Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Good lord, these people are nuts.

The willow is too close to the house.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

The revolution will be supervised.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

You are here: Home / But I prefer….alcohol

But I prefer….alcohol

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Skippy-san finds McMegan hating all the demon rum in the Atlas Shrugged movie.

I know that some Rand fans who like the movie are going to accuse me of sucking up to my liberal cocktail-party attending friends by unfairly slamming a damn fine film. The sad truth is that I don’t attend that many cocktail parties–certainly not as many as the people in this film. Ayn Rand’s characters are already so understated as to be nearly wooden–her sensibility was heavily influenced by the “strong but silent” aesthetic of the penny adventure serials of her youth. And in the hands of these actors, they’re practically petrified. In lieu of emotions, the entire cast seems to have turned to drink. Half the action takes place over a glass of wine or a tumbler of whiskey. I suppose this is what you have to expect from a roomful of rigid, controlling people who have difficulty speaking about any emotions that don’t involve metallurgical studies.

I don’t really have a point here, except that only McMegan could botch a review of a shitty movie this badly and that Skippy-san (and others) should be rewarded for reading McMegan so that I don’t have to, apres Sully.

Reader Interactions

129Comments

  1. 1.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    I know that some Rand fans who like the movie are going to accuse me of sucking up to my liberal cocktail-party attending friends by unfairly slamming a damn fine film.

    What film is she slamming?

    …oh, right.

    Half the action takes place over a glass of wine or a tumbler of whiskey.

    I’m sure the audience brought more than that!

  2. 2.

    Comrade Mary

    I suppose this is what you have to expect from a roomful of rigid, controlling people who have difficulty speaking about any emotions that don’t involve metallurgical studies food processors.

  3. 3.

    Lolis

    I love the pre-apology in the first line. Why are all conservatives terrified of teatards?

  4. 4.

    Emma

    Ayn Rand’s characters are already so understated as to be nearly wooden–her sensibility was heavily influenced by the “strong but silent” aesthetic of the penny adventure serials of her youth

    They had penny adventure serials in Russia? Who knew!

  6. 6.

    timb

    I read it the other day and laughed out loud at one of her jokes. I get that she’s a tool of the plutocracy, but that review is entertaining, especially the admission that she take Atlas Shrugged to the beach

  7. 7.

    dmsilev

    Wait.

    It’s axiomatic that Megan McArdle Is Always Wrong.

    And here, Megan McArdle is saying that _Atlas Shrugged_ is a crappy movie.

    Therefore, a straightforward application of axiom one indicates *that it is actually a good movie*. Can someone please point out the flaw in my logic?

    dms

  8. 8.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    Can someone please point out the flaw in my logic?

    She’s saying it’s crappy for the wrong reasons (because of the drinking), not because it’s a steaming pile.

  10. 10.

    dmsilev

    @Emma: Ah yes, good point.

    (random aside: How long until the increasing prevalence of digital clocks destroys that particular phrase? It’ll take its place alongside ‘sounding like a stuck record’ in the obsolete-analogy department…)

    dms

  12. 12.

    ChrisNYC

    It’s funny because Megan has to satisfy two masters with this one. This movie is so not up to her usual high standards of snobbery. But yet, it’s Rand. Horns of a dilemma.

  14. 14.

    Comrade Mary

    @Comrade DougJ: Heh. I missed the McMegan cooking video last week because I was out of town and surfing on an iPhone, and I wasn’t sure if it was worth the bandwidth. But I did devour the comments here, and made sure I played the whole thing when I got back home. Unreal.

  15. 15.

    arguingwithsignposts

    There could have been a great movie made out of Atlas Shrugged. For that matter, there may still come a day when such a movie is made. But to quote the trilogy I did like–this is not that day.

    Nope. Still wrong all the time.

  18. 18.

    Comrade Carter

    He who fucks nuns will later join the Church.

    Very boring movie, very boring to READ about it as well.

  20. 20.

    transmaniacon

    A movie about Ayn Rand’s life would have been more entertaining.

    Adagio for Strings as she finally accepts public assistance, and so on.

  23. 23.

