Try not to look too far ahead, but keep your eyes on the future.

SO now the current leaders of France, Russia, Canada, Japan and Mexico are all missing Ronald Reagan's state funeral even though they were all in the US meeting with President Bush on Thursday. None of them wanted to fly from Georgia to Washington DC. How sad are these little men that can't come to pay their respects by adding one day to their visits.

Imagine President Bush being in Normandy France when a former President of France or Germany dying and deciding not to go. The uproar would be huge as the French or Germans would believe they weren't treated with respect.