Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Not all heroes wear capes.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Hot air and ill-informed banter

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Come on, man.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

T R E 4 5 O N

Republicans in disarray!

This really is a full service blog.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Friday Night Open Thread

Friday Night Open Thread

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Glad to see that ACA got a temporary reprieve- now we need to be make sure they don’t kill it with 1000 cuts.

At any rate, I picked up the car today from the shop, and after a sacrifice of blood and money to the Subaru gods, my car is running like a champion. Thought I would share part of my conversation with the dealership guy to demonstrate why they hate me but love my money:

Subaru guy: Ok. You’re all ready to go. Here’s what we did. We-

Me: I’m not going to understand this.

Subaru guy: -something something sensor something something bushings something something injector something something next oil change something something come back in 30k miles.

Me: What about the blinking tire pressure gauge thing?

Subaru guy: We checked the TPS and it is ok and your tires are fine and inflated ok.

Me: What if it starts blinking again?

Subaru guy: Just ignore it. It just means your tires might need some air or the battery might be dying on it.

Me: They MIGHT need some air? Isn’t that precisely the same amount of information I had in my Subaru that DIDN’T have a TPS? What’s the point of that thing then?

Subaru guy: *Pauses* If the light comes on and stays on then get your tires checked.

Me: You just told me to ignore the light.

Subaru guy: Only if it is just blinking. If it comes on and stays on you have a problem.

Me: How can we be sure? We already have no idea what it means when it is blinking, why should we trust it if it comes on and stays on?

Subaru guy: *Pauses* I’ve never known that light to come on and stay on unless there is a problem.

Me: Ok, whatever. What about the check engine light?

Subaru guy: It’s off.

Me: It was off when I came here. Did you fix whatever it was that was making it go on?

Subaru guy: We think so. But if it comes back on come back and we will fix it.

Me: Isn’t that why I am here right now?

Subaru guy: *Pauses*

Me (sensing there is hate building in his heart): You know what, never mind. How much?

At any rate, the car ran like a dream, and I saw a noticeable increase in gas mileage, and apparently the bushings have something to do with the way it rides, because it was so much better and really fun to drive. I took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed to Pittsburgh to pick up an antique armoire we found on Craigslist for $100 bucks, and man is it a beauty. This thing is worth a helluva lot more.

I put it right in the foyer as soon as you walk in the front door. It’s off center right now because I need to get something for the legs so they don’t fall through the cold air intake, but it looks perfect there. It’s cedar lined, and has drawers on the right side and a space to hang jackets and put shoes on the left side.

My house is really starting to shape up. Now I need to figure out what to hang above it the armoire.

Reader Interactions

233Comments

  1. 1.

    TenguPhule

    and after a sacrifice of blood and money to the Subaru gods, my car is running like a champion.

    There’s your problem. Should have converted to Toyota instead of sticking with that Heathen False god.

  4. 4.

    cain

    See, this is where we miss having Car Talk around.. Imagining John as a caller talking about his Subaru problem would have been comedy gold.

  5. 5.

    Quinerly

    Had two Subaru Outbacks. Put over 250,000 miles on each. Switched to a 2015 Ford Escape (4WD) a little over a year ago. LOVE IT. So much cheaper to maintain, better gas mileage, and to me a more comfortable ride. I “Escaped” the cult of the Subaru. Just saying….

  7. 7.

    TenguPhule

    @cain:

    Imagining John as a caller talking about his Subaru problem would have been comedy gold.

    “And after sacrificing the traditional chicken and peering into its bloody entrails, The Prophet John did lament and wail at the portents of money to be spent on fixing the Holy Engine Block of Mt. Caerbannog.”

  10. 10.

    oldster

    “My house is really starting to shape up. Now I need to figure out what to hang above it.”

    Really? You want something to hang above your house?

    I’m trying to think. What’s more patriotic: an American flag? Or an effigy of Trump?

    Nah, go with the flag. You’d get sick of looking at Trump after five minutes.

  13. 13.

    jharp

    I haven’t been to Pittsburgh in years after traveling there monthly in the 90’s.

    One of the coolest great cities of North America.

  16. 16.

    joel hanes

    hang above it

    A nicely-framed picture of her, Cole you great oaf;
    better if it’s a picture of her with her kids

  17. 17.

    Uncle Omar

    John, a suggestion following a story. My wife has an older Toyota Solara that has had, for years, a tire pressure alert light that was always on. This week she took it to a non-Toyota mechanical shop and after they finished work on it she mentioned the TPS. The mechanic showed her a hidden button near the speedometer and told her to hit it once, pause then hit it three more times and the signal went off. He said that the signal was designed to get people to get people to take the car to the Toyota dealer where the dealer could sell other crap and that the method of turning it off is not in the manual nor will Toyota dealer mechanics ever tell you about it. So, my advice is to find a reliable mechanic not connected with a dealership who might know a secret about Subaru sneakiness.

  19. 19.

    Psycholinguist

    If you want to hang something over the house you’ll need a skyhook. Grandpa kept his right next to the postholes

  20. 20.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    Watching Trump and Ryan on PBS, whining about today’s events…

    Trump: We came close but DIDN’T GET ANY HELP FROM THE DEMOCRATS…

    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… sweet, sweet schadenfreude…

    Ryan: What can I say? I’m busy eating this shit sandwich right now… I’ll make a statement later…

    Un-FRICKEN-real…

    But… apparently it’s NOT the Republicans’ fault… must be Obama’s Deep State…

  22. 22.

    Bokonon

    Glad you found such a great armoire for such a good deal. Antique furniture is going for a song these days. So is traditional furniture in any style (particularly dark wood). I am seeing some truly jaw dropping deals on Craigslist and other places like community boards … where people are desperate to sell, and there are few buyers. Either people don’t have any interest or any money … or both. It is kind of sad. Especially when you consider the crummy quality of most of the new furniture available at retail these days. I would rather have something older and good quality.

    [By the way – the Subaru Outback wagon that my wife and I used to own was a constant, niggling maintenance problem, and it drove us crazy. We finally offloaded it for a Hyundai Santa Fe, and we were very happy when we did.]

    And of course the GOP is going to try the death-of-one-thousand-cuts approach. They’ve been doing that along, and Trump announced this afternoon that the ACA is now gonna fail, and the Democrats are gonna own it when it does.

    So here comes the screw job on the entire nation. Unless the great and grand American public, in all its wisdom, is able to make the GOP listen to more than its core constituencies and billionaire donor class, they are going to make everyone hurt BAD until the public comes around and supports some alternative.

  23. 23.

    lahke

    I like the mirror idea. It should reflect the hanging light fixture and double the light in your entryway.

  24. 24.

    waysel

    Above it? ‘The Sleeping Gypsy’-Henri Rousseau. We need closer shot of door face veneer, with good light, please.

  26. 26.

    Mike J

    Took a whirlwind day trip yesterday. 500 miles? A bunch. Saw sand hill cranes in Othello, WA. Then I went to Palouse falls. NEver been there. very impressive. I could see mountains in Idaho from there. Rockies? I dunno. This would have been a fine long day trip. BUt then, to be wacky, decided that while I was on the wrong side of the cascades, I might as well see Grand Coulee dam. Yep, it’s a dam. Saw it, drove home. The scenery up and down Banks lake was spectacular though,

    When I get the pics off my camera I’ll post them.

  30. 30.

    satby

    That is a beautiful armoire, and I really like the glimpse of the chandelier too! House is looking great John!

    I spent the gorgeous breezy day planting 3 tiny little lilacs and two roses. I just got the shipping confirmation that two more lilacs and four blueberry bushes are on the way. And I still have 10 tiny sticks with roots that will grow into trees to come from the arborday.org people. That’s going to include two more lilacs. I may have overdone the lilac thing a bit.

    Also am experimenting with selling my “seconds” soaps at a bulk price. Not sure how that will go. Getting ready for the farmers market this summer!

  33. 33.

    debit

    Adding my vote to a mirror. I really love what you’ve done with the house, John. It looks very comfortable and homey.

    I’ve had Subarus for years and found them to be sturdy and reliable, even with my somewhat indifferent maintenance.

  36. 36.

    Shana

    @Josie: I vote for keeping an eye out for a piece of art. Take ABC with you to a local craft fair. Find something inexpensive that speaks to you. And you’re supporting a local artist.

    Or go the the Art Department of you local college when they have a show and buy something there.

    It will mean more that you found something unique and local.

  37. 37.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    @MichaelHargrov1
    Yes, Bernie Sanders is criticizing Democrats and taking personal credit for defeat of AHCA. Can’t make this stuff up.

  39. 39.

    hovercraft

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:
    Don’t you know that if the democrats don’t work with republicans and help them destroy one of their and Obama’s great accomplishments, they are playing politics and not being responsible. Yes they did everything in their power to sabotage Obama, but that was then, now it’s time for us all to just get along. They’re so used to being the opposition party that they’ve forgotten how to govern, so it’s up to democrats to do the responsible patriotic thing and save them from themselves.

  42. 42.

    CarolPW

    @Mike J: I love Palouse Falls. On your way up the coulee did you stop and look at dry falls? The exhibits at the rest stop are worth looking at, particularly if you have looked at the eastern Washington channeled scablands and wondered what the hell they were about.

