Give Me a Break, Or Give Me Death

"Ezra" (by which McMegan means Ezra Klein, but of course you're supposed to know that, after all he's part of the careerist trap shooting clique) starts it, & Megatron keeps it going.

EK:

Why can't DC have all that. [sic] There are, after all, lots of young, computer savvy white people in Mt. Pleasant, but nary a coffee shop to serve them. It's barbaric!
[...]
Namely, educated, young, white people.
[...]
So the character of the city actually does more to represent its inhabitants.

Could he perhaps mean that the city's character is a good representation of its inhabitants? And if that is what he means, could he have stated anything more obvious? Yes, blogging is allegedly semi-conversational, but put the emphasis on the "semi," & realize that we have the opportunity to review what we've typed.

Megan jumps in:

[R]ental competition from young white people who like bookstores, cafes, and wireless hotspots.

Only one of the commenters even calls her on this, and is "refuted" by this comment:

You are more likely to find an educated white person at a bookshop, on a biking trail or in a Starbucks-type coffee shop than you are to find an average black person.

(All emphases added.)

Or an average white person. But of course to this clown, the average white person is "educated." Oh, why even attempt to understand these people? Most of them are working on assumptions that remain firmly lodged in their minds, despite the "diversity & multiculturalism" agenda w/ which those liberal professors have been ruining Americans since the '60s.

I've no idea how Ezra Klein makes his money (his web log seems to stand on its own) but let's fire him too.

UPDATE (26 September 2007 @ 4:25 P. M.): On the other hand, some of Megan's best neighbors may be black:

I'm listening to This is Madness by The Last Poets while sitting in a black-owned coffee shop in my heavily mixed-race neighbourhood, one of the historic center's [sic] of Washington, DC's sizeable black middle glass. [sic] I'm surrounded by young hipsters and middle-aged black families, nodding my head in time with the beat, and really enjoying the music--when it suddenly occurs to me that if they could see this, the men who cut that album would probably be quite horrified.

And since she had headphones on:

I was listening to it with surround headphones; no one else heard it.

she may not have heard any one using any of those words.

How Bad Can It Be? This Bad.

The Atlantic has come to this:

So I am informed that Okkervil River tickets for this Sunday are sold out. This is a pretty thin hope, but does anyone know where I can acquire one or two?

Please refrain from starting items w/ "So." Thank you.

Brad adds:

I disagree. It's this bad.

MB comes back: Saw that too, but it didn't seem as pathetic/trivial as "any one got any tickets?"

Fire Yglesias's ass, too

This is just plain old fucking stupid.

Everyone, including Ahmadenijad, has a right to speak his mind in this country, but nobody has a right to a specific platform at a major university. I, after all, haven't been granted such an invitation and there's no particular reason he should have gotten one either.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Now why would Columbia invite the president of a foreign nation we're currently being prodded towards going to war with, who is also a figure of much controversy in his own right, to speak? Tough question, I know. It's almost as if they want to expose their students to controversial views and provoke critical thinking on their part. And, since Columbia has a long standing policy of not accepting Jews, Ahmadenijad was clearly agreeing to speak where he'd only be cheered and supported.
And while he may not have meant it as egotistically as it sounds, wtf is going on with the personal comparison? Matt, you aren't as important as Ahmadenijad. You are not going to be cited as a reason for going to war. And no, Ahmadenijad isn't really in charge of Iran, but is more of a rabble rouser and salesman for the Clerical Council's decisions. How is that different from what Bush does for Cheney?
Ban Bush from public speaking engagements!

Update:

Ah duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

From another web log, Ways to End the World:

[A]pparently there’s a blog almost exclusively devoted to getting Megan McArdle fired.
[...]
This is stupid, nasty, and uncalled for. I hate the woman’s work, think she’s a pox on the discourse with almost no redeeming qualities as a writer, but I wouldn’t actively campaign to get her fired — and I don’t even begin to know how you get multiple posts on the subject every day.

