It's ScuttleButton Time!

Hundreds of thousands of people are marching in Tehran, demanding tougher ScuttleButton puzzles. Hopefully, this week's will fit the bill.

I keep hearing from people who still have no idea how to play the weekly ScuttleButton game.

Simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. And don't focus on a political answer. It doesn't necessarily have to be political, though it could be.

A correct answer chosen at random gets his or her name in this column. Personally, I can't imagine a greater honor.

You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state -- you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

ScuttleButton is a regular Friday feature on the Political Junkie blog. Here's the answer to last week's puzzle.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be the first on your block to receive notice when a new puzzle goes up on the blog. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck, have fun, and happy Friday!

10:49 AM ET | 06-19-2009 | permalink

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Andy Borowitz: Ayatollah May Be Following All Iranians On Twitter!

One of the funniest people in the world is the satirist Andy Borowitz. His missives that reach my in-box each day more often than not elicit a laugh-out-loud reaction.

Like today's:

In a nationally televised speech in Iran today, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei ordered his countrymen not to stage further protests, warning the nation, "I am following you all on Twitter."

To back up his words, the Supreme Leader then displayed his Twitter account page, showing that he was indeed following 65,875,224 people, but had only one follower, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Ayatollah's announcement sent a chill up the spines of opposition leaders, most of whom assumed that the Supreme Leader did not have a Twitter account.

"You mean he's been reading all my tweets?" said opposition organizer Mohsen Sobhi. "Oh, s***."

10:19 AM ET | 06-19-2009 | permalink

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Latest Podcast: GOP Split Over Iran, Dems Split Over Ill. Senate

They're still marching in Tehran, refusing the accept the results of the Iranian presidential election. But what does it mean for the U.S.? And while some want this to be the signature issue that separates the Republican Party from the Obama administration, the sense is that the GOP is going to have to iron out its own divisions first.

Closer to home, does the White House have a favorite in the Illinois Senate race? What does the Ensign affair say about the future of the Nevada GOP? And what does the situation with the New York state Senate say about people from Earth?

All this and, unfortunately, more, in this week's episode of our "It's All Politics" podcast, which you can hear here:

Credits --
Nonstop talkers: Ron Elving and Ken Rudin
Producer: Evie Stone

Wanna subscribe to the podcast? You can do it through iTunes.

Wanna hear previous episodes? Click here.

Wanna be on my weekly mailing list? Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Wanna follow my rantings on Twitter? Go to http://twitter.com/kenrudin.

9:16 AM ET | 06-19-2009 | permalink

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This Day In 2001: GOP Picks Up Seat With Forbes In Va. Special

June 19, 2001:

The GOP wins the seat of the late Rep. Sisisky (D-VA) in a special election.

Republicans pick up a House seat with a victory in a special congressional election in Virginia to replace the late Rep. Norm Sisisky, a nine-term Democrat who died in March. The GOP candidate, former state party chairman Randy Forbes, defeats his Democratic opponent by a 52 to 48 percent margin.

Today in Campaign History is a daily feature on Political Junkie.

6:34 AM ET | 06-19-2009 | permalink

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The Latest Intel On Minnesota Senate

We all got a jolt this morning over the widespread speculation that the Minnesota Supreme Court was going to announce a decision regarding the still-inconclusive Senate race between Norm Coleman (R) and Al Franken (D).

It may have been premature. Or not. Here's a very good read from The Plum Line, a blog by Greg Sargent:

The rumor out of Minnesota is that the Supreme Court is going to hand down a decision on the Norm Coleman-Al Franken mess today, which would be a huge deal.

But I just spoke with a spokesperson for the Minnesota Supreme Court, and she told me that no notification has gone out to either side that a decision is coming. That makes it less likely, though not impossible, that the court is ruling today.

The basis for the rumor is a local blog posting that claimed that a decision was coming today, according to "two sources on different sides of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race recount scene."

According to Minnesota Supreme Court spokesperson Lissa Finne, there are two ways the court indicates a decision. Either it notifies counsel on both sides early in the week that a decision is coming on Thursday, or, in time sensitive cases, notification goes out right before a decision is released.

