The other day I was in an out-of-town grocery store when I passed a guy in fresh vegetables, smiled, said, “Hello,” and kept going.

Rep. Virgil Fludd

Thursday, Feb. 14 was the 17th legislative day of the 2008 session of the Georgia General Assembly. The first four weeks have been full of action.

Many preachers dread rainy Sundays. Rain makes the flowers grow and church members disappear. Actually, even the threat of rain often affects Sunday attendance. For some, if the Weather Channel says “rain likely,” then that translates into “church going unlikely.”

Why do so many Republicans pound the table and shout, “I’d rather vote for a Democrat than the ‘insufficiently conservative’ John McCain!”?

It’s Valentine’s Day, so what better day to give a present to my fans (you in the balcony, I see you) and my critics.

The Wife and I were invited out to dinner with friends at a fancy downtown restaurant. Now I know it will come as a shock to many of you that I have friends willing to pay for my dinner, but put your fears at rest. The friends were hers; I just tagged along as her guest.

Thinking about my college roommate last week when, don’tcha know, her Christmas newsletter arrived. The envelope is postmarked 5 Feb 2008. When I’ve been that late, I’ve dubbed it a “holiday” newsletter, or just an annual update, but Mary faces things straight on, admits she’s a procrastinator and hopes friends and relatives had a wonderful Christmas.

I need to apologize to the good folks in Rocky Mount for an error I made last week in naming one of their cemeteries. I was unaware, as I'm sure some of you were, that there are two Bethel Baptist churches in Rocky Mount: one is Bethel Baptist Church (in Rocky Mount), a white church, established in 1829, and the other is Rocky Mount Bethel Baptist Church, a black church, established in 1867.

I was back in my hometown of Kingsport, Tenn., for a special event. My father-in-law, John F. Douglas, Jr., was to be given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 61st Annual Dinner of the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce.

Americans will be learning a lot about themselves as six Islamist terror “suspects” (I guess we have to say, technically) held at Guantanamo Bay finally face trial on murder and war crimes charges connected with 9/11.

Those who put a high value on words may recoil at the title of Jonah Goldberg’s new book, “Liberal Fascism.” As a result, they may refuse to read it, which will be their loss — and a major loss.

For every conservative who is irritated that illegal immigration has never really been addressed ...

For every liberal who can’t understand why the big oil companies and their unbelievable profits haven’t been reigned in, or forced to accelerate development of new refineries or energy alternatives ...

My February 2002 column, “They’re Coming After You,” warned that Americans who enthusiastically supported the anti-tobacco zealots’ attack on smokers were, like decent Germans did during the 1920s and ‘30s, building the Trojan Horse that would one day enable a tyrant to take over.

While you are doing America’s hardest work in Iraq and Afghanistan, you may have heard the buzz that the Berkeley, Calif., City Council passed a resolution: “... the Marine recruiting office is not welcome in our city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders ...“ and that the council went further to “Encourage all people to avoid cooperation with the Marine Corps recruiting station, and applaud residents and organizations such as Code Pink, that may volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the City of Berkeley.”

I picked up the package left on the back porch and read the mailing label that said RCR Racing, Welcome, NC. I smiled and hurried inside to tear it open.

By Senator RONNIE CHANCE

We are well into the 2008 legislative session now, and we have finished 14 days of the required 40 legislative days of business. The pace is increasing daily as senators and representatives introduce new bills, meet in committee, and debate and vote on legislation in chamber.

It seems like only last week the 2008 legislative session got underway, and here we are now in February.

Our committee work on the Amended Fiscal Year 2008 Budget is now complete and we are ready to move forward with our proposals.

The American left clings to the myth that the anti-war movement ended the U.S. war in Vietnam. In fact, the anti-war movement failed to prompt any substantive changes in U.S. war policy.

Most people who run for president, by definition, lose. And most of those unsuccessful candidates depart the presidential contest with their reputations and their influence diminished.

This just in: Ronald Reagan is dead and he’s not coming back. Now, can conservatives please move on?

Reagan always spoke about the future and its possibilities. Today’s conservatives, however, can’t seem to break with the past and the nostalgia for the Reagan years. Even in his letter to the American people in 1994 in which he revealed he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, Reagan wrote of his “eternal optimism” for the country’s future.

Even before Mitt Romney bowed out — with class, by the way — supporters of John McCain, and Republican party pooh-bahs in general, were chastising those conservatives in the media who had criticized Senator McCain.

By Dr. Mark Hendrickson

Let’s consider a simple question: What exactly are we electing when we choose a president of the United States? The traditional answer would be: “Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces and the CEO of the executive branch of government.”

“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Mt 6:16 ff)

The bitter squabbling on the right over the presidential nomination has now entered a dangerous phase. Politics is about winning elections, not winning prizes for ideological purity.

Some suggestions for the next Democratic debate moderator:

1. Sen. Clinton, you oppose the Bush tax cuts because they unfairly benefit the rich. Since the top 1 percent of taxpayers — those making more than $364,000 annually — pay 39 percent of all federal income taxes, don’t all across-the-board tax cuts, by definition, “unfairly” benefit the rich?

Blind dates never work out: everyone knows that ... except I know of one that actually did. But that’s the end of the story. The beginning started many, many years ago.

My flight to Illinois had been canceled due to inclement weather and I had been told that it would take about an hour before I could retrieve my luggage.

It has been awhile since I’ve undertaken to share the wisdom of my years with those who make the world run, the ones we used to call the “Powers That Be.”

At our grand opening on Dec. 6, Fayette County Commissioner Jack Smith referred to the launching of the Clayton State University-Fayette as a “dream come true.”

As the 2008 legislative session continues, legislation is beginning to move through committees and to the floor of the House for a full vote. This past week, we voted for new measures to protect consumers’ identity. I also joined my colleagues Chuck Martin of Alpharetta and Lynn Smith of Newnan on two pieces of legislation offering tax breaks for Georgians.