Is Tim Pawlenty our Teflon governor? Why doesn't there seem to be more criticism of his part in all this? Compare him to Jesse Ventura, who was lambasted at every turn.

Much has been made of political science and if Tom Cruise weren't busy figuring out the life and times of Brooke Shields, he'd surely be in St. Paul right now taking a whack at the "pseudo science" that tries to figure out all of the machinations of the political process.

But it's much simpler and Citizen Spin can save you the trouble. Tim Pawlenty plays hockey. Minnesotans love hockey and tend to look at its hockey-playing sons with a bit more forgiveness than, say, its attorney-at-law sons, and since so many of the lawmakers are attorneys, well, Yahtzee!

This is a source of much frustration in the halls of the Capitol because one does not just become a hockey player overnight. In politics one can change a position in seconds and one can spin it to explain it in even less time. But one does not master the cross-over step just because one wants to. This is a source of great comfort to the governor, Citizen spin imagines, and will continue to be until the day Mike Hatch shows up for work with a front tooth missing.

Does anybody really care about the fact that some parts of the state might close down?

It has become a quick fashion chic among political wags to ask this question, as if people who work for the state don't count. But Citizen Spin believes they do and if they go without paychecks, the wags won't feel it because it's not their paychecks. If Northwest Airlines decided to close down today, Citizen Spin believes we'd be hearing a lot from the Capitol about those jobs. It's puzzling that the view of state workers is so woeful. There's more to what makes the state work than a tentsite at a state park.

I've heard (from a Democrat) that the DFLers are stalling because they think that a shutdown would cause a lot of incumbents to lose, and they would pick up seats. Do you think that's a factor?

The Citizen is shocked -- shocked -- that you suggest politics is at the heart of this debate. But no more shocked than that there have not been more allegations of one side playing politics and feigning outrage over the revelation.

I don't expect the governor to be disinterested in the budget, but under the separation of powers it is the legislature's job to legislate, and the Governor's job to execute that legislation. Yes, he has veto power. No, he doesn't have to sign the budget into law. But it is patently NOT the Governor's job to WRITE the budget. Why is he such a key figure in all of this?

Citizen, you have confused the Constitution. It is the governor's job to present a budget to the Legislature, which this governor did. Constitutionally, it is not the governor's job to appropriate the money, but he is nonetheless the one who signs the budget.

The debate at the moment, however, actually isn't between the governor and the Legislature, it's between the House and the Senate, a fact the governor depends on when telling you that this shutdown isn't his fault because he didn't have anything to sign or veto.

The governor has made clear what his budget priorities are and the House, controlled by Republicans, is free to pass a budget and agree with the Senate, controlled by Democrats, pat themselves on the back and then wait the approximately 40 seconds before the governor vetoes it and sends it back to them.

That is, in fact, what happened with the transportation funding bill.

The Republicans in the House agree -- mostly -- with the governor and if you've watched the floor debates this session, you've seen Republican lawmakers turn aside Democratic amendments because "the governor won't agree to it."

The process is messy, and ugly and frustrating. But it is not unconstitutional.