That’s not our neighbor, that’s one of our readers’ neighbors!

...Well, I’m going in for that leg operation tomorrow morning. I 
have to be at Candler by 5:30am for a 7:30am operation. I’m guessing 
they won’t need anasthesia to put me to sleep!

...Well, at least Georgia came in #2 in the polls, better than any 
other team in the country than LSU. (Who we’ll play in Baton Rouge in 
the Game of the Year next year!) Congrats to all you LSU Tiger fans 
out there!

...Boy, the power of a few tears certainly helped Hillary stay in 
the race with the win in New Hampshire, now my least favorite Yankee 
state! Congratulations to Sen. McCain on his win on the Republican 
side of things.
At least there’s really a race going on this year, ...in both 
parties. The vote in South Carolina will be interesting. In the 
Democratic election, Sen. Obama seems pretty strong there with the 
help of Oprah, but that’s John Edwards home state so who knows 
what’ll happen!
I heard Edwards giving his “acceptance of his third place finish in 
New Hampshire” speech... Does this guy ever come up with anything 
new? He repeated the same things I’ve heard him talk about a couple 
of times now. Daddy working in the mill, the unfortunate story of the 
person who died before their health insurance would help them, how 
he’s going to fight all these mean big businesses and make everything 
better for everybody. Gimme a break!

...I told someone this past week that I would explain to them the 
difference between Republicans and Democrats in this week’s paper. 
Here you go: A young woman was about to finish her first year of 
college.   Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be 
a very liberal Democrat, and among other liberal ideals, was very 
much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in 
other words, the redistribution of wealth.
She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch 
Republican, a feeling he openly expressed.  Based on the lectures 
that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a 
professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, 
selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.
One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher 
taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs.  The 
self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the 
truth and she indicated as much to her father.  He responded by 
asking how she was doing in school.
Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, 
and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she 
was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, 
which left her no time to go out and party like many other people she 
knew.  She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really 
have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.
Her father listened then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"  
She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by.  All she takes are easy 
classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA.  She is so 
popular on campus; college for her is a blast.  She's always invited 
to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for 
classes because she's too hung over."
Her father asked her, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask 
him to deduct a 1.0 off of your GPA and give it to your friend 
Audrey, who only has a 2.0.  That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA 
and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPAs."
The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily 
fired back, "That's a crazy idea.  How would that be fair?  I've 
worked really hard for my grades!  I've invested a lot of time, and a 
lot of hard work.  Audrey has done next to nothing toward her 
degree.  She has played while I worked my tail off!"
The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently: "Welcome to the 
Republican Party."

On the Republican side, I look for Fred Thompson to finally come out 
with a strong showing. He needs it, or he needs to just back our 
politely. He hasn’t seemed like he wants to be our next President, 
and he’s the most conservative candidate we’ve got.
I also look for Mike Huckabee to bounce back a little stronger in 
South Carolina than he showed in New Hampshire. And Rudy Giuliani 
hasn’t hardly showed up yet, and won’t in South Carolina either. He 
will have a strong showing in Florida if it’s not too late for his 
campaign. So if Thompson can finish strong, and if Mitt Romney 
decides to hang in there, with Huckabee and Giuliani coming on and 
McCain the winner in New Hampshire and he certainly should show 
fairly strong in South Carolina, ...we’ve got a real horse race for 
the Republican nomination.

...“When you  were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your 
life in such a manner that when you die, the world cries and you 
rejoice!”

...Take care this week, stay safe, and in the words of the great Red 
Skelton, “May God Bless.”