Get in it

Rev. Vernon Johns.

The Rev. Vernon Johns (1892-1965) is widely regarded as a father of the Civil Rights movement. In Taylor Branch's book about that struggle, Parting the Waters, he is described as a forerunner of Martin Luther King Jr.

He literally preceded King as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Johns was a pastor for a time in the capitol city of El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia.

I was reminded of Johns yesterday when a friend of mine who is a pastor and a leader in that city's African American community said that when Johns was a child, his father gave him this advice:

"If you see a good fight, get in it!"

I don't know about y'all but that works for me. It seems to apply pretty well to the current struggle over health care but I think it has broader application as well.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, there was a rally in support of health care reform in Charleston yesterday. I was all ramped up to go but was unhorsed by car trouble. Some days you eat the bear and some days the bear eats you.

(Parenthetically, it's ironic that Mass. Senator Ted Kennedy died when this issue, a longtime passion of his, is on the public agenda. I wonder what effect if any his passing will have on the debate.)

ON THE SUBJECT OF HEALTH CARE WHACKADOODLEISM, here's a good one from a few days back.

DEFICITS. Here's an analysis of what did and didn't cause the federal deficit.

A LITTLE GOOD NEWS about WV's economy appeared in yesterday's Charleston Daily Mail.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED