After the state Supreme Court batted the hot potato, also known as the state flag debate, back out of its own court, Gov. Ronnie Musgrove moved swiftly last week to avoid getting burned by the issue himself.

Musgrove announced the creation of a 17-member commission entrusted with the unenviable task of hashing out the debate and coming up with a recommendation for the state’s waving emblem.

The debate which has raged for years hinges on the corner of what has always been considered the state flag of Mississippi — the corner contains a Confederate emblem. And of course people read what they want to read into it. Some, mostly whites, see history and heritage. Others, mostly blacks, see an emblem that stood for a way of life in which they were enslaved.

Musgrove was staring squarely in the face of a decades old battle and one that he knew he could not survive — at least not politically. So what did he do?

He figured a way to avoid the issue — for now.

By appointing the commission and giving its members one year to work on the problem, Musgrove gave himself — and our state — a little breathing room.

Maybe some way, some how, the commission will be able to achieve what years of legislative action has been unable to do. Specifically, that’s come to a consensus solution based on what represents all Mississippians — regardless of the color of their skin.

As much as Musgrove’s move looks a bit like a political dodge, maybe with lots of prayer and a little hope, Mississippi can join together and set the example for how to work together to solve a dispute rather than continuing the debate and argument for a few more decades to come.