If you have a moment—that is, once you've caught up on emails and firmed up those resolutions—I recommend perusing Dave Barry's year in review in the Washington Post Magazine. You'll laugh, you'll cry, all at the same time.

Regarding health care reform:

Every poll shows that the major concerns of the American people are federal spending, the exploding deficit, and—above all—jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs: This is what the public is worried about. In a word, the big issue is: jobs. So the Obama administration, displaying the keen awareness that has become its trademark, decides to focus like a laser on: health-care reform.... The first indication that the health-care bill is not wildly popular comes when Republican Scott Brown, who opposes the bill, is elected to the U.S. Senate by Massachusetts voters, who in normal times would elect a crustacean before they would vote Republican. The vote shocks the Obama administration, which—recognizing that it is perceived as having its priorities wrong—decides that the president will make a series of high-profile speeches on the urgent need for: health-care reform.

In other news, "In Super Bowl XMLLMMXVIIX, the underdog New Orleans Saints defeat the Indianapolis Colts, setting off a celebration so joyous that people on Bourbon Street are still throwing up.... Greece asks the International Monetary Fund whether it can borrow 17 billion euro for 'cigarettes.' ... On a more hopeful note, on March 27 people in more than 4,000 cities around the world turn off their lights in observance of Earth Hour, saving an estimated 45 million megawatts of electricity—enough to power one of Al Gore's houses for nearly three days."

And remember that volcano in Iceland?

Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull (literally, "many syllables") volcano erupts, sending huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and forcing airlines throughout northern Europe to ground flights. Greece, although not directly affected, announces it will take six months off, just in case; France, as an added precaution, surrenders.

As for the midterm elections:

[T]he elections turn out to be a bloodbath for the Democrats, who lose the House of Representatives, a bunch of Senate seats, some governorships, some state legislatures and all of the key student council races. Also, a number of long-term Democratic incumbents are urinated on by their own dogs. Obama immediately departs for a nine-day trip to Asia to see if anybody over there wants to hear about the benefits of health-care reform.

To be sure, Barry is an equal-opportunity hitter. But the push for health care reform in the midst of a recession seems to especially bug him—almost as much as the BP oil spill, though not nearly as much as Greece.