ometimes proverbs prove their worth and accuracy. Indeed, March has come in "like a lion" and, with Spring just a few short days away, perhaps, it will "go out like a lamb". The tough and continuing struggle on Capitol Hill to find common ground on health-care reform, to the deadly earthquake in Chile, the events of the world have continued with sufficient to fill newscasts and newspapers time and again. It will never be different.

"Bipartisanship" seems to have been denigrated to meaning very little. Unemployment remains high, the dollar is firming, the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan still being waged, Haiti continues to suffer, terrorism remains a deadly reality the world over, Iran becomes more of a potential threat with the increased likelihood of their developing an atomic arsenal, and the Republicans seem determined to oppose and destroy just about any legislation that President Obama proposes. They want him to fail and seem determined to make sure that happens. But then February did give us the 21st Olympic Games, most successfully. Thank you (Merci)British Columbia.

I'm a registered Democrat, but there are times when that doesn't make me proud. Here's one. To watch New York Congressman, Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, being admonished for taking corporate-paid Caribbean junkets (completely in violation of the House ethics code ) was a prime example. He should step down. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a champion of ethics reform, should stop supporting and defending him and relieve him of his significant and influential position. A New York Times editorial summarized a good portion of his behavior saying "...his acceptance of rent-subsidized apartments from a Manhattan real estate developer; his failure to pay taxes on rental income, a villa in the Dominican Republic; and his soliciting of a $1 million donation to a university center named after him - from a corporation with business before Congress..." and more. Their summation simply stated, "Mr. Rangel, the House's designated master of fiscal accountability, already deserves to be stripped of his gavel."

There is so much ... let's get to the next installment tomorrow,