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Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what's goin' down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin' gets done, and where our conversations are short and sweet.

Let's start in Maine, where human bowling-jacket Paul LePage is not letting the fact that half the state's population thinks he's gone bananas stop him from further knuckling the state's poor people.

"Most Mainers would agree that before someone received taxpayer-funded welfare benefits, they should sell nonessential assets and use their savings," said Gov. Paul LePage in a written statement. "Hardworking Mainers should not come home to see snowmobiles, four-wheelers or jet skis in the yards of those who are getting welfare. Welfare is a last resort, not a way of life."

Well, it can be, if you keep electing Paul LePage to be your governor. Of course, as a small-government conservative, LePage is all in favor of policies that allow the state to meddle in the private business affairs of the right people.

"Common sense says that someone with a ton of cash on hand isn't truly needy, but Gov. LePage and Commissioner [DHHS Commissioner Mary] Mayhew are willing to make someone's ability to eat contingent on whether they're able to sell their beat-up snowmobile in Uncle Henry's," said Rep. Drew Gattine, D-Westbrook, co-chairman of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee. "What next? Grandma can't buy groceries until she sells her engagement ring? They need to focus on growing economic opportunity and moving people into sustainable employment rather than adding a layer of bureaucracy to government that does nothing to save taxpayer dollars or help people in real need."

And your point is?

And, with that, we skip on down to Mississippi, which is Paul LePage's role model in so many ways. There, the state still has a law that bans same-sex couples from adopting children.(10th Amendment! Drink!) Ah, you say. This was an issue settled more than one Obergefell ago, as the ages are reckoned. Not in Mississippi goddamn, it's not.

In opposing the motion for the preliminary injunction, however, Hood says that "over-extend[s]" those cases. "While the Supreme Court's decisions in Obergefell v. Hodges and United States v. Windsor recently established that the federal and state governments must recognize valid same sex marriages, and states must license them, over-extending those decisions to purportedly invalidate Section 93-17-3(5) through a preliminary injunction would be entirely inappropriate," Hood argued.

In most of the nation, same-sex couples could adopt children long before they were allowed to get married. In Mississippi, it seems, history still runs backwards.

We swing north now, to Nebraska, where the state would like to start killing people again, but is hamstrung in its efforts by a problem down in shipping.

Nebraska ordered more than $50,000 of sodium thiopental and other execution drugs from a distributor in India named Chris Harris in May. The Food and Drug Administration has consistently maintained that importing the drug would be illegal, but the state has shown every intention of moving forward regardless. The FDA says it will not allow the drug into the U.S. The drugs were shipped via FedEx on August 24, but never made it to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. The shipment was returned to the sender in India due to "improper or missing paperwork," according to the tracking page. According to the company handling the shipping from India, it was because the drug lacked FDA approval. "Our shipment has to clear the U.S. office," Rohit Sharma said. "But they told us that it does not have FDA clearance." Sharma added that he sent the drugs back to the drug distributor, Harris. "He will FedEx it from Kolkata," Sharma said.

When you absolutely have to kill somebody overnight…

Moving elsewhere in what used to be called the Big 8 conference, we find ourselves in the middle of the kind of brawl in Colorado that people warned us would break out if they legalized weed.

Colorado's ban on collecting rain from residential rooftops has been a contentious topic at the statehouse, and a proposed bill for 2016 means it will likely be debated once again. "Colorado is the only western state where rain barrels are illegal," said Drew Beckwith, a water policy manager with the nonprofit Western Resource Advocates. "Every other western state that has our water laws has them legal, and it has not caused the Earth to come crashing to a halt."… "If you have a rain barrel, that's less that's going to run into the street," said Senator Jerry Sonnenberg (R-Sterling). And he believes, less water for farmers and ranchers – which is why Sonneberg opposed the rain barrel bill when it last came up and made sure it was defeated. He's now floating a new measure that would allow rain barrels, if people register them. Then it would be up to water providers to determine how to replace the lost water.

Maybe Marco Rubio can come to Denver and make another funny joke about drought. Get stoned enough, and he might even make sense.

And we conclude, as is our custom, in the great state of Oklahoma, where Blog Official Grit Dauber Friedman of the Plains brings us the early winter book favorite to be the next Kim Davis.

Pruitt released a statement saying the Supreme Court's ruling had "created a hostility toward religion" that violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantees of freedom of religion. It's unclear what will happen to the statue. Pruitt said he supports efforts by conservative state lawmakers to ask voters to amend the state constitution to remove the language cited by the Supreme Court. Supporters also have suggested erecting it on private property near the Capitol.



Scott Pruitt? Ted Cruz on Line One. Please pick up before he comes oozing through the mouthpiece.

This is your democracy, America. Cherish it.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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