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 Jonathan Miller, on Tue Apr 26, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
Today’s guest for RPTV’s Fifteen Minutes of Fame is the noted author, television commentator and GOP policy guru, Jim Pinkerton. Going back to the George H.W. Bush Administration, Pinkerton has been one of the leading Republican policy minds in Washington. Unlike most of cable TV’s talking heads, Pinkerton does not stick to the party script, and has consistently pushed his party to the center on social issues, while remaining a fierce advocate for fiscal conservatism and the free markets.
During his Fifteen Minutes of Fame, Pinkerton discusses the debt, his prescription to battle income inequality, and despite needling from the RP, does NOT endorse Donald Trump in 2012. Watch here:
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 5:00 PM ET
Tuesday will be another big day here at The Recovering Politician.
We begin with an RPTV Fifteen Minutes of Fame interview with author, political commentator, and policy guru, Jim Pinkerton. Since the first Bush Administration, Pinkerton has been widely known as one of the keenest GOP policy minds in Washington, and he has never been afraid to skew from the party line. Pinkerton shares his thoughts on the budget debate in Congress, the 2012 election, and his recommendations to combat income inequality.
We will also be treated with another very personal story from contributing recovering politician Jeff Smith. Following up on his piece on prison life that has received incredible national attention, Jeff tackles another very controversial topic: race relations. Don’t miss his tales from the campaign trail that offer a glimpse at the larger issues with which America still grapples.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 3:00 PM ET
The Politics of Tech -- Courtesy of arstechnica
You may have recently heard about the news that Apple’s iPhone recording individual users’ locations. Arstechnica gives a rundown of what this means for Apple device users and for the company itself. [arstechnica]
Gizmodo asks: Have you contracted Netflix Streaming Syndrome? I hear it’s pretty serious [Gizmodo]
Many of you are probably familiar with Playstation Network, Sony’s answer to Microsoft’s Xbox Live. Unfortunately for Sony, many hackers have also become very familiar with Sony’s online gaming service. This time the network has been down for four days now and there is no indication so far when it will be back. Sony will have to do some serious damage control to keep this from being anymore of a PR disaster than it already is. [CNET]
David Fagin, a writer for AOL News, just announced that he is suing Facebook for $1 (yep, 100 pennies) after being labeled a “spammer” by the social-networking giant. [TechCrunch]
In last week’s Tech Web Gems I wrote about the rumors of a successor console to the Nintendo Wii that could be revealed at this year’s E3 in June. Now Nintendo has confirmed that we will see a next-gen preview at E3. [Engadget]
By Sandra Moon, RP Staff, on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET
The Politics of Faith
Forgiveness is emphasized in many world religions, but in this unforgiving world, what does it mean to forgive someone? [BBC News Magazine]
Yesterday, many people celebrated Easter with baskets full of candy, pictures with the Easter bunny, and Easter egg hunts. Write Anne Lamott reflects on what the holiday means to her, and what it means to be “Easter people living in a Good Friday World.” [NPR]
More on the Easter theme–was the resurrection of Jesus physical or spiritual, and does it matter? [Patheos.com]
A church in Louisville, Kentucky takes a bold stand on the issue of same-sex marriage by voting to end the practice of signing marriage licenses. Until homosexual and heterosexual couples are afforded the same legal rights of marriage, the church will only perform religious ceremonies. [WHAS11.com]
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 12:45 PM ET
One of my favorite columnists/bloggers/ whatever-you-want-to-call-hims, Andrew Sullivan, has been on an extended rant, raising questions as to whether Sarah Palin is the legitimate birth parent of her now three-year-old son Trig.
A conspiracy theory, formerly consigned to the ranks of far-far-left bitter partisans, is being very seriously and very publicly scrutinized by an often-conservative, almost-always-thoughftul member of the media Establishment.
While generally speaking, I will side with Sullivan over Breitbart 102 times out of every 100, and while I certainly dispute Breitbart’s characterization of Sullivan’s motives, I rise to defend Sarah Palin in this instance.
