Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

When they say they’re pro-life, they don’t mean yours.

ha ha ha! Nice try weird people.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

A consequence of cucumbers

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

I also would like a pony to improve my balloon juice experience.

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Reader Interactions

92Comments

  1. 1.

    TooManyJens

    DADT repeal cloture vote is failing, so I think this is the perfect time to start drinking. “No” votes from Ensign, Lugar, Scott Brown, Snowe, Manchin, more to come …

  2. 2.

    taylormattd

    Too early to start drinking?

    Man, you must really be out of sorts asking such a question, when you know damn well the answer to that question is ALWAYS “no!”

  10. 10.

    Butch

    John (I mentioned some of this in another post), in the past couple of weeks we’ve had major repairs on both vehicles, a $500 bill at the emergency veterinarian, a smashed picture window, and a busted furnace (which isn’t a good thing here at 8,600 feet in December). Substance abuse is the only thing that’s getting me through.

  11. 11.

    Dave

    Collins is such a PITA. And yet people in this damn state keep treating her like a moderate.

    Fuck. This. Shit. I want Snowe gone in 2012. Then Collins.

  12. 12.

    gsp

    Skip the new engine and head gaskets, put the pulling straps on Lily and JR and make them earn their keep.

  13. 13.

    Mike Kay (Team America)

    @TooManyJens:

    “No” votes from Scott Brown,

    But scotty insisted he was for the repeal.

    In fact he was for it, before he was against it.

  18. 18.

    Jim, Once

    My husband says if it’s a head gasket, you can buy a product to pour in the radiator that will seal a blown head gasket – IF it’s not too bad. Get on Google and look up Steel Seal and other products like it. If it’s your motor, that’s another story, of course.

  22. 22.

    stuckinred

    @Jim, Once: The head gasket is the seal between the head and the block, it is the “motor”. That stuff is not going to be any kind of long term fix.

  23. 23.

    dmsilev

    @Mike Kay (Team America): Has Scott Brown issued some sort of statement explaining his flip to no? Did Harry Reid not meet his demand of a personal foot massage or something?

    I’m sure he’ll have some mealy-mouthed explanation, and I’m vaguely curious to learn what it is.

    dms

  25. 25.

    eyepaddle

    I appreciate the sentiment–but Motorhead is the hard rock band for people who don’t really like hard rock. I know a lot of people would call them Heavy Metal, but they are a bit too stripped down for that genre to my ears.

    I’ve just known WAYYYY too many people trash metal–but then go on to say that they like Motorhead. I suspect that is because they want some heavy rock cache without having to worry about ever actually hearing the stuff.

    Has anybody besides Jack Black ever bought a Motorhead album?

  26. 26.

    Jim, Once

    Well, yeah, we do know that, stuckinred … but reviews by people who’ve used the stuff say it works for three or four years. Steel Seal can fix either or both the head gasket and the block. Look up a video on it.

  28. 28.

    tamied

    I’m taking my car in for service tomorrow. It needs a state inspection and an oil change plus the brakes are making a grinding sound (not good in these hills of Western PA) and the car wobbles back and forth. This sounds expensive.

  31. 31.

    Tim

    @Jim, Once:

    you can buy a product to pour in the radiator that will seal a blown head gasket

    …assuming that the barrier between the coolant and cylinders is the only part of your head gasket that failed, as opposed to inter-cylinder leak or compression leak to outside the engine block, e.g.

    And of course you risk damage to the engine (at worst, or at best, being stranded somewhere) if the sealant doesn’t actually seal the barrier between the coolant and cylinders.

  37. 37.

    Davis X. Machina

    @TooManyJens: Manchin is going to make everyone think warm, fuzzy thoughts about Joe Lieberman before he’s done.

    The Ben “Nighthorse” Campbell of the Appalachians.

  38. 38.

    dmsilev

    @TooManyJens: Well, that’s certainly true. I’m just morbidly curious as to the rationale.

    Credit where credit is due, however: Joe Lieberman pushed very hard for DADT repeal, right up to the bitter end. Still, on balance, an asshole, but he did the right thing here.

    dms

  40. 40.

    Mike Kay (Team America)

    I hope the vaunted GayTM decides to bankroll Brown’s opponent in two years. The gays need to defeat someone like Brown in order to put some fear into the gop for continuously voting against them. But sadly, I don’t see it. Gays have become lazy and self indulgent. They’re just not “ACTing-UP!” anymore.

  41. 41.

