I am the King of the Political Geeks

Guess who had the best political question in the WHOLE COUNTRY last week?

A little over a week ago, I was following all the news about the Senate holding hearings into Barack Obama's Cabinet nominees, and it got me thinking: How can the Senate act on nominations before they happen?

In case you had a more active social life in high school than I did, and had other things to think about during civics class, here's a primer: Members of the Cabinet are nominated by the President, then confirmed by the Senate -- usually following a confirmation hearing and a recommendation by one of the Senate's committees.

Barack Obama takes office on Tuesday (duh!) But the Senate was holding hearings last week. So how can someone who's not even President yet send Cabinet nominees to the Senate?

YES, this is a trivial question -- BEYOND trivial, even. But I was genuinely perplexed, so I sent my query off to the two people I thought might be able to give me an answer: Ken Rudin, the "Political Junkie" at NPR; and the Slate "Explainer."

And they BOTH responded on the web. Rudin posted a response on Wednesday. Slate answered the next day.

How long am I allowed to bask in the glory?