    Comrade Mary

    @stuckinred: Wow. I saw a story at TPM saying that she had some reservations, but I didn’t think she’d actually veto so quickly.

  29. 29.

    stuckinred

    As for her decision to veto this bill, Gov. Brewer said in part: “I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for President of the greatest and most powerful nation on earth to submit their ‘early baptismal or circumcision certificates’… this is a bridge too far. This measure creates significant new problems while failing to do anything constructive for Arizona.”

    But on the bright side Howdy fucking Doody said he’ll sign it if it passes.

  31. 31.

    Stillwater

    @stuckinred: ‘early baptismal or circumcision certificates’

    Regarding circumcision, I’ve always believed the only proof is showing the long form…

  34. 34.

    Villago Delenda Est

    As for her decision to veto this bill, Gov. Brewer said in part: “I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for President of the greatest and most powerful nation on earth to submit their ‘early baptismal or circumcision certificates’… this is a bridge too far. This measure creates significant new problems while failing to do anything constructive for Arizona.”

    And the full employment for German accent coaches bill, aka the “show us your papers brown devil” bill, wasn’t destructive for Arizona?

  37. 37.

    JGabriel

    DougJ @ Top:

    I don’t really have a point here, except that only McMegan could botch a review of a shitty movie this badly …

    I’m just shocked that the Blogger Formerly Known As Jane Galt could possibly say anything unflattering about Atlas Shrugged, in any media format whatsoever.

  39. 39.

    TooManyJens

    Half the action takes place over a glass of wine or a tumbler of whiskey.

    She probably thinks they didn’t have whiskey when Atlas Shrugged was written.

  40. 40.

    stuckinred

    Boortz on Shrugged

    Did I think it was the best-produced and acted movie I’ve ever seen? No, it wasn’t. I didn’t go to see cinematic craftsman ship however, I went to finally seen Ayn Rand’s book played out on the screen .. to see and listen to the characters brought to life. This is a 1000+ page book we’re dealing with here; not something easily whittled down to a feature-length movie. The book is delivered in three parts, and so it is with the film. I was a perfectly satisfied viewer and I can tell you that I’m eagerly looking forward to Part 2.

    Now you’re certainly going to see some very negative comment about the film in the media. Just remember this … Atlas Shrugged presents a philosophical viewpoint that is absolutely poisonous to the type of people who who use the phrases “give back” and “the less fortunate.” I would have loved to see how Rand would have handled those two terms of art from the left if they had been around in her day. I’ll just say that I give from what I have earned, not from what has been given me; and most of the people the left would have you believe are just not “fortunate” are right where they are in their lives this very day because of the combined affect of the decisions they have made over the past 20 or 30 years. “Luck” is opportunity met by preparation.

    The blockquote function sucks, that is all a quote.

  41. 41.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @stuckinred:

    Just remember this … Atlas Shrugged presents a philosophical viewpoint that is absolutely poisonous to the type of people who who use the phrases “give back” and “the less fortunate.”

    As opposed to guys like Boortz, who are the type of people who revel in being pluperfect assholes.

  43. 43.

    Uloborus

    @stuckinred:
    Okay, well, he believes in determinism and that poor people deserve to be poor and rich people deserve to be rich. That makes him a gigantic asshole.

    I removed everything else I was typing about this. Nothing more needs to be said.

  45. 45.

    russell

    Maybe Megan should drink a little more. Catch a righteous buzz now and then. Then she wouldn’t have to be such a fucking scold.

    That’s my neighborly advice.

  46. 46.

    Wag

    I suppose this is what you have to expect from a roomful of rigid, controlling people who have difficulty speaking about any emotions that don’t involve metallurgical studies

    I think this may be the most lucid writing ever by Ms McArdle. I don’t have any issues with this portion if the review.

  47. 47.

    stuckinred

    @Uloborus: I just thought it would be fun for folks to see what the dickhead had to say about it. I love listening to him at noon when Jamie Dupree joins him and slaps him down in an incredibly diplomatic way.

  48. 48.

    MikeJ

    Edroso’s roundup of rightwing reviews includes a guy who is glad to see greedy politics in movies instead of Mr. Smith goin’ to warshinton and stuff.