It helps to have five contributors, one of whom (me!) is unemployed. And Ms. McArdle helps, as you say:

She really is truly awful, and if she did happen to lose her job, I would feel bad for her as a human, but not too bad. The sheer laziness the blog documents is pretty stunning.

But I wouldn't say we're "actively campaigning to get her fired." That would probably involve, well, a campaign, with petitions, & appeals to Atlantic subscribers to cancel their subscriptions, etc. Check our founder's Mission item. The blog title is based on the Fire Joe Morgan web log, which probably doesn't think it's going to get Joe kicked to the curb either, but is a popular spot for baseball blather as well as anti-Joe Morgan sentiment.

As Ms. McArdle is the most recent addition to the Atlantic Online's "Voices" section, we just thought it would be a good idea to try to nip her in the bud. Sullivan, as you say, "has a devoted audience, books published, a long career behind him, and access to the TV." We certainly won't get him tossed out. My fondest hope would be for someone at The Atlantic to sit McArdle down & explain journalism, accuracy, writing, and at least the concept of proofreading her items. Certainly what you refer to as her "sheer laziness" would be an impediment to success in the dog eat dog libertarian world she (rather half-heartedly) embraces. I, at least, am not too sure Ms. McA. truly understands the libertarian philosophy (other than her desire not to be bothered or inconvenienced, after all her time is precious) but is, in the words of Albert Brooks, "still trying to show Mommy something," by being contrary, & because she had a bad experience w/ a "leftist" group:

McArdle signed on to work as a canvasser for the Public Interest Research Groups, the nonprofit founded by Ralph Nader that raises money for causes like the Sierra Club and the Human Rights Campaign. Her experience there hurried along her “transition from ultraliberal to libertarian.” The organization was, she says, “the most deceptive, evil place I’ve ever worked.” And that’s not all: “PIRG acted like PIRG accuses other employers of acting.” The entire thing, she writes on her blog, was a scam designed “to collect your name so that they can sic telemarketers on you several times a year.”

There's a good reason to go from "ultraliberal to libertarian." "Gosh, Ralph Nader isn't the secular saint he's portrayed as, & now that I think about it, I don't want any of my privilege reduced."

Thanks for the mention, and by the way, you don't really want to "end the world," do you? So leave our title alone.

Brad adds:

I have to run to class so I have to be quick, but two things:
1. This isn't "Silence Megan McArdle", not that we were accused of such, but it's a relatively important distinction. Megan has every right to be an idiot careerist who spends more time sucking up than researching her work. That doesn't mean she has a right to help destroy The Atlantic. And no, we're not likely to have much effect, but it's a good way to blow off steam.
2. I worked for NYPIRG one summer, and Megan is full of shit, as usual. Then again, I doubt she was a very good canvasser. Part of the gig was listening to people and then addressing their concerns. Asking them "what do you think of my feet?" isn't a good strategy.
Also, she's lying. They make a point not to sell your info to telemarketers or the like. Maybe Megan just pissed off the wrong person.
That's not to say NYPIRG is perfect, by any means, just that Megan is full of it.

High School Gun Club

Well, the entire D. C. blog-o-sphere was all a-twitter w/ their exciting trip to the Trap & Skeet Center this weekend. McArdle did two items on it, as did Matt Yglesias, & an editor of Reason, David Weigel, who had only one item (& of course a picture of himself holding a gun). He really has a great "web log;" the comments are all closed, all the time. Even better is one Matt Fricke ("Awesome," Megan calls him) whose "web log" is closed to any but the invited. Really makes you wonder what goes on in there. However, his Flickr™ pages are available, if you want to see more ugly people standing awkwardly w/ shotguns. Ezra Klein, also at the skeet fest, resisted the urge to post anything about himself, but that may be because he seems to turn his web log over to others for the weekend, and is in New York today.