  43. 43.

    debit

    @raven: Oh no. No no no no. I can only imagine and shudder at what could happen if Cole did his own car repairs.

  50. 50.

    Barbara

    @Shana: Totally agree with this approach. Don’t even make a point of looking for something. Someday you will be somewhere and see something just screaming to go above the armoire. Although I think it looks great as is.

  51. 51.

    SFAW

    @Psycholinguist:

    If you want to hang something over the house you’ll need a skyhook.

    He might need to secure it with about 10 or 12 yards of shore line. And he’ll need a second skyhook to hold the wind shifter.

  52. 52.

    evodevo

    What Uncle Omar said at #17 Also – I have had Subaru wagons for YEARS…. put a piece of tape over the check engine light and ignore it … pay attention only when it quits running. One of mine has had the light on for over two years. Finally went off on its own (maybe the light bulb burned out? Who knows.) My husband has those tire inflation thingys on his Beemer and finally just took them off because they were so annoying.

  54. 54.

    hovercraft

    @Baud:
    I’m happy with our leadership.
    Unlike those idiots on the other side, they understand subtlety, they are both sticking the shiv in without being bellicose.
    Notice how Mitch has quietly made himself scarce. He’s leaving this shit sandwich for Twitler and ZEGS to enjoy.

  57. 57.

    SFAW

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:

    Shitgibbon: We came close but DIDN’T GET ANY HELP FROM THE DEMOCRATS…

    Hey, asshole, you want to know how to get help from the Dems? Stop doing fucked-up things, and act like a goddamn adult for a change, instead of a petulant three-year-old who wants to destroy the country just so you can grift a few million more $.

    Or even better idea:
    0) Fire Bannon
    1) Fire your entire cabinet,
    2) Get Nancy Pelosi named Speaker,
    3) Force Pence to resign, then …
    4) Do the world a favor and YOU resign as well.

    Trust me, it will work out just fine that way.

  58. 58.

    hovercraft

    Schumer runs down the list, Sotomayor, Kagan, Roberts, and Alito all got 60 votes, if this one can’t then you change the judge not the rules. Me likey!!

  60. 60.

    jl

    Hope Cole’s car keeps working. And, like raven said, why not get a manual? You look for one on the internet and download.
    Wouldn’t a tire gauge and just checking the tires work? Even I do that. I’m not going to trust the tires to some jackass warning light on the dashboard.

    In my experience, after a car is of a certain age, and stuff has happened, the repair people all say the same thing about inconsistent and mysteriously blinking check equipment lights.

    Also, did Cole ask the guy who sold him the armoire what to do if a warning light starts blinking?

  64. 64.

    p.a.

    Flashing TPS light generally means a bad signal to the sensor. The batteries in the ‘transmitters’ weaken, or new rims with transmitters the sensor doesn’t respond to. Depending on the auto manufacturer the light may flash continually or flash then stay on. Flash then go off? Don’t know. Some info.

  65. 65.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    one side lied about the other side’s bill, and their own. The other side told the truth about their bill, and the other side’s…. so

    Ron Fournier‏Verified account
    @ ron_fournier
    Now both parties have failed to craft health care reform commanding broad public support. Leave me out of debate over whose failure is worse

    At least Broder was actually Broder, and five hundred years old. Fournier is a sick man.

    Apparently he has an autistic son and has written a very moving book about it. I wonder how other people in that community, who don’t have his kind of job and financial and insurance security, feel about TrumpCare vs ObamaCare

  69. 69.

    Jeffro

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:Via TPM:

    The President also falsely claimed that he’d never vowed to do away with the law as soon as he took office, which was one of his core campaign promises.

    “I’m here 64 days, I never said repeal and replace Obamacare—you’ve all heard my speeches. I never said repeal and replace it within 64 days,” Trump said. “I have a long time.”

    Last February, Trump pledged he would “immediately” get rid of the law, and he repeated that pledge dozens of times during the election.

  72. 72.

    Jeffro

    @raven:

    Why not get a Subaru shop manual and hang it on a hook.

    Ok, that is pretty fucking funny…so much inside baseball here…

  74. 74.

    amk

    Failures:✅Trump University✅Trump Casinos✅Trump Airlines✅Trump Steaks✅Trump Magazine✅Trumpcare⬜️Trump PresidencyLet's check the box— Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) March 24, 2017

    the golden shite.

  75. 75.

    jl

    @Baud: @Jeffro:

    The mashups of Trumps campaign and administration ramblings will make some great campaign ads when the time comes.
    And Baud’s platform will look coherent by comparison, if it, whatever it is, decides to run again.

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Now both parties have failed to craft health care reform commanding broad public support. Leave me out of debate over whose failure is worse

    Fuck you, Ron, you dishonest piece of shit.