Finne tells me that no notification has gone out from the court to counsel on either side, which makes it unclear how it is that the blog's sources would have heard this. "I don't know where they got that from," Finne says.

That said, it's still possible that the court will issue sudden notification that a ruling is coming. But if this is going to happen, there's no way anyone would know about it. At any rate, stay tuned.

2:52 PM ET | 06-18-2009 | permalink

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Is The White House Sweet On Senate Run For Lisa Madigan?

In a Junkie post yesterday, we talked about how Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D), who has long coveted the governorship, is being urged by Democrats to instead run for the Senate.

The reasons are clear. With the corrupt Rod Blagojevich gone, replaced by the apparently clean Pat Quinn, the argument for her to challenge a fellow Democrat for the governorship would be harder to defend. Meanwhile, the presence of Roland Burris occupying Barack Obama's Senate seat remains gauling to many Dems.

But there is one major obstacle to a Madigan Senate bid, and it's not Burris. State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) has been organizing a Senate bid for months and shows no sign of backing off.

So where do things stand?

Continue reading "Is The White House Sweet On Senate Run For Lisa Madigan?" »

10:53 AM ET | 06-18-2009 | permalink

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Minnesota Senate Decision Today? Rumors Are Flying

A decision today?

 

Politics in Minnesota, the excellent political Web site covering the Gopher State, has now "heard from two sources" that the Minnesota Supreme Court may announce its decision TODAY on the stalemated Norm Coleman-Al Franken Senate race. PIM says an announcement today is "likely to happen."

The timing is less than certain. PIM says the ruling could arrive any time between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Central.

The state court is hearing an appeal by Coleman, the one-time Republican incumbent whose argument that absentee ballots that could have given him a second term were wrongly rejected was turned down by a three-judge panel. The way things stand now, Coleman trails Democrat Franken by 312 votes. The expectation from the beginning was that the full court would verify the panel's decision.

What happens next is anyone's guess. Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) has said that if the court rules he should certify Franken as the winner, he will do so. Some Republicans, like RNC chair Michael Steele, have suggested that Coleman, in the event of an unfavorable ruling, should fight the decision in the federal courts. My gut is telling me that if the court rules against Coleman, he may very well take a day or two and then concede the election.

More to come.

9:57 AM ET | 06-18-2009 | permalink

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On This Day In 2002: Gov. Jesse Ventura Won't Run Again In Minn.

June 18, 2002:

Jesse Ventura, a former pro wrestler who shocked the world -- or at least Minnesota -- when he was elected governor in 1998 as a candidate of the Reform Party, announces he won't seek a second term.

Ventura's term has been marked by clashes with Democrats, Republicans and the media, and recently his popularity among the electorate has declined.

Today in Campaign History is a daily feature on Political Junkie.

9:13 AM ET | 06-18-2009 | permalink

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More Musical Chairs In Ill.? AG Madigan Urged For Senate

We've known for quite some time now that Lisa Madigan, the two-term state attorney general in Illinois, covets the governor's chair. There was little question that she was planning on challenging Gov. Rod Blagojevich in next year's Democratic primary.

The governor, however, spoiled the plans by getting himself enmeshed in a scandal involving his efforts to sell the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama to the highest bidder. Blago was subsequently arrested, impeached and removed from office. Before he was finally run out of town, he appointed Roland Burris to the Senate seat.

Blagojevich's departure elevated Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn to the governorship. And now, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's McDermott & Lambrecht, Madigan is "under pressure from top Democrats to abandon" her gov. campaign and instead run for the Senate -- "a switch she's seriously considering":

Continue reading "More Musical Chairs In Ill.? AG Madigan Urged For Senate" »

5:27 PM ET | 06-17-2009 | permalink

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Robert Siegel Shares Scene From 'The Way We Were'

Robert Siegel is, as many of you know, the host of NPR's All Things Considered.

He is also a graduate of Stuyvesant High School in New York City, Class of 1964.

Robert may be one of the more famous graduates in Stuyvesant history -- unless you think James Cagney is more famous. But Robert sends along a page of the current Alumni Spectator -- the Stuyvesant newsletter -- that features some other famous graduates who are in the news.

It's worth a look!

 

4:41 PM ET | 06-17-2009 | permalink

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