Clearly buffeted by the waves of yet another political scandal, the powers-that-be in the great state of Illinois need to expand their base. So they’ve looked to the stars, hoping to find the much needed favor that seems to evade them in more terrestrial precincts:
Fresh off voting to remove its ethically questionable and impeccably coiffed governor from office, the Illinois senate has moved on to more important matters: making Pluto a full planet again.
In addition to overruling the International Astronomical Union (IAU)’s demotion of the planet (at least within the state), the unanimously-approved bill also designated March 13, 2009 as “Pluto Day,” since Illinois’ own Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto on that date in 1930.
Of course Pluto’s battle is far from over as the Illinois statute includes this jurisdictional gem:
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that as Pluto passes overhead through Illinois’ night skies, that it be reestablished with full planetary status, and that March 13, 2009 be declared “Pluto Day” in the State of Illinois in honor of the date its discovery was announced in 1930.
(Emphasis Added)
So every now and then schoolchildren in Illnois can say we still have 9 planets in our solar system. For my money (and my 3rd grade diarama), we’ve always had 9 planets in our solar system.
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