Atlas Shrugged: The Mocking

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Congratulations, Megan McArdle!

Once again we offer congratulations to Mrs. Megan McArdle, blogger extraordinaire, who has failed upwards soared to new heights of achievement and will now write for Newsweek (motto: people used to read us a few decades ago) and blog for The Daily Beast. The latter might be a little awkward as McArdle took to sniping at Andrew Sullivan after he could no longer help her career, but as we all know our DC upper class is perfectly willing to let bygones be bygones when there is money to be made.

A few years and a couple of dozen embarrassments later McArdle will no doubt be writing for The New York Times.

33 comments:

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

And just think: The Fonz only jumped one shark.
~

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Michael Gerson and Marc Thiessen did make it to the Fred Hiatt's crayon scribble page at the WaPo.

Of course, those two had paying jobs as speechwriters in the Bush-Cheney junta.
~

Lurking Canadian said...

Yeah, but now the Atlantic has room on the staff for Sipp E. Cupp. This might not turn out to be a change for the better.

pseudonymous in nc said...

A new chapter in what will become "Fail Harder: The Megan McArdle Story"

CMike said...

Hey now, the New York Times does good work on occasion. Why just today Bob Somerby was saying:

>>>>>Darlings! What makes a good school: Michael Winerip left Newsweek for dead in yesterday’s New York Times.

In his weekly “On Education” piece, Winerip explored the way those lists of best high schools get made. These lists can be highly influential, Winerip cruelly noted at the start.

Soon, he was pounding at Newsweek:

*****
WINERIP (NYTimes 6/4/12): What schools score highest on Newsweek’s index? Of the top 50, 37 have selective admissions or are magnet schools, meaning they screen students using a combination of entrance exam scores, grade-point average, state test results and assessments of their writing samples.

In short, to be the best, high schools should accept only the highest performing eighth graders, who—if the school doesn’t botch it—will become the highest performing 12th graders.

Put another way: Best in, best out, best school.
*****

Oof. But as he continued reviewing the Newsweek list, matters only got worse. Of the remaining 13 schools...<<<<<

Hope Ms. McArdle knows what she's signing on for and what will be expected of her at Newsweek.

Both Sides Do It said...

Oh my holy god

What's the word for something you completely expected in the abstract but is just an absolute shock to your sensibilities when it actually happens because it confirms your worst thoughts about the society you live in?

Also: Tina Brown needs to fuck off back to Britain. Queue up for the aeroplane, dahling, tell Rebekah Brooks we say hi.

Both Sides Do It said...

Also I used this joke on Twitter but I'm too proud of it to restrict to one form of social media:

The Transit of Venus today. Some cultures thought it signaled the rise of evil. Today Megan McArdle said she's headed to Newsweek. . .

atat said...

The Suck is strong with this one.

Anonymous said...

"...will be writing for the New York Times..."

Well, they'll need someone to take over when David Brooks hangs it up or goes to that Great McMansion In The Sky.....

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

As long as it funds more domestic remodeling, I'm good with it.

Downpuppy said...

The Atlantic still says Megan is "on leave". Most publications seem to be pretty lazy about cleaning up after ex-columnists.

I look forward to months of leaks & backstabbing regarding the terms of her departure. Not holding my breath for "Permission to Suck".

Anonymous said...

I had assumed that "on leave" was cover up for being fired and that was probably the case. Didn't she also get a promotion right before the leave? I'm looking forward to reading her perspective on being rewarded for sucking.

Ken Houghton said...

Is Newsweek/Daily Beast really a step UP from The Atlantic?

Then again, her book is, iirc, all about How Failure Makes One Greater. So it's probably a good match.

Lurking Canadian - Please tell me you're joking about Cupp being the replacement...

Susan of Texas said...

No, I don't think it is, especially for someone who literally calls herself one of the elite.

The Atlantic dropped her down to the bottom of its list of columnists.

Downpuppy said...

