In the last couple weeks, I’ve tried to extract extra political meaning out of all sorts of stuff — Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s growing back his mullet (for a presidential run in 2012?), Al Franken’s traveling to D.C. (to cast a provisional ballot against U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman’s committee chairmanship?), and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s playing with an Obama finger puppet (to jinx his own job prospects in Obama’s administration?). But today there’s something overtly political in the air that I can’t come up with any good reason for, let alone a hidden meaning: A plane is flying in the skies above downtown Minneapolis pulling a “Ron Paul Revolution” banner.

UPDATE: It apparently was here for today’s End the Fed rally at the Federal Reserve Bank. The sky advert was last seen in these parts at the tail end of the Republican National Convention. The timing and location made a certain amount of sense. But on a Saturday two-and-a-half weeks after the election, with a U.S. Senate recount in progress? What does Ron Paul have to do with that? Why here? Why now? Is this any better a use of fuel than Detroit’s Big Three auto execs each jetting into D.C. on private planes? Or does it simply signal that with the recount the Twin Cities have again achieved a critical mass of TV news crews?