  49. 49.

    trollhattan

    @ Comrade DougJ

    Numbutal numbs it all.

    Also, too.

    He said go out and get me my old movie stills
    Go out and get me another roll of pills
    There I go again shaking, but I ain’t got the chills

    ARRRGHHHGORRA BUH BHUH DO ARRRRGGGGHHHHNNNN!!!!

    Thus endeth the McMegan mockery. For the moment.

  52. 52.

    kdaug

    most of the people the left would have you believe are just not “fortunate” are right where they are in their lives this very day because of the combined affect of the decisions they have made over the past 20 or 30 years.

    I’ll tell that to the six-year-old kids down at the homeless shelter.

    (And it’s effect, not affect, you dolt).

  56. 56.

    stuckinred

    @kdaug: Boortz is a bad-ass Texas A&M Aggie, son of a career Jar Head who some how didn’t have the time or inclination to serve in the unpleasantries overseas. Another loud mouth punk ass transplant here in Georgia.

  62. 62.

    dmbeaster

    The McMegan cake video brought home her pompous stupidity more so than countless deconstructions of her moronic posts. It was so stupid. It was so clueless about cooking, or past or current cooking techniques. The moronic narrative demonstrated someone unable to grasp simple realities in front of their face while constructing a rambling narrative that supposedly reflected intelligence. And someone actually produced the stupid thing, for purposes I still cannot fathom. It wasn’t some random YouTube type of thing – there are credits at the end. Imagine what the first take video must have been like. How many takes did she have to do to get it right?

  63. 63.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @stuckinred:

    He also wants people on unemployment to NOT have cell phones or tv’s.

    I know it’s not you, but does the man actually advocate the confiscation of physical personal property? Especially cell phones, which these days may take the place of a landline?

    Shorter Boortz: Are there no prisons, no workhouses?

  64. 64.

    Jay in Oregon

    So let me get this straight…

    McMegan’s main complaint about Atlas Shrugged is that it’s not politically correct enough?

  65. 65.

    stuckinred

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    On the Neal Boortz Show today, host Neal Boortz claimed that anyone who didn’t get their TVs converted to digital, they shouldn’t be allowed to vote. He also said that people still living in Katrina trailers should not be allowed to vote. He also claimed that anyone in Section 8 housing or on welfare should not be allowed to vote.

    Boortz, “Nobody has griped yet about my idea that everybody that didn’t get their TVs converted to digital should have their voter registration cards seized…Everybody still living in a hotel or trailer after Hurricane Katrina, no votes, can’t vote again, ever, ever. Everybody living in Section 8 housing, should not, nobody living in Section 8 housing should be allowed to vote, and don’t give me this elderly, if you’re elderly and living in Section 8 housing, you’ve done a piss poor job of planning your life, no vote for you.”

    He continued his rant later, “We have to do something to get the fools and the ignoramuses out of the voting booth in this country. It is beyond absurd that there are laws that require a local jurisdiction to register somebody to vote when they apply for welfare. That is so self destructive. It ought to be the exact opposite way, when you apply for welfare you should give up your voter registration card, not fill out a form.”

  68. 68.

    TooManyJens

    @stuckinred:

    Neal Boortz claimed that anyone who didn’t get their TVs converted to digital, they shouldn’t be allowed to vote

    Not that the rest of his diatribe wasn’t heinous, but for some reason I’m stuck on this one. Who gives a fuck if someone got their TV converted to digital? Seriously, what does that have to do with anything?

  69. 69.

    Martin

    Old Hollywood trick. Bad actors have trouble with unproductive hands. Think of a bad public speaker who doesn’t know whether to keep them at their side, in their pockets, etc. Give them a cigarette and their hands have something to do and they look more natural. Giving them a drink, a gun, a cane, a sword, etc. all have the same effect.

  71. 71.

    JGabriel

    @Lolis:

    Why are all conservatives terrified of teatards?

    Such are the consequences of Second Amendment absolutism.

    .

  72. 72.

    Shoemaker-Levy 9

    the entire cast seems to have turned to drink.

