We could almost hear the giggles emanating from the piney woods of Jasper County on Friday.

And a well-deserved laugh it would be, after what the rural, mostly poor county has been through these many, many years of trying desperately to develop a deepwater shipping terminal on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River.

Some weeks ago, Georgia, whose land Jasper County is trying for the second time to condemn for the container cargo terminal, filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Savannah seeking a permanent injunction on any eminent domain action on the property.

On Friday, Jasper County's attorneys answered the permanent injunction request by Georgia with a sly, "Well, since the land in question is in South Carolina, perhaps a court in South Carolina should hear the case.

"Oh, and by the way," Jasper's attorneys noted, "this isn't a federal case, anyway."

Jasper County won that argument in the first round of condemnation efforts several years ago in a Charleston federal court.

"This action is a local action and must be litigated in a South Carolina court," Jasper County's motion read.

What's more, Jasper County's attorneys stated, Georgia's filing in the Savannah court "is an improper attempt to litigate a local matter in a different state."

It was tantamount, we like to think, to Jasper County grasping Georgia's nose and pinching it.