Atlas Shrugged: The Mocking

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The Smartest Girl In The Dorm

Poor Megan McArdle tries to pull her "Smartest Girl In The Dorm" act but flops miserably. And her "Wide-Eyed Innocent" act isn't working anymore either.

Bless her heart.

From the comments on a post at Outside The Beltway:

Megan McArdle says:
I think the attempt to draw a distinction between “legitimate rape” and illegitimate rape is loony, but IIRC, there was a study a few years ago that showed lower-than-expected conceptions from rape, indicating that women’s bodies might have some mechanism for shutting down unwanted conceptions. HOWEVER, even if I’m remembering right, it was one study, and it certainly didn’t show that no woman ever conceived after rape–just that they conceived at somewhat lower rates than you’d expect.

By offering "facts" that appear to support Todd Akin's stupidity, McArdle is supporting Todd Akin's stupidity. She does not seem to realize this; McArdle seems to think she is being an intellectual leader and is just correcting those silly liberals' criticisms of Akin. It's leadership like this that brought her to the attention of that bastion of excellence we call Newsweek.

Doug Mataconis says:
@Megan McArdle:
There may be any number of reasons for that, including the possibility that the perpetrator doesn’t necessarily, umm, finish the job. A friend who is an MD saw this today and told me there’s simple no medical evidence to support what he said notwithstanding the statistical oddity.
And, then there’s the question of what the heck he means by “legitimate rape”

rudderpedals says:
@Megan McArdle:
IIRC, there was a study
Link please or I’m calling shenanigans on the study.

McArdle's reputation precedes her.

Rick Almeida says:
@Megan McArdle:
Megan McArdle – on hiatus, but still making things up.


Kathy Kattenburg says:
And another face palm for Megan McArdle!


DRS says:
Please tell me this isn’t the “real” Atlantic Monthly Megan McArdle. That one is bad enough but she can’t be this bad, surely?

Oh ye of little faith.

Commonist says:
@Megan McArdle:
HOW CAN YOUR BODY NOT REJECT YOUR SOUL THE WAY IT REJECTS FOREIGN OBJECTS.

Heh.

A discussion ensues in which a commenter states that (s)he doesn't understand the animus against McArdle. "Are we liberals supposed to run away from science if it shows things that might require an extra sentence or two of explanation when we have an argument?" he or she wonders, the better to help his or her fellow liberals overcome their ideological biases and embrace science, which we all know is factual and therefore liberal, even when it is, um, hypothetical. Mr. Mataconis steps in to call the commenters to order, the commenters ask why Mr. Mataconis seems to have Megan-Only rules for internet conduct, and a good time is had by all except Mr. Mataconis. And the commentariat remains unconvinced.

Commonist says:
@Tano:
Because absolutely every single thing McMegan has ever written signals an absolutely fascinating contempt for facts, coupled with an unfailing disdain for the weak and admiration of the exploiters of the weak that is impressive even for a libertarian? She’s the urtype of the sort of bourgeois, self-compassionate, politically uncommitted yet consistently biased “commentator” that manages to be even worse than the republicans they refuse to call out for what they are. She is a nullity.
Whatever you do, don’t assume she is showing good faith or actually have read up on what she’s talking about.

Of course, when one is discussing a McFact one should always check that fact first.

MM says:
Megan McArdle is wrong. In fact it is more likely that a woman will get pregnant from a rape than from consensual sex.
Linky
Linky

legion says:
Well, when I go to all the trouble of typing “rapist pregnancy study” into the finely-honed journalistic tool known as “The Google”, the first result is now about Akin, but the very next result is a 1996 study on rape-related pregnancies, which ends with this:
CONCLUSIONS:
Rape-related pregnancy occurs with significant frequency. It is a cause of many unwanted pregnancies and is closely linked with family and domestic violence. As we address the epidemic of unintended pregnancies in the United States, greater attention and effort should be aimed at preventing and identifying unwanted pregnancies that result from sexual victimization.
rather directly contradicting Akin’s disgraceful idiocy. Although I suspect Megan is thinking specifically of a study I too recall from maybe a year ago (which I have had more trouble searching for) that specifically studied rapists and found that some significant percentage of them, when actually engaging in “the act” became physically unable to continue to orgasm; hypothetically because the reality of the rape was rather less satisfying than the fantasy in the rapist’s head. However, this has exactly nothing to do with the victim’s desires in the matter of rape and/or pregnancy…


Does she still feel smarter than both liberals and conservatives now?

23 comments:

Downpuppy said...

Read her twitter crap today & tell me it means anything besides she thinks Fallows got her dumped from The Atlantic...

Megan McArdle ‏@asymmetricinfo
As a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, I would like to apologize for Stephen Glass, and also, the HMO



Megan McArdle ‏@asymmetricinfo
Don't even know how you begin to apologize for something like that MT @jordanadambanks: @asymmetricinfo You forgot Trump is an alum too!



