St. Patrick's weekend offers a badly needed break from a news cycle that could wear out Godzilla. Forget about rockets and fire, just put cable news in front of the king of all monsters, and he'll keel over like a giraffe with four sprained ankles.

Currently in the USA, there are 32 million Americans of Irish descent, according to the Census. German Americans lead the ethnic league with 41 million, Italians 16 million, and Hispanics a bit more than 8 million.

St. Patrick was a priest who roamed Erie in the fifth century. Legend says he drove all the serpents out of Ireland - not a difficult task because there were none there to begin with.

Unless you count those nasty Viking raiders.

Anyway, Patrick was reportedly a good guy who helped the poor (almost everybody) and gave the Druids a hard time, which they deserved.

The Irish are a fascinating race full of mischievous lads and patient women, generally speaking, of course. I am proud of my heritage understanding the sacrifices my ancestors made to allow me to live a meaningful life.

I have visited every county in Ireland, including my own, County Cavan. A few years ago, my young son and I walked the farmland the British crown stole from the O'Reillys, which caused terrible pain.

Tremendously emotional to do that. Luckily, the magic of the countryside mitigated the memories.

So, happy St. Pat's to all. It's a fine day, ya know.