  81. 81.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    the commercial has been made, I’m ready to donate to crowd-fund this one, or a slicker version, anything. Get this on Jeopardy and Judge Judy and Let’s Make a Deal and Bass Fishing This Week and Church Chat and whatever the fuck. Sow doubt, piss him off

    President Trump: I never said repealing and replacing Obamacare would be easy.

    Really? Let’s check the tape:

  82. 82.

    FlyingToaster

    @Adam L Silverman: Re: Car Talk

    Would have been FCC fines!

    Dewey, Cheatam and Howe ALWAYS enforced the 7-second delay. ALWAYS.

    There would have been an abrupt insertion of a canned Tom-n-Ray “word about our sponsors” and a great deal of unexplained laughter. I remember a few of those.

  83. 83.

    amk

    Failures:

    ✅Trump University

    ✅Trump Ca*inos

    ✅Trump Airlines

    ✅Trump Steaks✅Trump Magazine

    ✅Trumpcare

    ⬜️Trump Presidency

    Let's check the box— Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) March 24, 2017

    blog mod still stuck up on the word ca*inos? sheesh.

  84. 84.

    jl

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m happy to leave that guy out of the debate. We should probably encourage him to just make that tweet into a template for everything he sends out to the public.

  87. 87.

    p.a.

    How will Rethugs, conservative media, and flatworm MSM spin conspiracy with foreign power to influence election as not being high crimes and misdemeanors?

  89. 89.

    PaulW

    @p.a.:

    Fox Not-News likely blaming Democrats for not “contributing” to “make the newer better NO HEALTHCARE FOR YOU POORS plan” pass the House.

    ‘Cause the Far Right hates it when their obstructionist habits come back to bite them in their collective ass.

  91. 91.

    Goku

    @amk: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: President Infallible cannot fail, he can only be failed. Nothing is ever his fault. Imagine if the standards applied to Trump applied to the rest of us? Society would cease to function

  92. 92.

    PaulW

    @amk:

    twitler, why you no tweet today?

    He’s still reliving the emotional high of pretending to be an awesome truck driver from yesterday.

    (imagines trump humming the tune “Convoy” over and over like a cursed Ear Worm)

  94. 94.

    p.a.

    @amk:
    scene: wanders around dimly lit residence, hair askew, robe belt trailing behind…
    “a phone, a phone. my kingdom for a phone…”

  99. 99.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @satby: Are there any community supported agriculture groups in your area? The one we subscribe to offers local products in addition to the produce; your soaps might be a good fit for a similar organization.

  100. 100.

    efgoldman

    @TenguPhule:

    Should have converted to Toyota instead of sticking with that Heathen False god.

    I happened to look at the info label on the door pillar of my ’16 Toyota Camry yesterday and found….
    … that it was manufactured/assembled at the Subaru plant in Indiana.

  102. 102.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @PaulW: (imagines trump humming the tune “Convoy” over and over like a cursed Ear Worm)

    I can just about remember the chorus (we got a great big convoy, truckin’ through the night//Yeah, we gotta mighty convoy, ain’t she a beautiful sight)

    @lamh36: Ivanka’s in Aspen and Kellyanne goes back to the leafy Jersey suburbs on weekends. Tick… tick… tick…

  103. 103.

    cain

    @amk:

    So cole, I heard you were bitching about dems on twitterdom. What was that all about?

    It is his usual, he hates dem more now that he is a dem than when he was a Republican. I then tried to troll him with a jbarro tweet where jbarro was bitching about democrats as well. :-)

  104. 104.

    cain

    @Jeffro: That will create some uncomfortable mutterings from his supporters who have been talking with their fist upraised about how Trump is going to get rid of the evil Obamacare on day one.

  106. 106.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Uncle Omar: Or…teh Google is your friend. The OXS light on my dearly departed Jetta would come on every 30k miles. The button to reset it was also a secret. I looked on teh Google and found a page that had the location. It was behind the coolant reservoir.

  108. 108.

    p.a.

    from TPM via whatever:

    Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) admitted as much as he left the meeting Friday. Reporters asked why, after Republicans held dozens of nearly-unanimous votes to repeal Obamacare under President Obama, they were getting cold feet now that they control the levers of power.
    “Sometimes you’re playing Fantasy Football and sometimes you’re in the real game,” he said. “We knew the president, if we could get a repeal bill to his desk, would almost certainly veto it. This time we knew if it got to the president’s desk it would be signed.”

    Legislative Branch in the hands of 6 year olds. And I may just have insulted 6 year olds.

  110. 110.

    efgoldman

    @hovercraft:

    Notice how Mitch has quietly made himself scarce

    I said a couple of threads ago that McTurtle was the real political and procedural winner today. Because this pile of pigshit cratered in the house, he doesn’t have to decide between trying to wrangle 51 (or 60) votes to pass it, or let the Dems filibuster it to death.