    Mr Furious

    John, refresh me (us). You’re driving a Subaru, right?

    When I sold my Impreza when I moved from Asheville, I crossed my fingers that I left town before the head gasket went…

    There was a narrow range of Subarus in the 90s that had head gasket probs. I hadn’t had one with mine @175,000 miles, but I didn’t want to be the guy with the keys if it did.

    That sucks. I’m sorry.

  42. 42.

    Scott P.

    Technically, if you never stop drinking you don’t have to worry if it’s too early to start.

  43. 43.

    Martin

    @stuckinred: You might be surprised at how long that stuff can last. Sure, it’s not permanent, but if you’re looking at $1500K for a head gasket repair or $2500 for a new engine, it might be worth the attempt – especially if the car is only worth $4K or so.

  44. 44.

    Nick

    @Davis X. Machina:

    Manchin is going to make everyone think warm, fuzzy thoughts about Joe Lieberman before he’s done.

    He replaced a guy who wasn’t exactly excited about repealing DADT and was the reason it existed in the first place

  45. 45.

    psycholinguist

    IS it a Subaru? They have bad issues with the head gasket failing because of the boxer design (coolant is always at the seal level). They had a recall that consisted of pouring some head gasket sealant crap in your engine and hoping for the best.

    And motorhead rules – in college back in the late 80’s, when I wanted people to get the fuck out of my house I would slap that joker on the turntable and crank up ACE OF SPADES. party over except for those three headbangers smokin dope and swingin their hair around over in the corner.

  46. 46.

    eyepaddle

    @Citizen_X:

    If there’s one thing I ain’t, bub, it’s a poseur. I in no way outwardly look metal, but I’d wager I can sweep pick circles around political blogistan–plus whichever other guitar trick is required to get any of those squeaks and squeals on command.

    I just happened to notice that none of my metal head friends ever had motorhead in their collections–even back in the day, like when you had to get albums by this awesome new band “Metallica” in the mail because they weren’t in midwest record stores yet.

    So out of curiousity, what’s your second favorite Motorhead tune?

  49. 49.

    Jim, Once

    @Martin:

    And anyone who’s had to have work done on a Subaru knows it can cost twice as much repairs on other cars. So, yeah, why not try ten dollars worth of sealant?

  50. 50.

    Jewish Steel

    @eyepaddle:

    No, eyepaddle has a point. Lemmy plays R&B riffs, guitar style, on his bass. That’s the fundamental element in Motorhead music. Motorhead is just a little too groovy to be called metal. They look metal, but they are a notch or 2 more interesting, musically speaking.

    Robert Plant disowns metal too.

  52. 52.

    Dan

    Not saying this would be a good idea, but if I was in the armed forces fighting for this country in Iraq, Afghanistan, wherever, and I was gay, I’d like to think i’d put my weapon down and sit things out until they repealed DADT. Would love to see the military try and deal with a hundred thousand troops who all decide on the same day to refuse to fight until they’re treated like human beings.

  53. 53.

    Dan

    And as a further sign of the disease inflicting this country, right wing groups are up in arms about what would happen to chaplains who view homosexuality as a sin if DADT is repealed. NPR had a story about it this morning

    So we’re supposed to ignore the concerns of thousands and thousands of troops who have to hide their own identity while risking their lives for this country, but we should pay attention to a few evangelical chaplains who are offended by gay sex?

  54. 54.

    Mr Furious

    @Jim, Once: Luckily, I never had to have much work done on my Subaru—stupid horizontally-opposed engines.

    But my Saab 900? Damn Swedes put the engine in backwards with the belts against the firewall. NOTHING’S cheap on that damn car.

    Still loved it though…

  55. 55.

    JohnR

    Too early to start drinking?

    eh, all the good lines are taken.

    Gasket or engine? Screw it – buy a horse.

  56. 56.

    Davis X. Machina

    @Nick: I was under the impression we had Village Permanent Secretary of Defense Sam Nunn to thank for that bit of legerdemain.

  58. 58.

    eyepaddle

    @Citizen_X:

    For the record, Lemmy is a pretty good guy, and I actually like Motorhead–I just think a lot of people who say they like Motorhead, don’t really. They’ve heard Ace of Spades once or twice, the know the band has a rep for being outlaw trendsetters, and it fills a niche for them–having one hard rock band they claim to like.

    I doubt there are many people who have both Children of Bodom and Motorhead in their collection.

