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 Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Wed Jun 22, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET
Bill Clinton was a once-disgraced former president… and now his life’s so good, they’re making an opera about it! [Time]
Looking for relaxation? Find your inner calm in Sedona, AZ. [CNN]
Rahm Emanuel officially runs Chicago. Now, all he needs to do is rebuild his image… and the city’s economy. [GQ]
What is war like for foreign workers on U.S. bases in Afghanistan and Iraq? In short, it’s not pretty. [The New Yorker]
When it comes to Facebook, celebrities are just like the rest of us. Here’s how Roger Ebert’s page caused recent controversy, and was subsequently removed. [The Atlantic]
By Robert Kahne, RP Staff, on Wed Jun 22, 2011 at 10:00 AM ET
The Politics of Baseball
The biggest news on the diamond this week has been the tragic injury of the best player in baseball, Albert Pujols. My beloved Cardinals are now without their star for 4-6 weeks. I was not a happy camper when I saw the news. Here is a good run down of what missing Albert means. [Viva El Birdos]
The other big news in baseball comes from the west coast, where commissioner Bud Selig has vetoed Dodger’s owner Frank McCourt’s television deal with Fox, which would have allowed him to keep the team. In essence, this move essentially nullifies McCourt’s divorce to his wife. While Bud Selig has several good points about the deal, how emasculating is it for a guy to veto another man’s divorce? Here is a take on this from LA. [True Blue LA]
Jack McKeon, who is 80 years old, entered the Marlins dugout as the manager on Monday and in so doing, became the oldest manager in the league by fourteen years. He began managing baseball in the 1949, and 671 managers have began and ended their careers since then. Deadspin has all of their names. [deadspin]
Derek Jeter went on the disabled list about a week ago, sitting on 2,994 hits. 3,000 hits is one of the most important milestones in all of baseball, and Jeter may have the longest wait in history to make it there. Here is a great article remembering some other long waits. [The Hardball Times]
Roger Clemons is in a big mess, having likely lied to Congress about his steroid usage. Now, he is trying to limit his former teammates testimony. I feel kind of bad for the once-great pitcher. Just kind of bad, though. [ESPN]
I declared my love for the Bill Simmons project Grantland last week, but others have been reticent to do so–and for good reason. Read The Big Lead‘s take on the website, which also includes quotes from the ESPN ombud. [The Big Lead]
There are two things Huntsman probably needs in order to claim the nomination:
1) Perry or another formidable candidate from the party’s right wing to get in.
Romney has the money and national infrastructure to go the distance, and if there is only one candidate emerging from the right – Bachmann, Cain, Palin, whoever – that’s good for Romney, as it will frighten mainstream Republicans into coalescing around him. So, Huntsman needs at least two strong candidates from the party’s right wing, and Perry’s potential entrance can muddle things enough on the right that so that establishment types will be OK with two strong candidates from the “moderate” wing.
2) Since Romney also has personal money in addition to having spent five years criss-crossing the country meeting bundlers, Huntsman needs to figure out a way to tap his vast family fortune.
I’m not sure about this, but I saw an estimate of Huntsman’s personal fortune at $15M. That’s about enough for New Hampshire – not for the nomination. His father is apparently a billionaire, according to estimates, but he needs to figure out the logistics of making that money available for campaign use. Does that mean his father gifts him $100M and then pays gift taxes on it? Maybe. Does it mean his father does a giant IE? Who knows. The optics aren’t good with either option. I suspect they’ve thought through this, but the logistics of it, and the subsequent perception, could have outsized influence on the way his candidacy is perceived – especially in a post-Bunny-money era.
By Robert Kahne, RP Staff, on Tue Jun 21, 2011 at 3:30 PM ET
The Politics of Music
Weezer, who are one of my favorite bands (even their newer stuff), released a cover of Radiohead’s Paranoid Android which is every bit as epic as the original. One of my all time favorite songs, performed by one of my favorite bands–I was excited to hear this. So should you be. [Weezer]
Lil Wayne is back, kind of, with a new love song. It’s a popular track, but he is singing instead of rapping. My advice to Weezy: stick to what you do best. [How To Love]
A song was released on the internet the other day which purported to Kanye West in an My Dark Twisted Fantasy outtake called Mama’s Boyfriend. Kanye released a statement saying that it is not his track–and that somebody stole the vocal track and added their own beat. Which makes sense. This song is seriously great–but the beat is not. Listen to it if you want, but try to just listen to the rap. [Yeezy]
Neil Young has a new album with his band The International Harvesters. It’s pretty good, and you can listen to the whole album on The Rolling Stone‘s website. [Rolling Stone]
Bon Iver’s sophomore album isn’t as good as his first, but if you are into his sound, you will probably enjoy it. I have yet to listen to the whole album, but I do like this track. [Calgary]
Owl City, aka Adam Young, also had his sophomore album released recently. If you liked the first one, you will probably like this album too. Also, if you like the first one, you should just listen to The Postal Service. Seriously though–Young is doing what he needs to do to be successful, this album is considerably more adamant about his faith, which is the audience who will stick with him the longest. Fans of contemporary Christian acts are fans for life. [Galaxies]
As Joe Biden famously said during the 2008 primaries, each sentence in Rudy’s stump speech consisted of a noun, a verb, and 9/11.
So if Republicans want to spend next fall talking about the shining moment of the Obama presidency (the successful Seal raid), Rudy would be the perfect nominee.
No, I don’t think he could win New Hampshire. But even if he did, remember that New Hampshire – won by Buchanan in ’96 and McCain in ’00 – has been far from dispositive. South Carolina has been the key to the nomination. And as ’02 SC Senate candidate Alex Sanders said when Rudy came down to stump for Lindsay Graham that year (paraphrasing here), “He’s for gay rights. He’s pro-abortion. He wants to ban handguns. He cheated on his wife, got kicked out of his house, and moved in with two gay guys and a Shih Tzu. Is that South Carolina values?”
