CONGRESS . . . SWAMP FEVER

Eighty-two angry House Republicans have drafted a letter demanding the resignation of the president of the American Bar Association, who referred to some members of Congress last week as "reptilian bastards." In their letter Thursday to ABA President George Bushnell, the GOP members called the phrase a "reprehensible and unforgivable insult" to House Speaker Newt Gingrich and other Republicans. Bushnell made the comment at the ABA's national convention in Miami, castigating House members who want to slash funding for the Legal Services Corp., which helps the poor. Today, Bushnell said he had no plans to resign and clarified his target: "This is non-partisan," he told the Associated Press. "Some Democrats are trying very hard to be reptiles, too."