Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken, with his wife Frannie at his side, speaks to members of the media outside his home in Minneapolis after Minnesota

More Obama Drama: Hot on the heels of Gov. Richardson’s dropping out from consideration for his cabinet post, Obama has another mini-scandal on his hands with the selection of Leon Panetta, another Clintonite and former congressman and White House chief of staff, heading up the CIA.

Banana Republic, anyone? Does anyone remember the days when we had elections and there was a winner, pure and simple? It’s been a while? We’ve got not one, but two, up-in-the-air Senators, with Al Franken, after being declared the winner in Minnesota by the canvassing board (225 votes!), is likely to be challenged by Republicans; his fellow midwesterner, Roland Burris, the poor dude “apppointed” by disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevitch, is being blocked by Congress from being seated.

Israel v. Palestine, the 1000th Sequel Surprise, there’s still fighting going on in the Mideast. In today’s atrocities, 30 were killed in a Gaza school. Which means that Hamas is fighting mad, and vows revenge. Yeah, this should turn out well. As Adam Sandler’s mother says in movie, You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, “They’ve only been fighting 2,000 years, it can’t last much longer.”

Gas prices are climbing again. Thanks to a standoff between Russia and the Ukraine, oil output is diminished, with the price-per-barrel climbing to $50. The disruption is effecting Europe, including Italy and Austria.

Another billionaire bites the dust. Adolph Merckle decided he would rather not live than deal with the mess of the economic crisis. A bad investiment in Volkwagen shares sent Merckle in a downward spiral; he lost “millions of dollars” and a likely breakup of his business.