  111. 111.

    cain

    @p.a.:
    Real legislating takes work and has in fact risk. Republicans are best when they are out of power and in power for short durations.

  112. 112.

    cain

    @amk: We really need to replace the Obama “Chill the fuck out, I got this” with “Chill the fuck out, we all got this”

  115. 115.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @cain: They don’t know how to govern. They don’t even know how to rule. Over the past generation, Congressional Republicans have effectively devolved into nihilists.

  116. 116.

    Jeffro

    @p.a.: Not that Trumpkins will do it, but let’s parse that statement for just a few seconds – it’s incredibly honest, for once.

    “We used to take votes most every day to repeal Obamacare ’cause we knew Obama would veto it, and we thought it would make us look like big chest-thumpin’ warriors back home.”

    “And then…and THEN…we find ourselves here, in power, and – dang that Obama! – repealing Obamacare means taking health care away from, like, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN EACH OF OUR DISTRICTS! It’s like, seriously?!? How the heck did that get into Obamacare? I thought it was just about him ramming his big…er…government’s big mandates down our…down people’s throats. No Freedumb! And so yeah, it was easy to get irritated and maybe we forgot about what we would actually [replace] with…it’s almost like that was secondary or something”

    “But we’ve only had 60-something days to come up with a replacement plan and as sure as the free hand of the market is both indivisible and omniscient and all knowing too, we’re going to come up with something down the road that’s better…because that ramming…I think about it a lot…”

  117. 117.

    amk

    @cain: the kenyan sure did leave some ‘poison pills’ & ‘landmines’ for the thugs to commit sepukku just out of their spite & envy.

  118. 118.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @efgoldman:

    Because this pile of pigshit cratered in the house, he doesn’t have to decide between trying to wrangle 51 (or 60) votes to pass it, or let the Dems filibuster it to death.

    Astute observation… no doubt McTurtle is breathing easier right now because of that…

    And we now know exactly what kind of shit sandwich Ryan was eating earlier today…

  119. 119.

    Lizzy L

    @amk: Unity pays, yes. And Joe Fucking Manchin has already announced that he will not support Schumer’s announced filibuster of Gorsuch’s confirmation, because some stupid bullshit, yadda-yadda, dignity of the Senate, whatevs.

    Horse’s head in his bed, now.

  120. 120.

    efgoldman

    @Goku:

    President Infallible cannot fail, he can only be failed. Nothing is ever his fault.

    Now he’s blaming Ivanka and Jared for being off skiing.

    A source close to President Trump told CNN that the commander-in-chief was frustrated with his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner’s decision to go on a vacation in the heat of the debate over ObamaCare repeal.
    .
    “[Trump] is upset that his son-in-law and senior adviser was not around during this crucial week,” the source said, according to a CNN report.

    One has to wonder who it is in the WH who calls CNN 4-5 times a day.

  124. 124.

    efgoldman

    @p.a.:

    “We knew the president, if we could get a repeal bill to his desk, would almost certainly veto it. This time we knew if it got to the president’s desk it would be signed.”

    Barton is a RWNJ, but he’s been in congress since before the inmates took over the asylum (1985). Apparently that gives partial immunity to the prion disease.

  125. 125.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Over the past generation, Congressional Republicans have effectively devolved into nihilistsincompetent, overblown, destructive buffoons.

    There… better, no?

  127. 127.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Lizzy L: and Heitkamp will probably go along with him, maybe Donnelly, maybe McCaskill, maybe Tester, possibly Bennet (“two wrongs don’t make a right”). Angus King? Bob Casey? Who knows. That still means McConnell has to kill the filibuster, which he’s probably going to do anyway, and that’s much more likely to be a party line vote. I think it’s almost impossible to actually keep Gorusch off the court– it would require Collins and Murkowski (possible) and at least one other Republican (unlikely)to defend the filibuster, which is hard to imagine. I think we just have to hope that Kennedy really likes his job, and RBG is as hale and hearty as JP Stevens

  129. 129.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Lizzy L: @amk: We need 42 Dems. Right? Reid and Pelosi knew how to count and would release people to vote the other way if their local politics required it and they could afford to. I think Schumer knows that too.

  132. 132.

    cain

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    @cain: They don’t know how to govern. They don’t even know how to rule. Over the past generation, Congressional Republicans have effectively devolved into nihilists.

    Their entire philosophy can be boiled down to tax cuts. That’s pretty much it. They really don’t know how to do anything else.

  136. 136.

    cain

    @amk:

    @cain: the kenyan sure did leave some ‘poison pills’ & ‘landmines’ for the thugs to commit sepukku just out of their spite & envy.

