Eleven months. Obama is president until January 20.

The new senate takes office January 3. But that may not be too meaningful, since a filibuster would almost certainly be possible no matter how the election goes.

The kid brought a ticking clock into school to countdown the event. Teacher immediately knew it must be a bomb. Cops were called. The kid was hauled off in handcuffs.

Once upon a time, this would have been fiction. Politics is dangerous at any age. Even Scalia couldn't take it anymore - and clocked out.