Two comments from Yglesias' web log:

Shooting would be much more fun if I didn't have to spend so much money and schlep out to a range or some deserted public land. I'm assuming those shotguns are rentals. Add shells, clays, and range time, it really adds up. Most of the time, I'd rather plink with a .22 and a brick of ammo at my leisure.
Posted by shecky

shecky, I'm w/ you on the .22 & a brick, but you must remember these are the children of the upper-middle class having a lark, fantasizing that they are the children of the wealthy class.
Posted by M. Bouffant

Of course real shooters, like shecky & this correspondent, either go to ranges & shoot at human silhouette targets (w/ our own damn guns, not rentals) or do indeed schlep out to public lands (I guess Megan would consider herself an immoral parasite/freeloader to make use of "the commons") &, in my case at least, shoot the crap out of the detritus of consumer society, especially electronic equipment.

And isn't it just like high school, when all the bloggers refer to each other by first names, as if all & sundry should just know who the "kewl kidz" are?

"Ezra's Got a Gun" "Matt seeks to avenge his parents." "Dave has also posted a picture..." "Matt, obviously, would play the forbidding enforcer. And Ezra, of course, is the idealistic young kid who is sucked into the blogger army by an urge for adventure and better health care policy, only to become disillusioned, giving us a thrilling plot as he fights to escape."

A bonus from Mr. Yglesias:

•Thursday: confused about all these signs and buttons in my neighborhood about the "Jena 6."
•Friday: reading some stories about the case and pondering the matter.
•Saturday: trying to decide what I should say in my blog post on the matter.

So there you have it, consciousness raised. Unfortunately, I do think there's a lot of truth to what McMegan says here, namely that the best resolution of this situation would be to go back in time and have the school board and the district attorney not handle the early days of the situation much more responsibly. Obviously, though, that's not an option.

Maybe he didn't catch McArdle's sloppy habits, I seldom peruse his web log, but is the word "not" in that paragraph really what he intends? Or did he intend to type "so irresponsibly" rather than "much more responsibly?" And did he know nothing of the Jena 6 before last Thursday?

"Consciousness raised," my ass! Sweet blood of jeezis, you fool, you don't have to spend more time at the fucking Olive Garden, but try to pay attention to whatever the fuck-tuck-tucking hell is actually occurring in the country!!

Fire them all, starting w/ Sully!!!

Priorities

Important: Detailed coverage of an afternoon at the firing range.

Not Important: Apologizing for ignorance that verges on racial insensitivity, particularly when expressed on the website of a magazine with 150+ years of history of fighting racial bias.

But hey, at least she poorly paraphrased a wiki article!

Also,
I have to respond to this comment.

I'm not sure what role I'd be cast in, except that I'm fairly certain I'd die horribly in the second reel.

At this point, a million bloggers instead thought of Carrie Fisher in Return of the Jedi.

Posted by Tom

And then a million voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.

Breaking News

Associated Press (AP)

In a bizarre incident at a Washington, DC area gun range, famed author Ayn Rand rose from the dead and menaced patrons before being shot down by a popular blogger.

Originator of a philosophy known as Objectivism, the Russian-born Rand died in 1982. Author of the popular novels "The Fountainhead," "Atlas Shrugged" and "We the Living," the un-dead Rand emerged from the ground on Saturday afternoon.

"She kind of got her head and shoulders out of the dirt and then just waved her arms around," said an employee of the gun club. "She was all messed up." Other witnesses reported that Rand seemed to focus on one patron of the club, Megan McArdle, who is a blogger for The Atlantic Monthly's web site. Witnesses say that it was McArdle who finally dispatched Rand.

The local Sheriff's office declined comment on the specifics of the bizarre incident, but confirmed that McArdle was being held for questioning as a witness. "She is not being charged with any crime," a spokesman said, adding that McArdle was "very distraught. It's not something she wanted to do." McArdle, who was uninjured by the zombie, was examined by paramedics and treated for an existing cold.

Witnesses were stunned.

