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:
I first ran for office as an ordinary citizen from New Hampshire in 2004. My hope when I ran was to help change the course of the nation and to effectively represent the people of my state with independence, integrity and imagination. I was fortunate to meet those goals before joining the ranks of The Recovering Politician.
I was part of a historic new majority in the House of Representatives and was chosen by my peers as President of the Freshman Class of 2006. I served on the Oversight and Government reform committee and the Financial Services committee during a period of unprecedented activity.
As a freshman congressman from the first in the nation primary state, I was courted by Presidential candidates. I believed that the wave of change that swept me into office was not finished and that business as usual in Washington needed some shaking up. Against all odds, I decided to support a long-shot candidate for whom change was a theme, Barack Obama. I had the honor of serving as a national co-chair for the President’s first campaign.
The wave elections of 2006 and 2008 were countered by the tsunami of 2010 when I decided not to run for my congressional seat; instead I ran, unsuccessfully, for the United States Senate. Politics has a lot to do with timing and luck. You can’t surf a tsunami. As a musician I should know a bit about timing. Suffice it to say, I had quite a while to confront the idea of political afterlife while I ran for the Senate, a tremendous experience nonetheless.
Read the rest of… Paul Hodes: On the Way to Recovery & Renewal
Another great day tomorrow includes a Friday Video Flashback, and the debut of our 18th and final member of our inaugural class of contributing recovering politicians. A former U.S. Congressman, he shares his fascinating story of recovery and rebound.
TGTF (Thank Goodness Tomorrow’s Friday). See you then!
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu May 12, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Speed
Animal Kingdom (shown left, in the lead) was the eventual winner of the most exciting two minutes in sports. Animal Kingdom and owner Barry Irwin now look forward to the Preakness where they will attempt to win the second out of the three triple crown races. [ESPN]
In contrast to the jubilation from the Animal Kingdom camp, there is also sadness. After the race concluded it was announced that Archarcharch would retire from racing due to a fractured front left leg that was suffered at the beginning of the race. [ESPN]
In the world of NASCAR, both Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick have been fined $25,000 and placed on probation for the next four Sprint Cup point races. This punishment stems from pit road “violations” last week at Darlington. [NASCAR.com]
If you would like to watch the “violations” after last week’s race at Darlington, please check out the following link. Such “violations” would get you arrested outside of the race track. [Mocksession]
Jimmie Johnson is the most influential athlete in America (according to a recent Forbes study), beating out New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady who came in at number two. Fellow NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. took home third. [Yahoo! Sports]
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu May 12, 2011 at 2:15 PM ET
The political blogosphere is abuzz with the news of family strife within a bi-partisan family dynasty: the separation of former California Governator Arnold Schwartzenegger and Kennedy scion Maria Shriver.
The mainstream news and political media want to know why, and they’re making their best guesses: Read here and here and here and here.
My response?
It’s None of Your Freaking Business!
Yes, he’s an international movie star who served two terms as Governor of our nation’s most populous state. Sure, she was a national news broadcaster, and a member of the most influential and popular modern American political dynasty. Of course, a long time ago, they both voluntarily submitted themselves to public scrutiny.
But as I argued a few weeks ago concerning three-year-old Trigg Palin, I believe that every one of us — even the richest, most powerful, and most famous — have a discrete zone of privacy which the responsible press should not disturb. And as long as their separation did not involve actions that were criminal or a violation of the public trust while Arnold was in office, the mainstream media should leave them and their family alone.
Of course, I am a passionate First Amendment advocate, and I certainly don’t believe in laws to restrict such reporting. But I believe that the Fourth Estate bears a special responsibility to the public to draw ethical lines every so often and not cross them. This is one of those occasions.
How does an American president, fully aware of the need for immigration policy reform and the ROI that progressive immigration reform could bring to the economy, convince a jittery public that it’s in the American interest to provide people with a path to citizenship? Read more here from NPR.
In the same speech on the U.S.-Mexican border, President Obama also mocked Republican lawmakers for “never be[ing] satisfied” with border security. “Maybe they’ll need a moat,” he said. “Maybe they’ll want alligators in the moat.” Ah, presidential humor. The AP from NPR
This is a fascinating new book on the history of immigration in the United States, from colonial times through today. Dr. Susan F. Martin of Georgetown University explores three models of historical immigration in the United States that, she claims, have all favored immigration more consistently than immigrants. A Nation of Immigrants
By Robert Kahne, RP Staff, on Thu May 12, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET
Originality: Dead.
A sad fact: the politics of film will always eventually mesh with the politics of money. While original films do eventually make it big in the mainstream, this is often a function of someone’s star power, the insistence of a bankable director, or just plain luck. It’s too bad that original film very rarely makes big money. I think this is a problem, and I think it is a problem with a very clear source–us. Yes, I don’t blame money grubbing film producers, nor do I blame the industry for its “lack of originality”. The culprit of this scandal is the movie-going public.