    I’m personally kind of an 80s dinosaur, a NWOBHM-guy, and if I had to pick a favorite non NWOBHM ‘d go with Armored Saint. I’d put up a link, but then I wouldn’t be able to open up the fucking site for three days, so I’d recommend Book of Blood or Chemical Euphoria for John’s situation.

  59. 59.

    Citizen_X

    So out of curiousity, what’s your second favorite Motorhead tune?

    What, is this supposed to be some kind of trick? Fine. It’s probably Ace of Spades. First would be Love Me Like a Reptile. Or maybeI Got Mine.

    And having your musical tastes determined by your friends’ collections? P-O-S-E-U-R.

    And guitar wankery? Seriously? Jesus. Go listen to Yngwie or something.

  60. 60.

    Jim, Once

    @Mr Furious:

    Yeah. We had a little three cylinder, two cycle Saab waaay back in the day. We had to mix oil with the gas, just like you do a chainsaw. Husband finally took the motor out after the car rusted in two, and kept it for a couple of years. He claims that if he’d kept it, he could sell it for a pretty penny today to a car collector.

  61. 61.

    eyepaddle

    @Citizen_X:

    Well, I’m not actually trying to come off as belligerent, but I never said my musical tastes were determined by my friends’ collections–I said I know a lot of people who are metal heads and few listened to Motorhead.

    And I know a lot of hipsters who can’t stand metal and they praise Motorhead, so I sort of drew the conclusion that most people who “like Motorhead” like the image of them more than anything else.

    I crank the hard crunchy stuff in my car on the commute because I groove to it–not because it impresse people. I long ago came to terms with the fact that most people just don’t agree with my taste in music.

    Not that it’ll mollify you, but I learned to sweep pick so I could work on the solo section to Judas Priest’s Hellrider–Yngwie’s impressive but it never really seems to go anywhere.

  62. 62.

    RareSanity

    @Mr Furious:

    Luckily, I never had to have much work done on my Subaru—stupid horizontally-opposed engines.
    But my Saab 900? Damn Swedes put the engine in backwards with the belts against the firewall. NOTHING’S cheap on that damn car.

    You must be some kind of automotive masochist. Why not throw a Jaguar or a Volvo in the mix?

    I have always owed a Honda in some fashion (one was an Acura), never had any problems other than routine maintenance type stuff. One went north for 220k before getting totaled in a flash flood, the other had 210k when I wrecked it. The spousal unit currently drives an Odyssey.

    When I totaled my Legend (best. car. ever.), I bought a Ford Expedition (back in 2003 when they were still cool), that damn thing has been bulletproof. One thing for sure, Ford and Chevy definitely know how to make SUVs/pickups.

    Moral of the story: Make your life less stressful, buy a Honda.

    @John Cole (top): I feel for you dood…with that kind of issue, there’s really no way to get out of it cheaply. My personal opinion is not to even try the sealant unless you are just buying time until you get another vehicle. The sealant WILL eventually fail, and the same trick won’t work twice. If you plan on keeping the car, get it fixed the right way. The quick fix will ALWAYS cost you more later.

  63. 63.

    catclub

    @Dan: “…but we should pay attention to a few evangelical chaplains who are offended by gay sex? ”

    You learn quick.

  65. 65.

    psycholinguist

    okay, so it is a Subaru. This is so common, but I would get it fixed. The new gaskets are better, so shouldn’t happen again. While they are in there, they will/should also replace the timing belt and waterpump. Because of this engine design, timing belt replacement tends to run about a grand all by its lonesome, and waterpump is on the pricy side as well. You should be able to find someone to do this for around 1800 bucks in this part of the country. MAKE SURE this is a person who does a lot of these on Subarus – there’s a guy in our area who does nothing but Subaru head gasket replacements, and he charges 1800 for head/timing/waterpump, plus new belts and hoses.
    The good news – subaru transmissions are stout, and as long as you keep an eye on the boots, the transaxle/cv joints are stout as well. So, fix the thing and keep on truckin – my 2000 outback has 197K on it and goes along just fine. I did the head gasket myself, but unless you have a good shop and a complete set of tools and some know how, leave that puppy alone.

  66. 66.

    Tsulagi

    the verdict is a new motor or head gasket.

    Ouch. In your earlier post I said the overheating was likely a cheap easy fix but once you got past more expensive possibilities like water pump or radiator you could get into spread the legs on your wallet territory. Head gasket was what I was thinking of.

