An interesting day to visit

Here's something worth remembering.

President Obama will visit Las Vegas on Feb. 19 -- the same day in 1996 in which former Gov. Grant Sawyer died.

I am sure the president didn't time the visit for this. He may not be all that aware of Gov. Sawyer. But it is quite a coincidence nonetheless to have America's first black president visiting Las Vegas on that date.

Sawyer was one of Nevada's greatest political leaders. He served as governor from 1959 to 1966. He not only gave us the beginning of our modern gaming regulatory system (his writings on this topic are worth re-reading, by the way), he's as important as anyone in Nevada in the struggle for civil rights.

Pretty cool coincidence, I think. The president would do well to use his visit to remember Gov. Sawyer. That would, indeed, be a teachable moment.