First, there is the battle over the Illinois Senate seat once held by Barack Obama.

If you missed it over the Christmas break, Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the seat, despite all the demands that Blago resign because of his alleged efforts to basically sell the seat to the highest bidder..

As of now Senate Democrats say there is no way they will let Burris take the seat. They have even come up with plans to body block the guy from the Senate floor, using Senate aides, Capitol police and other officials.

In my suburban DC high school, there was always the rumor of a "rumble" after the football game at the McDonald's down the street.

Now maybe there might be a RUMBLE just off the Senate floor!

Even cooler would be if Gov. Blagojevich decided to show up in the Capitol this week, because as a former member of the House of Representatives, he has floor privileges in the Senate - also he qualifies as a current Governor.

RUMBLE IN THE SENATE!

We will explore this more tomorrow, but no matter what you hear or read, there is no way that Burris will get the courts to force the Senate to allow him to be seated. The Senate can determine its membership (that's in the Constitution) and this kind of battle has happened before.

Along with the Illinois seat, we have the tale of the Minnesota Senate race, which seems headed for court battles after tomorrow.

In that race, Democrat Al Franken has taken a narrow lead of around 250 votes, leaving GOP Sen. Norm Coleman desperately searching for legal avenues to retain his seat.

Some Republicans have even threatened to filibuster efforts to seat Franken.

The Minnesota elections board will certify Franken as the winner evidently in coming days, but it doesn't become official for another week. That means maybe later this month Franken can be seated, or the GOP can try to play for time.

RUMBLE IN THE SENATE!!

I mean, let's get down to business. Who cares about solving the nation's economic woes? Who cares about getting the work of the nation done?

We've got conflict between the parties on the rules of the Senate!

Let's get ready to rumble!!