    If your car has been overheating for a while, your oil looks like chocolate milkshake, and the engine already has solid miles (80k+) on it, personally I’d go for a new engine. If you’ve been driving it with a blown gasket for a while, the oil/water mix has greatly accelerated the wear and you could have more problems soon after replacing the gasket which won’t be cheap.

    Or do your part for the economy and get a new car. Which would probably be best in the long run.

  67. 67.

    Mr Furious

    @RareSanity:

    You must be some kind of automotive masochist. Why not throw a Jaguar or a Volvo in the mix?

    LOL! The car in between the Saab and Subaru was a Volvo S60! Looks like I hit the Machanic’s Trifecta.

  68. 68.

    Mr Furious

    @RareSanity: I might like to live on the edge, but you can be damned sure my wife and kids drive around in something more reliable. Honda Odyssey for her as well. Went into the Honda dealer last month for the first time post-extended warrantee (which we almost never needed) with a horrendous grinding noise in the steering and I was expecting the worse.

    Turns out the tire shop messed something up during an alignment, and it only cost a half hour’s labor to put right again.

    I am absolutely a Honda believer.

    For the record, the new Odyssey (drove one for work) is the greatest family vehicle ever built.

  69. 69.

    kindness

    John, Put a special tag on the site for those of us who would help you out. Your engine (or sparkling brand new Prius) is worth $20 to me.

  70. 70.

    eyepaddle

    @Everett:

    Don’t get me wrong–Motorhead kicks ass–but their appeal goes beyond that.

    And oddly enough your post reminds me of Krokus–there’s a blast from the past!

  72. 72.

    stuckinred

    @Martin: You can use JB weld on a cracked block too. It all depends on what kind of traveling you intend to do. If you are going to go a long distance can you afford to have it blow in the middle of nowhere?

  73. 73.

    Deb T

    I had a head gasket blow on my way across Kansas and spent 2 days in a smoky motel room in Emporia, KS spending all my vacation money on auto repair – and some of it was under warranty. I cried alone in my motel room. I was younger then.

  74. 74.

    jehrler

    We had a head gasket go on our Saab 9-5 wagon at 130K miles.

    Got it repaired.

    Now at 355K and not a problem.

    Turns out that this is not uncommon on Saabs (not sure about Subarus) according to our independent Saab shop because the head and the block continue to “age” after being made and that aging can cause enough of a change to get a leak.

    Once it is repaired, since the aging process is done, they are good to go for a long time.

  75. 75.

    DCr

    @John Cole…

    Couple o’ options:

    Check the local junkyards for an engine. Still have to R&R it, but it’ll be lots cheaper than going new or shortblock.

    Poke around locally for a beater you can buy and drive in the interim.

    DCr

  76. 76.

    DCr

    @Martin:

    I’ve never had any luck with JB Weld on anything. Lotta people swear by it, but I’m not one of them…

    DCr

  80. 80.

    Angry Black Lady

    @TooManyJens: seriously. fuck every last one of them. i just spent an hour arguing with yelling at a colleague of mine. When he said “I was for Hillary, she wouldn’t have caved on tax cuts” I yelled “OH MY GOD” and stormed out.

    it was a short tantrum since my office is right next door to his.

    heh.

  82. 82.

    Jim, Once

    @Mr Furious:

    It’s Hondas for us, too. No other brand since 1994. Our eight year old Civic still gets nearly 40mpg, and has given us no serious problems. We’re looking at new Civics, just because … but I love that little car.

  83. 83.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @DCr:

    Need a block crack fix? MarineTex is the best product out there. Best cracked block fixer out there other than maybe Hardcase (block filler for racers).

    Block sealant is fine if you need a quick fix, are low on cash and don’t plan any long trips in the vehicle (where you might get stranded in Fumbuck, Egypt). If you want to use a block sealer, make sure you use a type that has sodium silicate as the active ingredient. Sodium silicate, referred to as liquid glass or water glass, precipitates and turns to a solid at temps around 190-210 degrees F that will not remelt until 1,500 degrees F. Seals well but will crack with aging so at best it’s a temporary fix.

    If it’s the head gasket it sounds like it’s leaking between the cylinder bore and an adjoining water jacket, block sealer will work well. If the leak is between a water jacket, cylinder bore and an oil passage then pull the heads and replace the gasket. If one gasket blows, replace both of them. It’s stupid to pull the engine down that far to only replace one head gasket. As someone else mentioned, replace the water pump and timing belt at the same time.

    How many miles are on the engine? While the heads are off have the valves checked to make sure they don’t need servicing. This is one of those jobs where if you have to take it apart then you should replace old components that wear and are hard to replace unless you tear the engine down. Make sure they check the deck on the heads to make sure they are true too.

