Here are the top stories from this week:

Where Stupid Ends, Ted Cruz Begins

To hear the right-wing blindly-faithful speak, Ted Cruz is a pretty smart guy. Cruz is a U.S. Senator who graduated with honors from Harvard Law School. But does something like that really make him smart? Nathan Robinson doesn’t think so, and does a pretty good job of punching holes in the idea that Ted Cruzis sharp as a tack.

The GOP’s Extremism Will Eat Itself

Over the years, the Republican party has devolved and retreated back to a violent and embellished group that has little less interest in effectively governing a nation than it does in maintaining its own political theater. Why?

House Committee Demands Proof GOP Govs Who Rejected Medicaid Expansions

Earlier this week, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sent letters to Republican governors who rejected the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion asking them to explain their reasoning.

House Republicans Say Pope Francis is “Too Liberal” To Be Honored

A bipartisan-authored resolution to honor Pope Francis for his “inspirational statements and actions” has stalled in Congress.

Watch Democratic Sen. Whitehouse Destroy A Climate Change Denying Republican

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) blocked a resolution last Thursday that would have only stated that climate change is real, ThinkProgress reported. After Inhofe went off about federal collusion to promote a “global warming agenda,” Sen.Sheldon Whitehouse took the floor and completely obliterated Inhofe’s climate change denial.