    I love our american kenyan in chief.

  138. 138.

    p.a.

    @efgoldman:

    Barton is a RWNJ, but he’s been in congress since before the inmates took over (1985). Apparently that gives partial immunity to the prion disease.

    More of a disease vector then…

  140. 140.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @cain:
    I disagree. Their entire philosophy can be boiled down to ‘I would rather burn the country down than let anyone but white men have it.’ 90% of the support for tax cuts is ‘Fuck you if you think a single penny of my hard earned money will be spent helping darkies.’ True Randians like Ryan are fringe, which is one reason why absolutely no one liked his health care proposal.

  141. 141.

    cain

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    @efgoldman: He just shat on Ivanka? Jesus fuck!

    He’s going off the rails. His only friend is his the guy who snuggles him to bed every night, Steve Bannon. Since you know his wife is over at Trump tower, probably enjoying a nice glass of merlot.

  142. 142.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @Omnes Omnibus: True…

    However… a lot of different groups could be described as nihilists… neo-Nazis… KKKers… the Black Bloc nitwits…

    Republicans are their own special breed of nihilist…

  144. 144.

    cain

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I disagree. Their entire philosophy can be boiled down to ‘I would rather burn the country down than let anyone but white men have it.’ 90% of the support for tax cuts is ‘Fuck you if you think a single penny of my hard earned money will be spent helping darkies.’ True Randians like Ryan are fringe, which is one reason why absolutely no one liked his health care proposal.

    The thing is, that’s the only proposal they had on the table. Everytime Republicans were put in charge that’s usually the first thing they did.. I would say tax cuts is the only thing the House can agree on at the moment. They won’t be able to do anything that Trump campaigned on as that would require working with each other, and even though they have a majority, they probably hate each others guts.

  147. 147.

    efgoldman

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I am really hoping context will show Sanders did not actually say something Lieberman-level jackass

    Wilmer gotta’ be Wilmer. He is not a Dem; he was a Dem of convenience for about a year, but even before the convention he had registered to run for re-election as an independent.
    Fuck him and the donkey he rode in on.

  148. 148.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Peale: a source of constant bewilderment to me. CBS news had two older women from Sun City, AZ, who were die hard trump supporters. I was at the gym and didn’t catch all of their reasoning (“reasoning”), but one of the them was wearing a T-shirt that had Trump Supreme Court repeating in run on print.

    What subtitles I did catch were about strength and a businessman and whatever he does about health care will be better than what we’ve got. They lived in Sun City, AZ, which I believe is a private development with a minimum age of 60.

  149. 149.

    cain

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    As unpleasant a thought as it is, I have assumed we will find out he actually is sexually assaulting female interns.

    It’s possible that is what it is.. I’m sure Republicans are all breathing a sigh of relief that it isn’t male interns.

  151. 151.

    Lizzy L

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I don’t think we can keep Gorsuch off the court. They need eight Democratic votes to break the filibuster. If they don’t get them, they’ll blow it up. They may not get those eight. Still, after 7 long years of Republican obstruction, it would be really fine to give the Republicans nothing, zip, zero, nada, not a single vote.

  152. 152.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @cain:
    Oh, they leap to gutting rights for every minority they can find and enacting voting restrictions as well. Trump is a true distillation of his party. He certainly plans to slash taxes on the wealthy, but his first priority was making brown people’s lives utter Hell.

    EDIT: I include women as a minority because they are treated that way, despite being a majority.

  154. 154.

    cain

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    his first priority was making brown people’s lives utter Hell.

    That would require actually understanding how governance works. More likely he’ll encourage a bill that fucks everyone.

  155. 155.

    p.a.

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: the presidential train is off the rails and running the country into a ditch while buzzards circle the administration…

    mixed metaphors b us
    (going to bed so I won’t have to read the grammar nazis’ “those aren’t metaphores” comments…)

  157. 157.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @cain:
    Executive order on immigration – and several since. Witness how he has turned the ICE free to be the biggest assholes they feel like. They are terrifying the Hispanic community, and that was the whole point.

  158. 158.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    They are terrifying the Hispanic community, and that was the whole point.

    Hmmmm… I wonder what percentage of the Hispanic demographic is gonna vote Democratic in 2018?

  160. 160.

    cain

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Executive order on immigration – and several since. Witness how he has turned the ICE free to be the biggest assholes they feel like. They are terrifying the Hispanic community, and that was the whole point.

    True dat. Here in PDX, we have ICE everywhere like the stasi. Watching schools, courts, and approaching people on the street. It’s a fucking mess. PDX just voted to be a protected city.. we will continue to give a fuck you to Trump.

  161. 161.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    Didn’t he drive the tank, not work on it? Sure he may have had to adjust something once in a while but fix it?