In 2010, fully 5 of the top 10 highest grossing films were sequels. One of the top 10 was a remake (Alice in Wonderland), and three others were original animated films. One, just ONE, of the top ten highest grossing films made in 2010 was a live-action movie made for adults. This film, Inception, was made by bankable director Chris Nolan, who had previous made The Dark Knight. Other high grossing films intended for adults include The King’s Speech (13), Black Swan (21), and Shutter Island (23). How did these films become popular? Mostly for the same reason as Inception, in my opinion. Both Black Swan and Shutter Island were directed by name-brand guys–Darren Aranofsky and Martin Scorsese. The King’s Speech starred high profile British actors Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter. The highest grossing film which meets my criteria of not being a sequel or remake, and lacking “real” star power was The Social Network, which finished at number 33, grossing $224m. I realize “real” star power is a metric that is totally based on my own opinion and is not at all quantifiable. I invite you to check the numbers yourself and see if I am right in my estimations.
To me, this is a big issue. I think Hollywood misuses a lot of its talent by rehashing old films we have already seen before and making sequels of films which already have a good enough ending. Ethan Hawke is a pretty good actor–but I probably won’t go see him in a remake of Total Recall. I adore many comic book films, and as much as I am looking forward to the new Spider-Man flick, I would be lying to myself if I thought that was the best use of great new actor’s Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. The same logic can be applied to the new X-Men movie. And I love Johnny Depp, but how many times can he reprise Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean? Isn’t that franchise stale enough? Thank goodness some actor’s see the writing on the wall, as Matt Damon has bowed out of the next Bourne flick. Unfortunately, some actors just can’t see failure coming–Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith have started filming Men In Black III without a completed script–there is no way that film ends well.
Some are quick to say that “There just aren’t good original films made anymore.” I take great umbridge at that statement. I would point to films such as Never Let Me Go, The Ghost Writer, The Kids Are Alright, Get Low, Mother and Child and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. There really are lots of great, original films of all genres being made right now–but people aren’t showing up to see them! What is Hollywood to do, except give the people what they want. And what we are saying–loudly–is that we want more of the rehashed sequels and remakes being made today. So, if you agree that this is a problem, and agree that the solution can be found with us–go see a movie this weekend. And make it an original.
I do a film show on the radio in Lexington, KY every week (WRFL 88.1 FM at 10 AM on Mondays), and also via podcast everywhere. It’s called Surreelfilm. I promise, you’ll enjoy it if you listen to it.
The RP swore that he wasn’t going to run for office again any time soon. But it looks like he’s falling off the wagon after only a month of political sobriety.
Of course, he has a helluvan excuse: The Ultimate Authority has pushed him into a race for the U.S. Congress. As Alison Knezevich of the Charleston Gazette reports (h/t Aaron Ament):
Jonathan Miller, a Berkeley County Republican, announced online today that he plans to run for Congress in 2012.
Miller told me he would run in the 2nd District, for the seat now held by Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito.”I firmly believe that God has called me to run for this office now,” he said when asked why he made the announcement today. “The reason I’m running is because I’m tired of seeing Washington politicians put themselves before you.”
He wants to cut federal lawmakers’ pay in half, eliminate their benefits, and enact term limits.
Miller, first elected in 2006, said he rededicated his life to Christ in 2009, and prayed about whether to stay in politics. He said he received his answer in May 2010 and is responding now by announcing his future candidacy.
UPDATE: An alert reader noticed that Congressowman Capito represents a district in West Virginia, and the RP hails from Kentucky. The RP Staff understands, obviously the reporter made a small mistake. The two states are contiguous.
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UPDATE 2: Another reader commented: “The article says that Jonathan Miller ‘rededicated his life to Christ.’ I’m pretty sure the RP is Jewish. Otherwise, this post about Jew-ish Gentiles is pretty offensive.” The RP Staff agrees: the RP is pretty offensive.
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UPDATE 3: Um…It turns out that there are actually two Jonathan Millers. The new candidate for Congress and the RP. The RP obviously is too busy to run for Congress: He blogs at The Recovering Politician; serves as Senior Advisor to Wellford Energy; practices law at Frost Brown Todd; has been a British theater and opera director; has served 20 years as Senior Rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham; has been President and CEO of Miller Samuel Inc., a leading real estate appraisal and consulting firm; is a photographer; has gone to prison due to misdeeds during Iran-Contra, and runs a ministry where he “miraculously” has healed “countless” people.
We have a lot in store for you on Thursday at The Recovering Politician.
We lead off with a Friend of RP whose first piece actually made the RP cry. Hint: He’s been kvelling with pride about this 15-year-old writer.
You’ll also hear from the RP about his opinion of the media’s coverage of the Schwartzenegger/Shriver divorce. For a spoiler clue, read this.
And we’ll also debut the stylings of one of our outstanding young RP Staff, Robert Kahne, who has been writing Weekly Web Gems on Tunes, the Screen, the Diamond and Hoops, and will share tomorrow his first full length piece.
Speaking of WWGs — plenty of them to go around, sharing with you the best of civil discourse from the Web.
Blog this!