    This has probably already been covered in the many Atlas threads that I’ve mostly ignored, but here goes; this movie has supposedly been rushed to release to capitalize on the Tea Party phenomenon. The Tea Party are disproportionately evangelical Christians. Can anybody explain how this is supposed to work?

  73. 73.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Shoemaker-Levy 9: logical consistency is not a strong point of either talibangelicals or tea partiers. And also, the other reason i heard it was rushed to production was because the movie option was about to expire and the producer wanted to get something in return for his investment.

  75. 75.

    Martin

    @TooManyJens: It the modern poll tax. Find something that correlates or at least coincides with being ‘poor’ or ‘black’ or ‘Mexican’ or whatever group you want to discriminate against and use that.

    “Only land owners can vote. See, we don’t discriminate against African Americans.”

    There’s a video two posts back that will show it more vividly.

  76. 76.

    RossInDetroit

    If A.S. pt1 loses money, does everyone involved have to do a Jeff Smith and jump off of a speeding train?
    Please?

  79. 79.

    parsimon

    @Shoemaker-Levy 9:

    Can anybody explain how this is supposed to work?

    Hm. I’m not sure it’s the case that the Tea Party is disproportionately evangelicals, actually. They’re libertarians of various stripes, overall, I’d say. With a good dose of racial bias thrown in.

    That doesn’t particularly mitigate against the demon rum.

  80. 80.

    Southern Beale

    The latest in birtherism:

    Apparently Obama has a Connecticut social security number although he never lived there? And Bill O’Reilly claimed it’s because Obama’s parents lived there? But there’s no evidence of that? And now … get this … they’re claiming Fox News has scrubbed that audio from the O’Reilly podcast which means THEY’RE IN ON THE CONSPIRACY!!!!

    I mean, where does a birther go if they can’t find refuge in Fox News?

  81. 81.

    dogwood

    @dmbeaster:
    What was the point of the thing? Does she actually think people don’t know that it took longer to bake a cake 60 years ago? I remember my mother and aunts becoming dated in the late 60’s and early 70’s because they refused to use cake mixes and would only bake from scratch. I used to beg my mother to buy one of those exotic looking mixes that my friends’ mothers bought, and she refused. Hate to tell McMeghan but there are more Sandra Lee’s in America than she thinks. Also, too she might have combed her hair and put on some makeup before making the video.

  92. 92.

    Southern Beale

    What I love about this whole birther “O’Reilly is in on it! Fox is in on it!” nonsense is that the entire thing is predicated on this one piece of information — Obama’s SS# — and we’re supposed to take it on faith that some right wing nutball selling a book knows what it is.

    And if you say, “but Obama’s ss# doesn’t start with 404” the whole thing falls apart.

  94. 94.

    Left Coast Tom

    @Southern Beale: Well…sure…but will the credit card say “Barack Obama”, “Barry Osama Obama Soerto” (or whatever the hell the birfers claim it is), or “Omnes Omnibus”?

  95. 95.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    I could totally steal POTUS’s id. I’m from Illinois and can be coolly logical.

  96. 96.

    Southern Beale

    @Left Coast Tom:

    I think it will say Martin cuz he’s the one who gave me the SS#.

    OK folks, here’s a story from my local news you’ve gotta love:

    Traveling evangelist escorted off Brentwood H.S. property
    __
    BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Local law enforcement officers were called to Brentwood High School in Williamson County Monday to escort a family from Alabama off school property.
    __
    Glynis Bethel, a self-proclaimed prophet, told Nashville’s News 2 she was simply trying to enroll her three children, ages 13, 15 and 16, at the high school.
    __
    School leaders say otherwise.
    __
    In a news conference Monday afternoon, school officials said Bethel is an evangelist who travels, along with her children, to schools across the country.
    __
    She acts as if she wants to enroll her children in the school and then attempts to sue the school district for allegedly violating their constitutional rights.
    __
    Bethel videotapes the encounters and posts them on YouTube.com.

    What were we just saying about grifters?

  97. 97.

    parsimon

    @Shoemaker-Levy 9:

    Okay, but a couple of things, from that article:

    “There is, however, increasing evidence that the tea party movement’s message resonates with evangelicals.”

