plans to take his case to the American people for a balanced approach to deficit reduction. According to USA Tomorrow’s latest polls, 56% of Americans support a balanced approach that uses cuts and new revenue to address the deficit; 64% oppose cuts in Medicare and Social Security; 78% oppose ending the home mortgage loan deduction.”
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Wed Jul 27, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Laughter
In honor of the legalization of gay marriage by New York here are 14 of the best pro-gay marriage signs. Be aware, one or two of them contain some NSFW language. [HappyPlace]
If you get this one, please say so in the comment section. It’s a little bit “inside.” [picture]
The Roof-Jump App. Seems accurate to me. [picture]
Nigerian scammers need to work on generating some more unique American names. [e-mail]
By Patrick Derocher, on Wed Jul 27, 2011 at 2:00 PM ET
Tensions remain high on Capitol Hill as both House and Senate debt-reduction plans have hit major setbacks.
The CBO has scored both the Reid and Boehner plans, and neither scored as highly as was initially touted, with the Reid plan saving $2.2 trillion rather than $2.7 trillion and the Boehner plan saving $850 billion rather than $1.2 trillion. House Republicans moved the vote on the plan from Wednesday to Thursday in hopes of modifying the plan and shoring up more support, especially within the Tea Party. Reid, meanwhile, has had problems rallying the Senate around his plan, which controversially includes a drawdown in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of debt reduction. [NY Times]
From The Washington Post, a useful graphic comparing the Reid and Boehner plans. [Washington Post]
Time magazine’s Jay Newton-Small has compiled a list of possible results of the debt talks, with analysis on why and how each possibility might happen. [Time]
GOP presidential candidates have been less-than-welcoming to the Boehner debt-reduction plan, with only former Utah governor Jon Huntsman embracing the plan fully. Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul have all come out against the plan. [Washington Post]
The chief economist for Moody’s Analytics has said that a credit downgrade for the United States would not be “the end of the world.” Though acknowledging that interest rates would rise, Mark Zandi said on CBS that they would not rise too drastically and a return to AAA rating could come quickly. [National Journal]
Reflecting a recent study by Barclays, the United States may be able to keep paying its bills until August 10, having taken in more and disbursed less money than initially anticipated. [NY Times]
Dissatisfied with Speaker Boehner’s leadership in the House, Tea Party Patriots founders Jenny Martin and Mark Meckler have suggested that a new speaker may be in order. Citing his lengthy Washington experience and ingrained political habits, they did not go so far as endorsing someone to replace Boehener, though Meckler mentioned Michele Bachmann as a possibility if she weren’t running for President. [National Journal]
For the second day in a row, President Obama has no scheduled meetings to discuss the debt debate with Congressional leadership. Though spokesman Jay Carney has insisted that the President has been involved with debt negotiations, it increasingly looks as though the final deal to be presented to him will be hammered out between competing bills in the House and Senate. [Washington Post]
Although tensions remain high within the House Republican Caucus, the likelihood of the Boehner debt plan passing the House seems to be climbing. This is in spite of a recent e-mail leak from inside the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of conservative Republicans, that indicated which members of that group might or might not support the plan. [National Journal]
Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain has lashed out at Tea Party-leaning Republicans who have demanded a balanced budget amendment as part of any debt ceiling agreement. Reading from a Wall Street Journal editorial that envisioned hardliner Republicans as denizens of a Tolkein-esque fantasy world, McCain blasted the notion of an amendment as unrealistic given the Democratic majority in the Senate. [The Hill]
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Wed Jul 27, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET
Rest in peace, Amy Winehouse. This piece from Time magazine discusses her struggle with drug addiction, and how her story can shine a light on helping others with similar problems. [Time]
A young girl’s dream of providing clean water to families in developing nations lives on, even after her tragic death. [CNN]
Nafissatou Diallo was a hotel maid who went in to clean Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s room and left as the center of a scandal. Now, she tells her story. [Newsweek]
For a little levity, check out Esquire’s list of other “Gangs of Six” that weren’t as successful as the group in the Senate today. [Esquire]
By Artur Davis, on Wed Jul 27, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET
Based on my own observations in the House, I would have been stunned if you had told me Michele Bachmann would ever seriously contend for the presidency. Nothing about her abilities as a politician or legislator ever marked her as that kind of talent.