    One other question: Did you overheat the engine and then lose the gasket or did it just blow it out and then start overheating?

  84. 84.

    Angry Black Lady

    @Maody: it was pretty hilarious, actually. i work at a predominantly minority firm, so it was me and a quiet-spoken mexican woman talking about “oh you white liberals.” don’t see much of that in law firms.

    hee!

  85. 85.

    Maody

    @Angry Black Lady: anything to make me laugh after what’s happening in D.C., and yes, the “oh you white liberals” being right on the ben franklin.

    … and I own an older Subaru which makes me worried about blowing my own gasket and don’t drink. hammer meet head.

  86. 86.

    Phoebe

    @eyepaddle: People who don’t like heavy metal but love Motorhead [this would be me], they tend to also love AC/DC and the Ramones and a few other things by a few other people who bleed into the heavy metal genre, I believe I can clarify our position: We don’t like pompous bombastic screetchy voiced noodling. This is why we aren’t fonder of Led Zeppelin than we are. No, we are not faking it. Asshole.

  87. 87.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Phoebe:

    I think eyepaddle defines metal as anything sung by someone who sounds like the Cookie Monster. I do a Cookie Monster death metal voice that makes people laugh their heads off. At one party I made one guy hurl because he was laughing so hard. Then he hurled again because he thought that was funnier.

    I’m sure the large quantity of alcohol he consumed that evening help ‘lube’ him up for the hurl but I know I pushed him over the edge.

  88. 88.

    techno

    @Mr Furious:
    Hey, there was nothing wrong with the layout of the Saab 900. The guy who worked on my ’84 just loved the things because they were designed to be serviced (by folks who had the proper training and tools). I got 296,000 miles out of my 900 before it was totaled by a baseball-sized hail storm. 15 years without car payments did wonders for my financial condition.

  89. 89.

    burnspbesq

    The lease on my A3 runs out in 45 days. I’m thinking seriously about exercising the purchase option, but this thread is pushing me in the direction of turning it in and high-tailing it across the street to the VW dealer.

  90. 90.

    Gemina13

    I drive a 1991 Chevy Cavalier. Lately, I’ve been hearing a noise while driving that makes me think I’ve either got an exhaust leak, or the engine bearings are going.

    After reading this entry, I’m going to bite the bullet and either get a Honda CR-V, or a Ford Edge (wince).

    Sorry, John. For your sake, I really hope it’s the gasket. ::crosses fingers::

  91. 91.

    eyepaddle

    @Phoebe:
    (aso Odie Hugh Manatee)

    Let me clarify (although I doubt anybody will dig into the archives and see this) Motorhead is in no way faking it; if you own two or more Motorhead albums YOU aren’t faking it; but if your collection is just full of subpop releases and you can’t wait for Lucinda Wlliams to come to town, and don’t really like hard rock–except “the good stuff” like Motorhead, but you can only name Ace of Spades, well….

    On a personal note: AC/DC is the band that got me interted in music, but Judas Priest is the band that made me NEED to learn how to play guitar, while I’ll go to the show when AC/DC is in town, at some point the way they just kept putting out the same album every few years just kind of lost me.

    Odie, I mentioned upthread that I was kind of New Wave of British Heavy Metal dinosaur, mainly Priest and Maiden, but i’ll take some Tygers of Pan Tang if it’s coming my way.

    For American bands, I dig the wildy underratex Armored Saint–especially their (leukemia) departed guitarist Dave Pritchard.

  92. 92.

    Phoebe

    Eyepaddle, IF you claim to love Motorhead and can only name Ace of Spades, then you probably can’t love them that much. I own only one cd, Orgasmatron, but I have seen them live, saw Lemmy’s solo thing live, blah blah, love them. But I am firmly in the category of people who say “except Motorhead” [and AC/DC and a couple of Aerosmith songs, etc.], and I’m not faking it, and my other friends who say/have said it aren’t faking it. The thing is, we are so full of ourselves that we don’t think we need to add any rebel “cred” to our portfolio. We have that with the punk rock and some of the hip hop already. Hell, Scott Walker is enough rebel cred for me. But maybe there is a segment of people who make an exception for Motorhead because they heard somebody cool [like meeee!] do the same. It’s possible. But don’t assume we all are liars. @Odie Hugh Manatee:
    That should go in your obituary, even if you win the nobel prize. Especially if you win the nobel prize.

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