If Rudy runs and somehow makes it out of New Hampshire, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear Sanders’ observation invoked by Rudy’s primary opponents or their operatives.
All of that said, perhaps a candidacy could bump his speaking fees back up to where they were post-9/11.
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Tue Jun 21, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Future New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson just joined the world of Twitter. And though she’s only tweeting fellow NYT staffers so far, she looks like she knows what she’s doing! [NY Magazine]
Speaking of social networking… Do you think it’s time to deactivate that Facebook page? Good Magazine talks you through the decision in flow-chart form. [Good Magazine]
A new survey from the Pew Institute reports that Facebook users are more politically active. [Pew Institute]
And this is why technology is getting to be a problem. A town in India recently renamed itself snapdeal.com. No, we’re not making this up! [Time]
Stephen Colbert gave the commencement speech for Northwestern University’s spring graduation ceremony. One of his jewels of wisdom: ““I am not here to talk about me. I am here to inspire you by talking about me.” [Chicago Sun Times]
Today’s list emerges from my admission a few weeks ago that I never liked John Edwards because he reminded me of the pretty-boy jock in high school whom I envied and privately despised. Turns out there were other — less personally insecure — reasons to object to the former Senator.
But this journey of introspection into my high school-based shallow steretoyping — as I argue, a trait that most every human shares — has helped me understand why I unfairly disliked other pop culture figures, and how age and hopefully wisdom has helped me understand the error of my ways.
As you read my list of the Top Five Pretty Boys that I Begrudgingly Admire, I encourage you to think about whether you apply a similarly unfair standard to high-profile celebrities. Or whether I’m just full of Freudian psycho-babble.
Here goes:
5. Alec Baldwin
As a youth delegate to the 1988 Democratic National Convention (my first of six), I had two brushes with greatness. First, I stayed at the same hotel and shared an elevator with Rob Lowe (who just barely missed this list) at the height of his fame. (I learned a few months later that he temporarily derailed his career a few floors below my room in an encounter with an underage girl.) Second, was my attending a speech to our delegation by a then-unknown-to-me supporting actor in a movie I hadn’t seen (Married to the Mob). My frustration at attracting merely a C-list actor was heightened by the cliched bromides the pretty boy shouted at crowd. I grew to despise Alec Baldwin. His ridiculous marriage to the gorgeous town-purchasing Kim Basinger, and his dramatic movie career in which he seemed to always play the same arrogant pretty man that I assumed him to be in real life only accentuated my feelings. And then he gained a bunch of weight. I ended my Baldwin boycott, and watched his hilarious hosting turns on Saturday Night Live (Ahh.. Schwetty Balls), and his frankly brilliant portrayal of Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock (I still think this scene in which he performs family therapy for Tracy Morgan is his finest work.) The man is a comedic genius. And in re-watching Glengarry Glen Ross, I’m forced to admit, the pretty boy can act. (Coffee is for closers!)
4. Tom Brady
Growing up in Kentucky before the advent of the Tennessee Titans, the logical NFL team to support was the Cincinnati Bengals. OK, stop laughing. As ESPN The Magazine just ackowledged by rating the Bungles the very worst professional sports franchise — 122nd place to be exact — I was forced to find another team. After a childhood infatuation with the Dallas Cowboys, I ultimately settled on my college-area team, the New England Patriots. That, of course, was an uninspired choice for more than a decade; until 2001, when it looked like the team had the makings of a champion. Then our quarterback, Drew Bledsoe, went down, and was replaced by the unheralded pretty-boy in his second season, Tom Brady. I refused to give him credit for that Super Bowl win, and the rings he won in 2004 and 2005 were overshadowed in my mind by his dumping the pregnant Bridget Moynahan for the supermodel Gisele. But Brady kept improving, winning MVP awards and leading the Pats to an almost-perfect 2007 season. I gave up. I’m a Brady fan. No matter how pretty he is.
(WARNING: Next Pretty Boy Picture –after the jump — is NSFW)
Read the rest of… The RP: Top 5 Pretty Boys I Begrudgingly Admire
Within the past hour, the National Jewish Democratic Council weighed in on the controversy:
Former Kentucky Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Forgy inappropriately injected anti-Semitic language into the Kentucky gubernatorial race on behalf of current Republican candidate David Williams. Williams is challenging current Governor Steve Beshear and his running mate, former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, is Jewish…
Forgy’s comment is deeply troubling and has absolutely no place in our political discourse. His statement should be condemned by all who believe that candidates should refrain from using religious innuendo, especially anti-Semitic canards.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Jun 20, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Tech
Al Franken (D-MN) has taken the initiate in regards to companies collecting information on consumers. He has introduced a bill that aims to “close current loopholes in federal law to ensure that consumers know what location information is being collected about them and allow them to decide if they want to share it.” [ars technica]
One of the most promising contenders for the best artificial heart yet made. It produces no heartbeat, no pulse, and a flat EKG, but it works. One of the inventors, Dr. Billy Cohn, described the futile efforts of early inventors trying to make flying machines that resembled nature: bats, butterflies, etc. as an analogy of their thought process. The author said it best “…what works in nature is often not the only mechanical solution, or even the best one.” [NPR]
ICANN, one of the governing bodies for the Internet, is all set to officially expand the use of domain names. As long as you can pay $185,000 to license the domain name and prove your connection to it, you can have your own. What is $185,000 to Apple or Sony? Not much. [Reuters]
Wow. The Bento Box. Hands down, one of the best designs I have seen. In terms of function it is something completely new and innovative. [Yanko Design]
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