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:
Our very own contributing RP Artur Davis offered his insights on the ongoing John Edwards scandal to Politico’s Ben Smith. In addition to being a member of the House Judiciary Committee while in Congress, Davis previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Alabama, with a nearly 100% conviction record.
Here’s what Davis had to say about the Edwards affair:
It’s a new low for Edwards stemming from his affair with a former campaign aid, and at least one knowledgeable observer thinks any charges brought may be off the mark. Artur Davis, a former federal prosecutor and four-term Alabama congressman, says that an Edwards indictment would be highly unusual by normal Justice Department standards.
“Campaign finance law gives candidates significant leeway on how to spend campaign dollars, as long as the money does not end up in their own pocket,” says Davis, a former member of the powerful House Judiciary Committee and now a partner in the white collar and government investigations practice at law firm SNR Denton in Washington.
“It is exceedingly rare for the government to bring criminal charges in connection with the misuse of campaign dollars; when it happens it usually involves some other crime like obstruction or making false statements to investigators. Those elements seem to be missing here,” Davis adds.
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Wed Jun 1, 2011 at 10:30 AM ET
A brave 20-year-old University of Alabama student is putting her life together after surviving storms in both Tuscaloosa and her hometown of Joplin, Missouri. [CNN]
Monkeys need hugs as much as we do. New research from the Yale School of Medicine shows that rhesus monkeys are capable of feeling regret over their decisions too. [Time]
Hip-hop singer Sean Kingston was injured in a jet ski crash earlier this week, and was just moved to the intensive care unit. Celebs and fans have been tweeting Kingston prayers and wishes for a quick recovery since the crash. [Yahoo News]
These are the faces of recovery. Check out this beautiful photo gallery of Iran’s young optimists. [Newsweek]
A little laughter to end your day: check out 50 state stereotypes in two minutes. [Huffington Post]
By Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, on Wed Jun 1, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
Elementary education thrives in the middle of an Orlando YMCA
I was in Orlando a few weeks ago, but not at Disney World or the Epcot Center. My youngest is 19, so it’s been a while since I stayed at the African lodge and watched the giraffes come up to our window. Even further back is my memory of “It’s a Small World After All” at the New York’s World’s Fair in 1964, a place I visited quite often as a 12-year-old when my father was running for the Senate. Fast forward almost half a century and my second daughter is pregnant, so I hope I’ll be back to Disney World again before too long.
Actually my destination a few weeks ago was just as exciting as the Big Mountain Thunder Railroad or Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. It was a school of the future, already up and running: the Lake Nona YMCA/NorthLake Park Community-School Partnership.
NorthLake Park public elementary school is located in the same building as the local YMCA. Wow! The 30,000-square-foot Y is literally right in the middle of the school. The children, who would never have had access to a swimming pool at any regular public school, can now learn to swim, and they also get in shape in the gym and on the walking trails. Some of them take yoga before a test to reduce their pre-test butterflies.
Teachers, too, can easily get to the gym’s StairMasters, weights, and workout classes. The results aren’t just better abs but better attitudes. The teachers are happy, and their higher retention rate pays dividends for the kids.
The parents are also more involved. Instead of an awkward once-a-year meeting, teachers and parents find themselves on adjacent bikes in the spin class. They’re comfortable with one another.
I was stunned to learn that the school was more than a decade old, because it looked so new and fresh. A few years ago, when the school system didn’t have the money to paint the building, they turned to their partner. The Y raised the money and the painters came.
The school and the Y were originally built in 2000, the result of an innovative partnership that included Orange County Public Schools, the Central Florida YMCA, and other private- and public-sector partners.
I admired this partnership because I had led efforts to connect schools and communities in Maryland for almost 20 years. If the community feels the school is theirs, the parents are more apt to visit, volunteer, and talk to teachers. The schools can only benefit from neighbors who care — fewer fights, better test scores, healthier students. Nationally, the group Communities in Schools, launched by the visionary reformer Bill Milliken, has done a terrific job of attracting community support for schools and promoting the ideas that all children should have mentors, do community service, and have great health care.
But what I saw in Orlando was unique, a local initiative that’s the first of its kind in the nation. Here the community is represented by the YMCA, an already vigorous and attractive institution. This means that the school doesn’t have to do all the hard work. It has a built-in magnet.
As I walked along the halls and visited the classrooms, I kept imagining what could be accomplished if we replicated this model in the 2,500 YMCAs across the country. The Ys already flourish, because they have enticing facilities that people are eager to come to. It would be amazing if each Y could be paired with a school.