  162. 162.

    cain

    OK, I clearly don’t understand this new meme of that includes “Katie” WTF is this about?

  163. 163.

    cain

    Trolling the shit out of Cole, but he’s not rising to the bait. He probably doesn’t even know who I am. Hah.

  166. 166.

    Mike J

    @CarolPW: Othello, where we went for the birding, is in the middle of the scablands. Potholes park is right there. Beautiful scenery. Freaked me out to not see a single tree all the way to the horizon. Mind blowing. Wouldn’t want to live there, but stunning to see for a day or two.

  167. 167.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @cain: It’s from an interview that Sarah Palin did w/ Katie Couric back when she was mcCain’s VP candidate…

    During the interview, Couric had her got’cha moment w/ Palin when she asked Sarah which newspapers she read… Palin froze like a deer in the headlines before answering, ‘All of them, Katie’…

  169. 169.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ruckus: The people who use them maintain them. If something is seriously wrong, specialists come in. He knows how to work a wrench.

  173. 173.

    efgoldman

    @danielx:

    ICE agents waiting outside polling places (in San Antonio, say) hassling people for ID.

    Non-citizens can’t vote. Hell, in Texas, actual citizens can’t vote. And the assholes get a check for this? From my fucking tax money?

    Fuckem

  179. 179.

    PaulW

    Interesting side note:

    trump (and Bannon) wanted the House to go through with the AHCA vote so they could see who voted NO and then punish the transgressors. Ryan must have realized how insane that was – it would purge their own party and make them vulnerable to Dems in 2018 – so he HAD to cancel the vote when it became clear it wouldn’t pass. He was trying to avoid a full out self-inflicted Lose-Lose scenario.

    Part of me wonders if trump/Bannon DID go through with a revenge plan, that it would have driven the NO voters to quit the party BUT NOT their seats, giving Dems enough time before the midterms to gain a majority and f-ck with trump (if he lasts that long)…

  181. 181.

    danielx

    @Ruckus:

    Everybody works on the tank, especially when doing something really obnoxious like changing the treads. Driver is responsible for motive power, but there’s only so much in-the-field stuff you can do to a turbine and transmission. What there is doesn’t translate well to modern auto electronics unless you get additional training for it, instead of forgetting most of the tank stuff as soon as possible

  182. 182.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @cain: I kept getting that answer (all of them, Katie…) dropped on me so ofter I finally looked it up…

  183. 183.

    danielx

    @efgoldman:

    There’s a lot of that sentiment going around. I wonder if anybody ever asks those guys “does your mother know what you do for a living?”

  184. 184.

    Ruckus

    @TenguPhule:
    I’ve owned 2 Toyota vehicles and they both were lemons. Owned two Nissans, one also a lemon. Have had far better outcomes with Fords. YMMV

  185. 185.

    Jeffro

    @PaulW: Civil war in the R ranks…they can have it out tomorrow or three weeks from now, but they’re gonna have it…

  186. 186.

    Mary G

    @cain: Sarah Palin and her infamous interview with Katie Couric shortly after McCain picked her.

    “What newspapers and magazines do you read?”

    “All of them, Katie . ” (Unable to name even one . )

  188. 188.

    efgoldman

    Related to nothing else on this thread: Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns dropped 70(!) on the Celtics tonight. But the Celtics won the game, same as when Michael dropped 60+ and Dominique dropped 60+ on them in playoff games.

  190. 190.

    danielx

    Me: Isn’t that why I am here right now?

    Subaru guy: *Pauses*

    Me (sensing there is hate building in his heart): You know what, never mind. How much?

    And yes, that does sound like Cole fucking with the counter guy. I’d have had hate building in my heart in my heart too (“you know, we just fixed your car so it runs like a dream. why are you fucking with me?”).

  196. 196.

    amk

    I know this is going to strike some people as a little outlandish, but I don’t think Trump will get Mexico to pay for the wall either.— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) March 24, 2017

  198. 198.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Different that the navy then. I worked electronic repair, navigation, communication, and I was not allowed to change a light bulb, that’s someone else’s job. About the only thing that crossed jobs was painting and cleaning and I only had to help paint for about 3 hrs out of 4 yrs.

  199. 199.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @p.a.:

    mixed metaphors b us

    I had a boss once who said in a meeting “It’s time to sing ‘Kumbaya’ together because the stars are aligned and the train is leaving the station.”

    Paraphrasing only very slightly. I know he managed to haul three or possibly four unrelated figures of speech into one sentence. What is wonderful is that I have not the slightest idea what the subject under discussion was, but have never forgotten that BLOCK THAT METAPHOR! moment.

  201. 201.