Let’s suppose the accusations are true — that Palin is lying about the baby’s maternity. And let’s make an even bigger leap of credulity: that Sarah Palin could turn around her disastrous — and sinking — poll numbers and emerge as a legitimate contender for the White House.
I believe that even in the most powerful position in the world; even with someone who has voluntarily subjected herself to the ultimate measure of public scrutiny; and, yes, even with an individual who has pushed her family out front and center in an effort to win voter sympathy — I still believe that a public official should retain a limited, but still discrete, zone of privacy.
Read the rest of… The RP: In Defense of Sarah Palin
By Eva Moskowitz, on Mon Apr 25, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
Contributing RP Eva Moskowitz, a former New York City Councilperson, has been an outspoken advocate for charter schools since her time in public office. Now the founder and chief executive of the Success Charter Network, a collection of seven charter schools in Harlem and the Bronx, she is speaking out on what she has learned from her work. Today, she argues, contrary to conventional wisdom, that class size is not the critical factor upon which to build education policy.
Here’s an excerpt — the link to the entire op-ed piece (originally published in the Manchester Union-Leader) can be found below it:
THAT CLASS size should be small is revered like an article of faith in this country. Its adherents include parents, education groups, politicians and, of course, the unions whose ranks it swells. In many states it is even required by law, which has lead to millions of dollars in fines against schools in Florida and a lawsuit against New York City by its teachers union.
Yet small class size is neither a guarantor nor a prerequisite of educational excellence.
The worst public elementary school in Manhattan, 16 percent of whose students read at grade level, has an average class size of 21; PS 130, one of the city’s best, has an average class size of 30. Small class size is one factor in academic success. The question, then, is whether the educational benefits of class-size reduction justify the costs.
Some proponents contend that because research shows reducing class size is beneficial, spending on this should be prioritized over anything that is unsupported by research. That’s a neat rhetorical trick but unsound logic. The absence of research on, say, teacher salaries doesn’t prove that we should pay the minimum wage to teachers to dramatically reduce class size. Research should guide spending decisions only if it measures the benefits per dollar of spending on all alternatives.
Thanks for another incredible week at The Recovering Politician. We are so grateful for all of your support, compliments, and good ideas.
We even appreciate your complaints. And we are addressing them.
One of them comes from the RP’s household. The RP, as you may know, is not the Speaker of his House, and he’s barely the minority leader: Mrs. RP, the two RPettes, and even the RPcanine is female.
While the site’s introduced two superstar female contributing RP thus far — Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Lisa Borders — the site has had, let’s say, a testosteroneal (?) imbalance.
So next week, we are playing makeup. Three — count ’em 3 — outstanding contributing recovering politicians, all with both X chromosomes fully in place.
Wednesday, we feature a former Democratic State Representative who took a shot for statewide office and was swept up in the GOP tide. Friday, you’ll hear from a former Republican metropolitan city councilwoman, who left an outstanding career to join the private sector.
But first, on Monday, you will meet a highly-regarded former New York City councilwoman, who engaged in a highly publicized political battle over education reform, lost an election, but has now become a national leader in pursuing her reform passions from the private sector. Her first piece may challenge some of your common conceptions of public education.
On RPTV Tuesday, I will interview one of the smartest policy minds in the Republican party: a prolific writer, a frequent television commentator, and one of the most respected expertsof either in Washington. While you might disagree with his opinions (and I do on occasion), you will respect his views and how he approaches the issues. Kind of the essence of what we are trying to accomplish here at The Recovering Politician.
And of course, a whole lot more.
I hope you enjoy a wonderful holiday weekend, both religious (Good Friday, Easter, Passover), and secular (Earth Day). See you on Monday!
As we begin to celebrate a series of 150th anniversaries of the Civil War and its aftermath, we flash back just four years to a Presidents’ Day commemoration on the floor of the Oregon State Senate.
There, our very own Contributing RP Jason Atkinson does his best — and funniest — Abe Lincoln imitation, in a debate with a scary looking “George Washington.”
If you can suffer through the poor video quality, it is worth the punch line to Jason’s masterful oration. Enjoy:
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