Megan McArdle ‏@asymmetricinfo
As a graduate of Riverdale, and an alum of his mother's history class, I would like to take credit for @josswhedon


and yes, she still tweets as "A Bloggar at the Atlantic"

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

That one is bad enough but she can’t be this bad, surely?

I hope someone responded, "Shirley you jest!"
~

Anonymous said...

Sometimes I think McMegan's cab driver and Yglesias's mugger were the same person.

Quicksand said...

I think I'm going to be ill.

Anonymous said...

Doug Mataconis and mcmegan deserve each other.

- AWS

Anonymous said...

IIRC?? seriously?!

Dr.BDH said...

Expeditious use of Plan B can significantly reduce the number of pregnancies after rape.

Of course, Republicans would like to make this unavailable.

Susan of Texas said...

No matter what the religious right gets they will demand more because they want and need to exercise power--it doesn't matter who, what or why, they must exercise power to feel like they have power.

But that's only one reason; they also need to raise money, and if you achieve your old goal you must make up new ones.

And if you believe that all babies are innocent and only god can take a life, the mother's death is just one of those things. The baby will always be more innocent that the mother because he's just a fetus. So no exceptions for any reason, and no birth control.

And why should health insurance cover pregnancy, "which is not a disease"?

Not that you should give aid to mothers and children. That would be communist.

And always, always, none of these rules apply to them. Their daughters should get what they need, they are not those immoral people.



Susan of Texas said...

Downpuppy‏@Downpuppy

@asymmetricinfo Shouldn't you update your Twitter profile, now that you've replaced Niall Ferguson?


Snap!

Downpuppy said...

I can't believe she answered the queen joke!

Megan McArdle ‏@asymmetricinfo
Clothing makers: there are just as many ladies on the tall half of distribution as on the short? Why so much love for petites, none for us?

‏@Downpuppy
@asymmetricinfo It's called a Queen Size. You can't find a queen in Washington?

@Downpuppy I'm afraid queen-sized clothes are tall in the wrong direction for me.

I feel like Beavis.

Substance McGravitas said...

I saw a study that IIRC said that squishing your head under a car tire made you smarter.

Susan of Texas said...

I think that would only work for McArdle.

Susan of Texas said...

Downpuppy, according to what I read 50% of women are 5'4" or less, 40% are 5'4 to 5'7, and 10% are tall--5'8" and up. Surely McArdle understands that it's not cost effective for most firms to sell extra tall clothes?

But there are shops only for very tall women, especially on the internet. Maybe she can't find everything she wants but she should be able to find enough clothing.

She probably panicked when you said queen; I doubt she wants Twitter to think she is heavy.

Anonymous said...

It would be irresponsible not to speculate

Anonymous said...

I sorta liked this response to McMegan best. It's blunt and a bit crass, but it's the kind of treatment McMegan, Dick Carlson's Boy, Chelsea Clinton, Lucas Russert, and John P. Normanson needed - for the good of our very nation - and, sadly, did not get in their formative years:

@Megan McArdle:
“HOWEVER, even if I’m remembering right, it was one study, and it certainly didn’t show that no woman ever conceived after rape–just that they conceived at somewhat lower rates than you’d expect.”

Excuse me?

If you’re “remembering right”?

Provide either the:

A. Damn link to the damn study; or,

B. Damn name of the damn study and the findings of the damn study.

In more direct terms, get off of your lazy, Silver Spoon, Daddy’s Little Girl, Born-On-Third-Base-And-Believe-I-Smacked-A-Mama-Rand-Triple ass and provide the bleeping factual material to support your bleeping contention.

Otherwise, run back to Big Tina and smack Niall upside the head when you get there, you impudent, overpriced-food-processor, arrogant, worthless sack of compost.

Or do I stutter?

fish said...

And if you believe that all babies are innocent and only god can take a life, the mother's death is just one of those things.

Well let's not forget, there is a 50% chance that it will be a boy. Who wouldn't argue for a free upgrade?

Anonymous said...

McArdle's first comment is wall to wall bonkers, but this part kills me:

"they conceived at somewhat lower rates than you’d expect."

Oh look, a straw man who has formulated expectations about the statistical rate of rape victim impregnation! Uh, are all the straw men McArdle argues against fucking psychopaths??

Clever Pseudonym said...

Don't be so hard on Megan about her clothes tweets. It's been *months* since she's had the chance to remind everyone how tall she is.

IIRC and AFAIK, at least.

Anonymous said...

Man, they don't make clothes for tall people? She must have a hard time finding new clothes.

She must feel shabby about now.

Anonymous said...

I come from a family of intimidating academics!

Anonymous said...

"[E]verybody is gang tackling Todd Akin. ... You talk about a forcible situation, you talk about somebody being a victim of forcible assault, that would be Todd Akin," - Brian Fischer, spokesman for the American Family Association.

To the fainting couches everyone!

*faint*

fish said...

Is that a legitimate gang tackle?

Lancelot Link said...

I think maybe MeAgain is being intentionally vague on the details of that study, since it apparently was conducted in Nazi death camps.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_f267f02f-c9eb-515d-9a42-201de9b92d64.html