    CarolPW

    @Mike J: I live south of Othello Trees in yards, but once you get out of town no trees at all. You should see the Palouse (not the falls, but the area towards Pullman). Miles and miles of mostly wheat, peas and lentils with not a tree to be seen. Poor raptors have slim pickings for nesting.

  203. 203.

    Mike J

    @Jackie: I thought it very cool to walk out into the sage brush and it didn’t take very long before you couldn’t see anything man made, yet it looked like you could see forever. Like being on a sailboat.

    I’m surprised DSM doesn’t have an entry for “prairie crazy”, what happens to the unprepared mind for vast open space like that.

  204. 204.

    amk

    ross douchebag’s tears

    Trump’s presidency is flailing for many reasons, but lack of close advisers who’ve thought about translating populism into policy is key.

    Heh asshole. Racism & Xenophobia are harder to legislate.

  209. 209.

    Ruckus

    @Mike J:
    Have you ever crossed a major ocean? Nothing to see for a very, very long distance. The coolest was one night when with moonlight shining there wasn’t a ripple in the sea, all the way to the horizon.

  212. 212.

    Lizzy L

    @PaulW: Exactly this. However, I can’t believe, even with your revenge scenario, which I totally believe would happen, that the Rs would quit the party. It would simply tear them apart further.

    OTOH, MOAR popcorn for us.

  214. 214.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Does make sense, you might be out on patrol with no one else or maybe just other tanks. In the navy the entire crew is there to operate, maintain and repair the ship. So each segment works only on their own equipment. We had equipment in every compartment and in many places outside, including up on the mast. On that ship for two years and there were probably 10 compartments that I never set foot into. I did have to go all the way out the yardarm, twice. That was fun.

  218. 218.

    Ruckus

    @Lizzy L:
    They may have one or two deflections. But not wholesale, it just isn’t in the cards. If they don’t agree with the side they are on, great, change. John did, many others have. It’s not like the republicans haven’t been assholes for some time. But, would you want a politician who changes sides when the going gets a little hot? I know, gift horse and all but that’s what I call chickenshit, and how could you trust them not to change back at some point? Weren’t the blue dogs of a few yrs ago rather a waste of a D?
    Of course you could look at it another way – Utter bravery in the face of pressure to be a better human?

  222. 222.

    catclub

    @Uncle Omar: My tire pressure warning light problem is that the batteries in the sensors wear out, (my car is 8 years old)
    and you can replace the sensors for $40 each – plus labor – except at the dealer is it more like $60 each plus labor. so $300 to replace 4 $3 batteries.

    replaceable batteries – what a concept.

  224. 224.

    catclub

    @cain: It is so new it is old.
    When Sarah Palin was interviewed in the most gentle way possible by Katie Couric in probably 2008 or 2009, she was asked what newspapers (or magazines) she read.
    She answered “All of them, Katie.”

  227. 227.

    frosty

    Do you need an armoire for a room without a closet? I have a very nice one with drawers, walnut, the antique dealer told me it was English from the 20s. I used it for all my clothes for 20+ years until we built an addition on this house and I got my own closet for the first time. LMK.

  228. 228.

    Marina

    I vote for art above the armoire. I like the mirror idea, but then the first thing one would see when entering the house is oneself, which, depending on one’s mood, could be o.k. or not o.k. I like this:

    https://www.artsy.net/artwork/imogen-cunningham-two-callas-1

    If you click on the link, it’s ferociously expensive, but there are lots of less costly versions available: http://www.westongallery.com [prices may be negotiable.] Am biased because I love Cunningham’s art and also really liked her [when to a book signing of hers way back when]. She would have hated Trump and everything he stood for with every fiber of her being. She took this photo in her back yard. She was stuck at home with twins.

    The car story made me laugh. I needed to. Thank you.

  229. 229.

    Zach

    no idea how tps became nearly standard (except in cars with stupid thin tires) before backup cameras.

  232. 232.

    Bill

    @Uncle Omar: There is no secret button in a Subaru, Subaru doesn’t pull that crap. The TPMS light comes on when one or more tires falls below a preset pressure. The light blinks when one or more of the in-tire pressure sensors loses communication with the car’s computer. The car is 11 years old, the batteries in the TPMS sensors are exhausted. New sensors are ~$40 each and can be installed at the next tire change. The sensors will need to be programmed to be recognizable to the car. Or you can live with the blinking light, which only comes on after ~20 minutes of driving.

  233. 233.

    Bill

    @catclub: The batteries in TPMS sensors are not replaceable, unless you’re pretty damn good with a soldering iron. I wish they were replaceable, but they ain’t. 40 bucks is a little stiff for the sensors, but way less than ruining a tire because you drove it flat, and certainly better than wrecking the car because you lost control due to an underinflated tire. TPMS is a good thing.

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