"It was horrible," said Amedee Greene of Silver Hill, MD. "Thank God that girl pulled the trigger, but it was like they knew each other."

No Information Available

There's just no info about this "Jena 6" thing anywhere. Well, there is an entry on Wikipedia, but it only has 43 references. Google™ News? "About 8,261" for Jena, "about 1,840 " for Jena 6. Yahoo!™ News? "About 5,331" for Jena, "about 1,429" for Jena 6. Where, oh where, can one find information about this case? Quoth Megan McArdle: "As everyone notes, it's hard to get information on the case, which is trickling out..." Quoth Andrew Sullivan, also of The Atlantic's "Voices":

What The Hell Happened in Jena?

I haven't commented because, frankly, I am still unsure of all the details of the case, some of which may never be known.

I've no idea what "details" may never be known (other than who started the fire that burned down the high school) but the legal case in question, of the "Jena 6" (there've been other incidents, and certainly the impression of pervasive racism in the high school & the town as well) is pretty damn clear, & I'll go on record that the charges of attempted murder against the six, especially when compared to the wrist-slaps handed out to white people in earlier incidents, are ridiculously overblown. Especially when the beatee is up & attending a fuction the same evening, not lying in a coma. Not that hitting a guy from behind, knocking him down, and kicking him when he's down shouldn't be punished (no matter what the victim was saying or calling the attackers) but calling an athletic shoe a "deadly weapon" in order to bring charges of attempted murder is, in this case (and in this David Duke-voting parish) racially motivated. So there. Wasn't that hard, was it, intellectual lazyboneses?

Enough w/ serious commentary on the sad state of America today. Let's talk about how lazy Andrew Sullivan really is. I've long suspected that much of his "web log" is intern (or perhaps well paid flunky) powered. Or he's just lucked into a gig where he need only wander the Internet all day long & link to whatever, and while Glenn ("Ai kn b robut?") Reynolds has a paying gig outside of Instapunditry, Sullivan, w/ no fall-back, works hard enough for the money to wrap more text around his links, & often provides a "money quote."

My first clue that Mr. Sullivan might be the tip of an editorial iceberg (Other than sheer volume: Today is Saturday, he has 16 items & "The View From Your Window" available for your reading pleasure. Yesterday it was 26 + TVFYW.) was when he moved to The Atlantic from TIME & his portrait changed a bit:
Note that @ The Atlantic, on the right, the dog is no longer giving him the fisheye, but the woman in the background is. As I wrote then (a mere 223 days ago, in my first Internet appearance as more than a commenter): "4) Atlantic provides googly eyed staffer/intern (to replace no longer googly eyed dog at Time?)"

On to Althouse, who agrees w/ Sully that there's just no information. A modest proposal: Look at some of the references from the Wikipedia entry. Here's one from NPR. From 30 July of this year!!

Divine Ms. A., you're an attorney & a law professor. Can't you even make a statement to the effect of: "I'm unable to determine the merest facts in these events, because there's been absolutely nothing on it in the mainstream media, but It Seems To Me™ that attempted murder charges might be a little excessive in this case." Would that be too damn much?
Crap on a crutch. Fire everybody, & let's start over from the Big Bang!

Accuracy in Media:
"(Psst! Ann: It's McArdle not McCardle.) 10:26 AM"
Remains uncorrected.

Clem & brad have been pulled into the Alt-Vortex, demands for abject apologies have been issued. Life goes on.

Who's Lazier Than Megan McArdle?

That would be Andrew Sullivan, blogging on the Jena 6.

I haven't commented because, frankly, I am still unsure of all the details of the case, some of which may never be known. But Megan has a useful timeline.

The "useful timeline" being McArdle's Wikipedia grab.

Between-the-lines Sullivan: "I'm not touching this one. Why? See McArdle's comments section."

If McArdle is lazier than Reynolds, and Sullivan is lazier than McArdle, who could possibly be lazier than Sullivan?

