I love Ben Franklin. I read Walter Issacson's autobiography of Big Ben with great pleasure. I love that he has become the mascot of Philadelphia. I love that he founded a school that I now attend. I don't wear bifocals, but if I did, I would really be happy he invented them. And, that whole kite and key thing? Genius!

But, please, please, please, can we leave Ben Franklin alone? We need to rename 30th Street after someone? I have your guy. And, I stole the idea right from the Daily News.

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As most people know, (or will certainly know soon), we are about to celebrate Franklin's 300th birthday. That's great... It will give people a chance to celebrate his legacy, maybe learn a little history, whatever. But this whole proposal to rename 30th Street Station? Give me a break! We need something else named after Ben like the Phillies need another mediocre starting pitcher. Yet, apparently today, the stupid idea was given a boost by Mayor Street. We have the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Ben Franklin High School. Ben Franklin Bridge. Franklin Square. The Franklin Institute. What is the point?

Why do we name things after people? I don't think it is so much to honor them, as it is to remind us about people before us who have done good. But, I think we all get the Ben Franklin thing, ok? Do we need a Ben station? At this point, we are becoming a caricature of ourselves.

You want to honor someone's legacy, and help Philadelphian's remember important people in the history of their City? Why do we have to go all the way back to Ben? Can we go a little more recent? I propose to Pew, here and now, that if they want to do good, and work on renaming something, they should rename 30th Street as "Leon Higginbotham Station." I know it doesn't have the ring of "Ben Station," but it also won't make tourists even more confused, with a station name sounding just like Penn Station in Newark and Penn Station in NYC. Plus, in naming the station after Higginbotham, we are honoring an amazing Philadelphian, who has a legacy that many people do not grasp the scope of. Higginbotham was a trailblazing, path-breaking, extraordinary Judge.

I cannot do justice to his memory by describing him, so how about this:

He was a brilliant lawyer, a dynamic speaker, a dedicated teacher, a prolific scholar, and a wise and fair jurist. But what made A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., so special was that he stood against injustice whenever and wherever it existed. Whether the problem was racial discrimination, gender exclusion, religious persecution, child abuse, or poverty, Leon unselfishly advocated for change.

Or there is this:

Leon Higginbotham accumulated honors as magnets attract iron filings: the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Human Relations Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association, Outstanding Young Man awards from the U.S. and Philadelphia Chambers of Commerce, honorary degrees from more than 60 universities (including Penn), and dozens of other accolades and tributes. Despite this incessant adulation, Leon Higginbotham wore celebrity lightly. The man who mingled easily with presidents and potentates always seemed more at home with receptionists, chauffeurs, and custodians. The ordinary people whose lives he touched most personally -- his family, his students, his law clerks, colleagues in the courthouses and academy -- were the source of his greatest pleasure. They will, in the end, be his proudest legacy.

I totally stole this idea from the Daily News, who at some point proposed naming West River Drive after Judge Higginbotham. But, we now have another chance. So, lets do it. We don't need a "Ben Station." It will bestow zero public good. A Higginbotham Station? That would be powerful.