Welllll, it never seemed all that clear whether "Senior Editor" was a promotion or Derek & Clive taking over the Business & Economics beat. We do recall that she got her act together for a bit after that, before backsliding into total sloppiness.

Newsweek still has the bigger circulation, but The Atlantic has a bigger name & more money.

http://stateofthemedia.org/2012/magazines-are-hopes-for-tablets-overdone/magazines-by-the-numbers/

I look forward to her wigging out on people asking about the book.

Both Sides Do It said...

I get that the Atlantic has more cultural capital and gives off more of an elitist vibe than Newsweek / Daily Beast, but purely in career terms it's a step up, right?

More money, more people see your stuff, a wider range of people see your stuff (so people who hire opinion columnists for newspapers know they can write for a broad audience), etc.

Plus there's access to Tina Brown's little black book, which probably is worth a substantial amount in terms of future career potential.

When Sully the Pooh made the same move everyone seemed to think that was a step up, right?

atat said...

If the whole "on leave" thing was really a smoke screen for "got fired," then it does make some sort of sense that she spent her first week "on leave" twittering from Hawaii. I know that if I were going to take time off to write a book, I would probably go on vacation after the book was finished, not before I'd even started it.

But that's just me.

Downpuppy said...

The other thing to look at is the actual job. She's now "Special Correspondent". That sounds like 1 step above "Stringer".

Unless there really is a book, or a unicorn, I'm suspecting there will be more Morton's & less Pink Himalayan salt on Peter's scrambled eggs.

nate said...

Newsweek has given that utter dipshit Robert Samuelson a home for as long as I can remember, so McCardle is probably just what they're looking for.

Substance McGravitas said...

Is Newsweek/Daily Beast really a step UP from The Atlantic?

Which throws the best parties?

Susan of Texas said...

So it seems that she might do some articles for Newsweek? And blog for The Daily Beast, where she might get lost in between pictures of princesses and stories like Miley Cyrus's engagement.

Didn't she say she was in Hawaii for an interview? I haven't seen that article yet but I've been busy.

Based on the activity on McArdle's blog, it's her left-baiting and bashing that made her popular. Will that work as well at The Daily Beast?

atat said...

She said she was in Hawaii "doing research" for her book. I assume that next month's "research" will require a trip to Napa Valley, followed by a Carnival Cruise to the Bahamas.

Susan of Texas said...

But surely she won't deduct those expenses because she doesn't believe in tax deductions??

Kathy said...

I was expecting Arglebargle to get a column at "Salon", the online publication getting more popular as its articles get worse and worse.

Roger Ailes said...

Mickey Kaus' progression was Slate > Newsweek > The Daily Caller.

Is McArdle destined to land at NewsMax or WorldNetDaily?

Susan of Texas said...

She can always get a job with Reason.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Glenn Greenwald earns Salon a spot on my blogroll.
~

Lurking Canadian said...


Lurking Canadian - Please tell me you're joking about Cupp being the replacement...


Well, joking in the sense that I made it up.

Not joking in the sense that I have felt for some time now that Megs' primary role is filling the niche of "cute, brunette conservatrice". Sipp E. is right there, cuter, younger, probably cheaper and equally full of shit. She can fill the niche with almost no gaps.

I would be surprised if McArdle isn't feeling Cupp's hot breath upon her neck.

Downpuppy said...

Her
farewell is up. Pretty bland, but room to have some fun.

Anonymous said...

Someone named Burt Grant just dropped a three-word comment on Ms. Megan's departure piece that nearly knocked me out of my seat with laughter.

"Good riddance punk!"

My compliments, Mr. Grant. I couldn't have typed it better.

Downpuppy said...

Oh crapppity crap KRAP!

It's Garance Franke-Ruta, possibly the dimmest bulb at Reason.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

... McArdle... feeling Cupp's hot breath upon her neck.

Well, THAT ought to get some wingnut pervert hits.

Anonymous said...

We're gonna need a bigger calculator