We know Dean Martin liked to knock back a few scotches and get a little rowdy — but a terrorist?
That's what the Department of Homeland Security is alleging. And it's our own Dean Martin — Arizona's treasurer, that is, not the other one (who is dead) — who figured it out.
The ambitious Arizona Republican was boarding a plane in Phoenix last week when he discovered his name was on the federal government's "no-fly" list. Transportation Security Administration officials pulled Martin aside, and after figuring out he wasn't dangerous (although Democrats might argue the point) he was allowed to board.
In an interview with a TV station, Martin, who shares a name with the legendary singer, suggested it might be his old nemesis — former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano — who put his name on the list. After all, she now has control over TSA. And the two equally savvy politicians had their share of dramatic dust-ups over the state budget before she resigned in January.
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"My staff used to joke after my disagreements with the previous governor that I wouldn't be able to fly once she got back in D.C.," Martin told Phoenix's CBS affiliate, Channel 5. "I didn't believe them, but it's actually happening."
Martin told Notebook he obviously made the comment "purely in jest."
But he said his staff really did tease him when Napolitano went to Washington that he'd end up on the list.
Homeland Security explained the whole thing as resulting from Martin having a common name — and one that apparently also belongs to someone the government has identified as being a risk. Martin, however, says that "Dean Martin" is actually rarer than many think.
The treasurer said he's not sure how many terrorists have the name.
Or for that matter, he said, how many of the other members of the Rat Pack are labeled as terrorists.
State Sen. Sylvia Allen continues to garner national attention for some comments she made last month at the Capitol.
The Snowflake Republican declared during a Senate committee hearing that the Earth is 6,000 years old. Actually, she said it twice.
The statement has been a barrel of laughs for liberals, particularly MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. And Allen has been quite popular on YouTube.
Allen's committee was considering sending a statement to Congress asking it not to limit mining access to public lands.
Allen submitted that with the Earth lasting 6,000 years without a bunch of pesky environmental regulations, we should be just fine without any government interference.
"It's been here 6,000 years, long before anybody had environmental laws and somehow it hasn't been done away with," Allen said.
Problem is, most scientists peg the age of the Earth at around 4.6 billion years old.
For a guy who couldn't turn on his computer a year ago, Sen. John McCain has really gotten into online social networking.
The former presidential candidate topped 1 million followers on Twitter — 10 times more than his old pal Sarah Palin and three times as many as "The Hill's" star Spencer Pratt can claim.
In a statement, McCain called his Twitter account "one of the most enjoyable experiences in my long political career — not too bad for an old guy."
