1. Intemperate GOP Governor of the Week #1 - Paul LePage
Any time I hear a US politician describing any government department they don't like as "the Gestapo", I know I am dealing with a person who has no understanding of recent European history, at the very least. In the case of Paul LePage, having read his latest ratchet-jawing about the ACA ruling, it is clear that not only does he have no understanding of recent European history, he appears to have a an apocalyptic vision of the ACA ruling as the End Of Freedom As We Know It. (Remind me to go back and find out where Gov. LePage was when the PATRIOT Act was being waved through every legislative chamber...). In addition, he lets the mask slip when he makes a sneering "slippery slope" argument about citizens being mandated to buy Toyota Priuses next. The choice of the remark is revealing. Not only is it loaded to the gills with fallacy, he is clearly peddling the resentment meme so beloved of the GOP, where they sneer and whine about "elitists".
The more succinct summary of all this is that Paul LePage is talking like a fucking idiot. Since I refuse to believe that he is a fucking idiot, I have to assume that he is pandering, which in a way is even worse. Pandering is the mark of a craven follower, not a leader.
UPDATE - After suffering a few days of being informed of the idiocy of his remarks, LePage has emerged from somewhere and attempted to apologize for some of the remarks. However, he clearly has not heard of The First Law Of Holes, because he has dug even deeper into a mess. Some people are so lacking in elementary knowledge and self-awareness that they should not even be considered for elective office. Paul LePage is one such person. Quite simply, his latest communication shows that he is indeed a bloviating idiot.

2. Intemperate GOP Governor of the Week #2 - Chris Christie
Anybody following Chris Christie as he carves his unique way through American political life will know that he has an anger management problem. He has a track record of yelling at anybody who dares to disagree with him in public, and appears to take great pride in (as he sees it) putting them in their place. After last week's encounter with a reporter at a press conference, Christie couldn't resist the temptation to get into a verbal tussle once again, this time in the street.
Even allowing for the legendary bluntness of people from New Jersey (which may be true, but my challenge to folks from that part of the world is simple: most people, when they think of stereotypes, tend to see people living down to them, not up to them), Christie's behaviour this week cements my conclusion from 2 years ago. The man is a bully, a person of physical substance but little gravitas and limited self-control, living proof that empty vessels do indeed make the most noise. The best thing that mankind could do with him right now is to put him in a cage with Rob Ford and let them duke it out for the award of Political Bully Of The Americas. In the meantime I look forward to the day when somebody actually tells Christie in blunt language, preferably in public, where to shove his bullying persona.

3. The strange parallel universe that is Conservapedia
In case you had not noticed, a group of authoritarian nitwits decided many moons ago that Wikipedia was not trustworthy, so they decided to create their own version. Hence the existence of Conservapedia. Ed Brayton, who writes the blog Dispatches From The Culture Wars under the Freethought Blogs aggregation, found that he now has an entry on Conservapedia. Clearly, the authors of the entry take him seriously enough as a potential enemy to want to immortalize him.
What is odd about the entry is that over 50% of the content consists of a lecture about the fact that he is overweight, and what he should do about it. I guess this fits into the pattern that authoritarian nitwits tend to follow, namely that the world would be a much better place if everybody looked, lived, thought and acted like THEM.
I will let you enjoy the many excellent responses in the comments section on Ed's blog. Some of Ed's commenters have noticed, strangely, that the Conservapedia article on Rush Limbaugh totally fails to mention his corpulence, neither does it mention his past issues with prescription painkiller abuse. Conservapedia may be many things, but it is clearly not even-handed when critiquing waistlines or dietary and medical habits.

4. The evisceration of wankerdom by politicians
Elizabeth Moon (thanks to Jim from Stonekettle station for the link) provides the much-needed evisceration of the second-rate excuse for a human being that is Rep. Joe Walsh. I was also amused to see how many times Walsh tried to bully Ashleigh Banfield into silence on CNN by yelling "Ashleigh!" at her during his interview with her on the subject. Clearly, in addition to being a thoroughly second-rate chickenshit, Walsh also has no idea about how damn patronising he sounds when being interviewed by women.
For a another equally acerbic take on Walsh's idiotically warped comments, see Susan DeQuesnay Bankston's response.

5. The US Navy embraces environmental responsibility and cost cutting
Instead of expensing the cost of vehicle mileage for essential crew while an aircraft carrier is being overhauled 1200 miles away from its home base, why not move the crew vehicles on the carrier itself?