Read the rest of… Kathleen Kennedy Townsend: The School of the Future, Up and Running
By Robert Kahne, RP Staff, on Tue May 31, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Music
Beyonce went on American Idol last week and sang her new song. It’s called 1+1, and I think it’s the best thing she’s done in years. [American Idol]
Lady Gaga’s album dropped last week. This is its latest single. You’ve likely already heard it a billion times on the radio already. [Judas]
My Morning Jacket’s new CD comes out today, its called Circuital. This song is also called that. [Circuital]
I don’t listen to a lot of country music, but Brad Paisley’s new album, This Is Country Music, is quite good. Here is a song from that album, featuring the song’s namesake. [Eastwood]
Speaking of Clint Eastwood, Daniele Lupi–who made his name writing music for spaghetti westerns–recorded an album with Danger Mouse entitled Rome, which features vocal talent by Norah Jones and Jack White. It’s my favorite album of the month. [Two Against One]
The music world lost a great one last week with the passing of Gil Scott-Heron. Here is my favorite recording he ever did. [The Revolution Will Not Be Televised]
While a great man passed, another great man celebrated his 70th year of life last week. Here are a bunch of people covering a great song by that man–Bob Dylan. [Pearl Jam] [Don McLean] [The Roots] [Staple Singers]
As Sarah Palin takes significant steps to potentially enter the Republican primary for President in 2012, Politico’s Arena asked Jeff Smith whether Michelle Bachmann poses a real threat to Palin’s chances to capture the nomination.
Here’s Jeff’s reply:
Both parties have a primary within a primary in presidential elections. Democrats have a shot-and-a-beer versus wine-and-cheese primary, with the long-term trend favoring the wine-and-cheese candidate (Clinton and Gore representing the former type, Kerry and Obama the latter). Republican primaries have a similar structure, the culture warriors vs. the blue-blood establishment. Bachmann and Palin represent the former while Romney and Huntsman are pure blue-bloods.
To become the nominee, 1) you need to be the leading candidate in your mini-primary and 2) you want fewer people in your mini-primary than the other mini-primary.
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Tue May 31, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
The next presidential election is still a year away, but things are already getting dirty on Twitter. [Time]
Did you miss last week’s final episode of Oprah? New York magazine gives us the highlights in three minutes. [NY Magazine]
Read the statement from Genette Cordova, the college student who was sent a lewd picture on Twitter by Congressman Anthony Weiner’s hacked account. [NY Daily News]
Check out this behind-the-scenes look at the NYPD Special Victims Division, the group responsible for catching Dominique Strauss-Kahn and other criminals. [Newsweek]
The winners of YouTube’s recent talent competition went through social media boot camp in New York City with Google. Here are the results. [NY Times]
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue May 31, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
It’s hard to believe that The Recovering Politician completes in second full month today.
With 18 contributing recovering politicians, 8 Friends of RP, and 9 outstanding staff writers, we’ve produced more than 300 posts filled with news, entertainment, opinion, and hopefully a bit of humor.
Of course, ever the impatient expansionist (I haven’t fully recovered from politics yet), I will continue to explore ways to improve upon this Web site.
In the coming weeks, we will feature a few new contributing RPs. The next two are nationally known political figures, one from each major party. (Hint: They both have been answers to recent New York Times crossword puzzles.)
And since yesterday’s Memorial Day experiment was so successful, expect us on occasion to enlist our readers to contribute their thoughts on the site’s home page. If you were one of the lucky outdoors and away from the Web yesterday, take a scroll down yesterday’s postings. I think you will find a great deal of inspiring, eloquent tributes to some true American heroes.
So, two months in, the journey continues. We hope you are enjoying the ride.
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon May 30, 2011 at 5:00 PM ET
When I put out the call for our readers to share their stories about beloved veterans on this Memorial Day, I had no idea what to expect.
And what an amazing surprise it turned out to be.
In one of those coincidences that would prompt my wife to remind me that there are no coincidences, I received precisely 16 posts, one for every half hour of the work day. The essays were alternatively touching, funny, sentimental, inspiring and emotional.
Thanks to all of you who shared your stories with The Recovering Politician today. You made my Memorial Day extra special. As I hope it was for our readers as well.
Tomorrow we return to our usual fare. Thanks for joining us today.
My husband’s father passed away in late March at the age of 87. I wrote this piece the next day. It originally appeared on my blog MavenMama on Bluegrassmoms.com.
Everyday approximately 1,100 World War II veterans die. I was floored when my husband shared this statistic with me, until I realized how many served in that war – 16.1 million.
Tonight, my father-in-law joined the ranks of these comrades in arms and passed quietly away. At eight-seven, he had lived long and hardily all the way to the end. Just an hour before he collapsed he was sitting in his favorite recliner watching his much loved hockey team on the television in the assisted living apartment he shares with his wife of sixty-four years.
As my husband and I sat alternately weeping and laughing he wondered aloud if we are ever really ready for the passing of a parent. Even when our parents have had more than their fair share of life, and are ready to journey to their Heavenly Father, it is still a blow, a sad surprise. Even when the best and worst case scenarios of “ways to pass” have been discussed and played out in long distance phone calls and in quiet conversations, and the best case scenario does indeed come to fruition one is not prepared.
And with the passing of Frank, and other veterans like him, who protected us and liberated millions more in allied countries, it is the end of an era. An era of brave men who served their country and then returned to marry their sweethearts, go to college on the GI Bill, buy their first home, and raise a family in a middle-class-town.
Yes, he served his family and his country well and it is indeed the end of an era.
Blog this!
