Atlas Shrugged: The Mocking

Thursday, August 14, 2008

When Sef-Delusional Harry Met Passive-Aggressive Sally

Sometimes life hands you a sweet little bonus. Matt Yglesias* takes Megan McArdle to task for somethiing she says. The exact issue doesn't matter; it's just McArdle making incorrect statements again and Yglesias telling her she's wrong. The fun part is that McArdle refuses to use Yglesias' name or link to his criticism of her, and indulges in another of her inaccurate defenses. If Yglesias no longer cares about massaging McArdle's ego there could be a world of hurt feelings and bitter exchanges.

I'll get the popcorn.


*The page is unavailable at this time.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know where Megan went to charm school, but she's grossly mistaken if she thinks attacking someone while not specifically naming the target is "polite." I'm thinking not just of this, but also that post by Ross Douthwart, or whatever he's called, she linked to last week, where he basically trashed another blogger but refused to name who it was. She referred to this as being "far too polite." Nothing could be more wrong. It's the equivalent of talking crap behind someone's back. I can't speak for anyone else, but I was always taught that doing that is obscenely rude. If you don't have the guts to say something to a person's face, then you shouldn't say it at all.

This is what the [beep]ing Atlantic Monthly has been reduced to. A high school clique of in-jokes and shallow chatter. How sad.

Susan of Texas said...

I agree, if you wouldn't say it to their face, don't say it at all.

I remember that post you mention. I thought it was very weak and self-indulgent. And others take these people seriously!

Anonymous said...

That's what's so upsetting for me. Blogs are pretty navel-gazing and crony-addled by nature. It's one thing for this stuff to go on on Blogger or personal sites that are just for hobby, but these people are paid as commentators on public discourse. It's ridiculous. Megan writing about her iPhone and what she had for lunch, Ross taking low blows at other bloggers...it's absolutely absurd. That's not even touching on the horrid quality of McArdle's writing!

Susan of Texas said...

Yes, they're like the high school version of the media Villagers. No doubt one day they'll advance to better, wider venues where they'll continue to consider themselves the ruling class elites.