But it does not require sympathy for her candidacy to be repelled by the ugliness and the venom of the whispering campaign that is underway against her. It proves first, that the liberal blogosphere is as crudely toxic as the right-wing blogosphere has always been.
Second, the coverage in mainstream media of unattributed allegations from individuals with an axe to grind is a dangerous lowering of the bar. Standards still have a role to play in the coverage of a presidential race, and some of those standards are being shredded in the zeal to “unmask” Bachmann.
I think Michele Bachmann is on the verge of opening up a sizable lead in Iowa and that she is about to become an explosive online, grassroots fund-raising force in the next several months. If she wins Iowa, there is enough of a conservative base for her to compete effectively in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida.
But I am unconvinced that she can sweep those states and avoid a protracted three-month fight in the northern battleground states that she is not well-positioned to win. If Romney is still standing, he will be the choice of an establishment and a traditional donor base that doubts Bachmann’s elecability and suspects that she jeopardizes the Republican hold on the House, and the drumbeat against her general election vulnerability will take a toll.
The defining question: if Bachmann is surging early next year, is she running competitively in the polls with Barack Obama or not? If she is the nomination will be within her reach; if not it simply won’t happen.
People keep telling me that a deal on raising the debt ceiling will definitely happen. It must happen. Both sides agree it must happen. The fate of the global economy depends on no less. They’re back at the negotiation table. Sure, Speaker Boehner walked out on Friday, but he was back in the White House on Saturday. Some kind of product must emerge from these negotiations.
A few days ago, as I was walking down the street in Lower Manhattan, I saw a man reach into a garbage can, fish out an open can of soda, and chug whatever was left in it. It was a hot day, but Jesus Christ.
At this point, any product that would emerge from negotiations between the President and the Tea Party would be as valuable as that can of soda.
Those who believe otherwise must also believe that the behavior of the House Republican majority—intransigent to the point of nihilism–will radically change in the next week. That’s right: we have one week left until default. One week left before the crash.
Here is an example of the behavior of the new House Republican Majority. Allen West is a freshman GOP Congressman from Florida, a star of the 2010 Tea Party wave. He is an Iraq War veteran, discharged from the service after torturing an Iraqi police officer. Most people would try to put that kind of shameful incident behind them. West returned home and campaigned on it. Successfully.
A couple of weeks ago, Congressman West shot off an email to Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose congressional district adjoins his. In the email, he wrote, “You are the most vile, unprofessional, and despicable member of the U.S. House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!” Not done, he followed that up with “You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!” Then he copied most of Congress on the email, just to let everyone else know how hurt his feelings were.
What did Debbie Wasserman Schultz do to poor Mr. West to provoke such a tirade? Steal his daughter’s Justin Bieber tickets? Drown his cat? Assert the supremacy of Mellencamp over Springsteen?
(Pictured above: a former Lieutenant Colonel’s worst nightmare.)
Even worse. This “lady” had the nerve to actually describe Allen West’s plans for Medicare recipients, via the debt ceiling negotiations: “The gentleman from Florida. who represents thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, as do I, is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for Medicare beneficiaries, unbelievable from a Member from South Florida”.
That’s it. That’s what set him off. In West’s defense, perhaps he felt physically threatened by Wasserman Schultz. After all, she does look awfully intimidating.
These are the kinds of people President Obama is trying to negotiate a debt ceiling increase out of. Crazy people. Not to say they aren’t serious people. No, these people take themselves very, very seriously. As to their role as stewards of our nation’s well-being? Taken about as seriously as a box of Lucky Charms.
Read the rest of… Will Allison: Unloading Their Guns
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