I spent my day engaged with another leak from The Toilet From Hell®. This is a half-century-old chunk of porcelain with which I have an ongoing battle over the past several years.

It always starts the same way:

It’s leaking.

I’ll replace it.

It doesn’t need to be replaced, it’s a good toilet.

Good toilets don’t leak.

It would be replaced with one of those new toilets that don’t flush properly.

They work now, and it will be quicker and cheaper to replace the miserable thing.

That would mean re-papering the bathroom to cover the space behind the tank.

Okay, I’ll fix it.

Four hours, three foam gaskets, two complete sets of tank bolts [I asked for stainless steel and one of the known properties of stainless steel is an absence of RUST SPOTS!], plumbers putty, ½-inch open end wrench, medium channel lock pliers, large vise grips, spud wrench, large flat blade screwdriver, wet/dry vacuum, towel, first aid kit, and a large wad of chewing gum to mute the curses.

If I didn’t hate hanging wall paper more than a root canal, The Toilet From Hell® would be providing drainage as shards in the bottom of dozens of flower pots.

An example of undeserved blame for bad work came from the Shrubbery who is blaming Saddam Hussein for the current civil war in Iraq.

I guess we aren’t supposed to remember the “suggestions” to the Kurds from Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush. Let’s ignore the cheerleading directed towards the Shi’ia by George H.W. Bush after Gulf War I. Let’s ignore the support for Saddam’s murderous regime by the Reagan and Bush I foreign policy team, including the neo-colonials who were screaming for the man’s head under Bush II.

No, we have to forget all of that, or the Shrubbery would have to admit that “he broke it” and we have to pay for it.

A humble suggestion: before you vote for anyone for anything, why don’t you check to ensure that the individual has actually done something on their own.

Via Holden at First Draft: Hunter College has announced the The James Aronson Awards for Social Justice Journalism.

The magnificent Molly Ivins has been given a lifetime achievement award and Juan Cole has been recognized for his web log, Informed Comment.

Well deserved recognition for good work.