Curt Smith writes a regular column for Upstate New York's Messenger-Post Newspapers, read each week by an estimated 200,000 people. He writes of politics, sports, education, culture, and the economy.

Recent columns have addressed: America's blue and red States, the legacy of 9/11, raising children, remembering Guy Lombardo, Ronald Reagan at 92, President Bush's foreign policy and the Women's Hall of Fame. "Curt is an extremely fine writer with a wide following," says Messenger-Post Newspapers publisher George Ewing. Readers are invited to e-mail Smith at curtsmith@netacc.net. His latest column follows: