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 Sandra Moon, RP Staff, on Mon Jun 27, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET
New York’s same-sex marriage law protects religious organizations from lawsuits and government penalties for refusing to provide their buildings or services for same-sex marriage ceremonies. The New York Civil Liberties Union accepts the exemptions–its executive director says the legislation “respects the right of clergy, churches and religious organizations to decide for themselves which marriages they will or will not solemnize or celebrate in keeping with our country’s principles of religious freedom.” [NY Times]
92% of people surveyed in a recent gallup poll say they believe in God or a universal spirit. [Salon.com]
U.S. engages in talks with Afghan Taliban to discuss future negotiations. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton describes this action as “not a pleasant business, but a necessary one.” [Washington Post]
Check out this blog on religion and American political culture from Trinity College’s Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life. [SpiritualPolitics]
By Grant Smith, RP Staff, on Mon Jun 27, 2011 at 10:00 AM ET
The Politics of the Web
Upgrade or else: In rush to release Firefox 5.0; Mozilla neglected to tell users of 4.0 that they were no longer being protected from the latest malware. [Tech News World]
Regulating the internet in our multifaceted world. [New York Times]
The Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into Google: is Google abusing its dominance? [Christian Science Monitor]
I didn’t expect at age 39 to already be writing about my political career in past tense.
I grew up with a love of politics, and tended to worship political heroes over, say, sports or movie stars. My earliest political memory is of Jimmy Carter’s 1980 defeat to Ronald Reagan. I didn’t understand how such a good, decent and honest man could possibly lose, and wrote him a letter conveying my anguish. The President and Mrs. Carter responded with a nice letter and a booklet about his presidency.
My first volunteer experience came with Adlai Stevenson III’s run for Governor in 1982. The Stevenson’s were from my hometown of Bloomington, IL—the same town where Abe Lincoln often practiced law just down the road from his hometown of Springfield. His father was so honest that he didn’t intervene when the local paper, which his family owned, actually endorsed Eisenhower when he challenged him for president.
The 1982 Governor’s race was a nail biter, with Stevenson losing by the narrowest of margin. The contest was rife with accusations of vote fraud committed by his incumbent opponent. For the second time in two years, my man lost. I certainly experience a lot of political disappointment by age 11!
My knight in shiny armor came in the likeness of a man who donned thick horned-rimmed glasses, big ears and a bowtie. Paul Simon was kind of a paradoxical figure, his nerdy likeness met by a commanding baritone voice; a leading thinker in the Senate who was also a college drop out. I read several books he authored, and probably attended a half dozen of his frequent town meetings conducted throughout the state. Senator Simon showed me that the “good guys” can prevail in the end. Moreover, he was a liberal Democrat who won a good deal of Republican votes, indicating to me that folks are capable of voting for someone they disagree with if they trust his integrity and motives.
Witha full week that began with Fathers’ Day tributes and ended with anti-Semitic insults, we here at The Recovering Politician are relieved that the weekend has arrived.
But next week, we will be up in full force again. On Monday, we debut our newest recovering politician, Greg Harris, who served as a Council Member for the City of Cincinnati and now is doing some great work for his hometown from the private sector.
We will have much more as well, including a bunch of stuff that we can’t even anticipate right now. So rest up and join us on Monday!
The music world lost a legend on June 18 when Clarence Clemons, the “Big Man” of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, passed away at the all-too-young age of 69. With hips and a back that made it hard for him to even stand up on stage, it sometimes felt like Clemons was 69 going on 89. But Clemons and his prolific saxophone sounded like 69 going on 39 . . . and that was all that mattered.
Thanks to my Dad, I’ve been a Springsteen fan for as long as I can remember. I can’t recall the date or year or song it was that made me a believer, but I do know that it was because of the Big Man rather than the Boss. My Dad just calls him Clarence. “Listen to Clarence!” he’d scream with a smile on his face as we’d drive home from baseball practice, trying to teach his son about musicianship as he’d turn up the timeless Born to Run album.
The Big Man truly was larger than life, so much so that when my friend Jon sent me a text simply stating “RIP Clarence Clemons,” I just didn’t want to believe him. Some bands go on after one of their members passes away or quits or retires. Crosby, Stills, and Nash have done alright since ol’ Neil left. The Rolling Stones have managed for more than forty years without founding member Brian Jones. The Red Hot Chili Peppers pushed on without original guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons. But the E Street Band will never be the same.
At 61, Springsteen might still have the energy and showmanship that helped make him the greatest live act in music history. For his and all of our sakes, I sure hope he does, because Springsteen didn’t reach the Pantheon for his acoustic sets. He certainly didn’t make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the Nebraska album. And Springsteen didn’t become the Boss because of songs like “My Hometown” and “Pony Boy.” Yes, those and other songs are plenty good and special in their own right, but they have nothing on sacred Springsteen anthems like “Jungleland,” “Badlands,” and “Spirit in the Night.” Why? No sax. No soul. No Big Man.
I’ve been fortunate enough to see the E Street Band in concert four times. I’ll never forget the first show – August 17, 2003, at Dodger Stadium. It was my first concert, and my Dad took me. We sat way up top, and each time I put the binoculars to my face, I did my best to find Clarence. Even if I couldn’t see him at all times, I could always hear him.
Read the rest of… The Politics of Tunes: A Void Too Big to Fill
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
What’s popcorn brain? If you don’t want to find out, step away from that smart phone and get out into the world. [CNN]
New research shows that living in an urban environment can actually alter the chemical makeup of your brain, making you more anxious and stressed than you would be otherwise. [Time]
The cost of misdiagnosing children with bipolar disorder: [Newsweek]
The U.S. government just rolled out nine new designs for cigarette warning labels, coming out next year. And boy, do they do the job! [NY Times]
The next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is in 2013, and doctors are already considering which disorders could get the axe. [Huffington Post]
In an opinion piece in the New York Daily News yesterday, Seth Forman presented Five arguments against gay marriage: Society must brace for corrosive change. Your correspondent is still flummoxed by the fact that people put any credence into the types of arguments that were used to deny women the right to own property or vote, to deny “mixed race” marriages, to support segregation and Jim Crow laws, etc., etc. How can these arguments hold water in a country that supposedly cherishes “freedom”? What say you, dear readers?
And in the “odd couple” story of the week, Reps. Barney Frank and Ron Paul have gotten together to work on a little legislation. After 40 years of the “war on drugs” in this country, you’d think their bill would gain a little traction and find some love. Salon
Finally, in the heterosexual column this week, a new film from Mexico (directed, interestingly, by an Aussie) explores race, class, culture and a woman’s kinky sadomasochistic love affair in Mexico City. Yeah! Check out this titillating review of “Leap Year.”
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