Sullivan links to Megan McCardle's [sic] summary of the Wikipedia article on the subject, which she understands is "pretty authoritative." It's pathetic that we're reduced to going to Wikipedia because the mainstream news of a current event is too skimpy.

No, Ann, what's pathetic is your reliance on a Matryoshka structure of like-minded hacks.

Who's lazier than Ann Althouse?

Brad adds:

Let's not forget, Ann Althouse was a guest columnist for the NYfuckingTimes. And the only way she can find out info is via third-hand wikipedia references. I.... don't know what to say. That's just... monstrously stupid. Nazi enabling stupid. (Yeah, Godwin, but c'mon, how ignorant and accepting of whatever is set in front of you can someone be?)
Oh, and don't let Glenn Reynolds off so easily. Lazy, or complicit?

Clem responds:

Lazy or complicit? I haven't commented because, frankly, I am still unsure of all the details of Reynolds' case, some of which may never be known until he uploads his brain into a publicly accessible external storage device. But Wikipedia has a useful illustration.

Brad adds more:

It appears I'm being too hard on Instapundit, amazing as that is to say. I went back and read his post that Megan half-based her initial post on, and I'm left to wonder if Megan actually read anything, anywhere, before posting. Reynolds provided a reasonably fair summary of the case, or rather quoted one at length. Megan came up with "jail the Jena 6" all on her own, based on an uninformed knee-jerk response to dirty hippies claiming black "criminals" had been victimized.
It's actually worse than I thought.
Jesus.
Fire Megan McArdle

Saturday Morning McArdle: "Music! Wiki! And Lazy!"

MCardle finally got off her ass, deleted a few comments on the Jena 6 boards, and got down to the hard business of having no real opinion.

I've now listened to the new Beirut album four times, and it's disappointing. Not bad, exactly, just . . . fine. The sound's evolving, which is always interesting, but the direction in which it's evolving isn't, very. I'm all for more listenable style--I have too many albums right now that I can't really listen to at work, because it's too distracting--but somehow, it doesn't quite make it. If after four plays nothing's leaped out at me, it seems rather likely that nothing will.

"Actually, I've been dissuaded from listening to music at work by my colleague Marc Ambinder, who threatened to catapult poo into my cubicle if I played Tegan & Sara again."

On an unrelated note, I listened to Hem's Rabbit Songs for the first time in months, which was a great album.

"I'd be mightily entertained if someone challenged my claim that these sequential musings on bands I enjoy are unrelated. It seems clear to me that, given that one band is named Beirut and the other band is named Hem, with one being slightly better than the other, these notes are entirely unrelated. But soft."

And as I was listening to "Half Acre", it suddenly occurred to me that I've listened to a lot of hard-core copyright advocates complaining that "fair use" might let someone ruin a song by, for example, turning the Ride of the Valkyries into a laxative commercial. How come none of these sensitive-eared music lovers get upset when bands ruin their own songs by, say, licensing them to egregiously overplayed insurance commercials?

Those sensitive music lovers probably aren't in your orbit, Megan. If they do number among your friends, they keep their feelings to themselves, with good reason:

Obviously, I'm a libertarian; I think the latter should be legal. But can't we at least make fun of them, hard?

"Hmmm. I wonder if there's anything on Wikipedia about..."

The truly shocking news is that Wikipedia claims the insurance commercial gave Hem a boost. It couldn't have happened to a nicer band, of course, but do people really buy music off commercials?

"Of course, Wikipedia entries should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism, as I've maintained all along."

Cue McArdle's commenters, who have indeed purchased music licensed to commercial advertisments. With a bit more research, McArdle might even have located Adtunes, a site devoted to charting the use of new music in advertising and the effect such use has on music sales. To wit:

Responding to "popular demand" for the previously unreleased Chevy Cobalt song, Lily Frost's Aporia Records label has released a compilation album of her session songs called Flights of Fancy, with the Chevy ad song "The Two of Us" included as a hidden track on the release.

Man, Wagner's Walkürenritt is such a great song.