A new year is upon us and life goes on. Some things have changed; some have stayed the same.

As the year started, focus remained on Afghanistan and the war on terror. As the year progressed, the terrorist camps in Afghanistan were routed in relatively short order. President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld kept the focus on winning the war with the fewest possible casualties. They succeeded.

Yet, Osama Bin Laden remains at large. Like Eric Rudolph, he has seemingly disappeared into the remote areas to live his life in hiding like the coward that he is. Eventually, he will either be captured or die in obscurity, deprived of the attention he so desperately craved. The hunt continues, however.

The economy started the year struggling. The economy ends the year struggling. No one can predict how deep the recession might have been without the injection of capital from the 2001 Bush tax cuts. While not enough to offset the devastating impact to consumer confidence of the 9-11 attacks, the tax cuts did keep the economy from slipping into the depths of a depression.

When the year started, Paul O’Neill was the Secretary of Treasury. By the end of 2002, he was not. Having grown impatient with the lack of economic improvement, President Bush made clear that results, not allegiances, will dictate the membership of his Cabinet.

At the beginning of the year, Al Gore was considered a certainty for a Presidential run in 2004 leading to a repeat of the 2000 Bush/Gore race. At the end of the year, the former Vice President had decided to forego a 2004 bid for the White House. Democrats breathed a sigh of relief.

At the beginning of the year, Governor Roy Barnes look forward to his reelection campaign with millions and millions to spend. Sonny Perdue pressed forward like David marching steadily toward a waiting Goliath. At the end of the year, Sonny Perdue was governor-elect and Roy Barnes was left to unpaid volunteer work as he sorted out what had happened.

At the beginning of the year, Tom Daschle was the Majority Leader in the United States Senate, thanks to a midterm defection by a Vermont Senator. At the end of the year, Bill Frist was the Majority Leader designate thanks to the ill-timed and terribly inappropriate comments of a Mississippi Senator.

At the beginning of the year, Dennis Hastert was the Speaker of the House of Representatives. At the end of the year, he still was, but by a much larger margin. Steadily, he is securing his place in history as one of the most reliable and successful Speakers in United States history.

At the beginning of the year, the Georgia Senate was controlled solidly by Georgia Democrats. With redistricting, it appeared by all accounts that such control would continue for another ten years. At the end of the year, Republicans controlled the Georgia Senate, thanks to four former Democrats who left the party that left them.

And finally, at the beginning of the year, Tom Murphy, the longest serving Speaker in the United States, was the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives. At the end of the year, Tom Murphy was not the Speaker anymore.