    ‘Resonates with’ is not quite the same thing as, say, ‘grounded in.’

    Also from the article:

    “Among evangelicals, nearly half (48 percent) had no opinion or had not heard of the Tea Party.”

    I understand that of the remaining percentage who have heard of the Tea Party and have an opinion on it, commonalities are found. We pretty much know that. I just don’t see that any conclusion that the Tea Party is comprised disproportionately of evangelicals is warranted — except to the extent that others may be abandoning the T.P. ship.

    It’s definitely the case that Palin, Bachmann et al. have been trying to drive the Tea Party in that direction.

  101. 101.

    parsimon

    @JGabriel: I’ve understood that it was a follow-up to a McMegan response to Paul Krugman on whether technological advances in the kitchen were greater in the first half of the twentieth century, or the second.

    Krugman said the first; McMegan took issue, and said the second. And she made the video to prove it! No, I don’t look up the relevant McMegan/Krugman posts.

  102. 102.

    HE Pennypacker, Wealthy Industrialist

    Bonus style points, DougJ, for using a Clash lyric as your title.

  103. 103.

    Left Coast Tom

    @parsimon: Considering that McArgleBargle was unable to actually frost her cake, I’d say her video proved Krugman’s point.

  105. 105.

    Eric k

    McMegan’s review basically boils down to:

    This movie totally sucks but if a liberal days that they’re biased

  106. 106.

    Shoemaker-Levy 9

    @parsimon:

    Here is the original Pew article.

    @arguingwithsignposts:
    @MikeJ:

    I’m pretty sure I read somebody say in the last couple of days that releasing the movie now was in part an attempt to capitalize on the recent resurgence of conservatism/Tea Partyism. Unfortunately I can’t remember where I read that. So I’ll just retract that for now and wonder aloud what the intended audience for this movie is supposed to be.

  107. 107.

    Villago Delenda Est

    We have to do something to get the fools and the ignoramuses out of the voting booth in this country.

    I agree.

    Step one: confiscate Boortz’s voter registration.

  108. 108.

    Corner Stone

    @Left Coast Tom:

    Considering that McArgleBargle was unable to actually frost her cake, I’d say her video proved Krugman’s point.

    I would totally frost that cake.
    Then pocket some pink salt on the way out.

  111. 111.

    opie jeanne

    She watched it on a laptop. Am I to assume she was given a copy by the promoters? Or did she watch it on that torrentbit thingie?

  113. 113.

    gnomedad

    @gwangung:

    Hey, Boortz—this is a frakin’ MOVIE. You’re there to see cinematic craftsmanship, twit!

    Craftsmanship is elitist, just like facts are. Right-thinking is all.

  119. 119.

    Mark

    @TooManyJens: The vast majority of people in this country still get analog (or digital) cable, so there was no reason for them to get a converter.

    People whose only source for TV was over-the-air broadcast needed converters. You could get a $40 coupon for a converter, but the $40 converters were total junk. I digress – I can’t imagine that there are very many people who are staring quizzically at their analog TV trying to figure out why it doesn’t work.

  120. 120.

    opie jeanne

    @opie jeanne: Watched Megan for all of 2:47 and had to turn it off. She doesn’t know what she’s doing, and she keeps moving the goalposts while she’s talking about baking a cake. She starts out talking about baking a cake in 1950, then suddenly she’s in 1900. She then says in 1900 her great grandmother would have had trouble figuring out how much butter to cream into the sugar because standard measuring cups weren’t in common use before the turn of the century. The whole thing was “Duh.”

  122. 122.

    Martin

    @opie jeanne:

    She then says in 1900 her great grandmother would have had trouble figuring out how much butter to cream into the sugar because standard measuring cups weren’t in common use before the turn of the century.

    What the fuck is she talking about? You can find pedestrian pewter measuring cups from colonial times. My mom has the set handed down in my family from the mid 19th century. More well-to-do families might even have copper and brass or silver ones. Does she really think that we made up measurements like the pint, bushel, and hogshead once she was born?

    And anyone today who has cooked even 1/5th as much as someone who was cooking in 1900 can hit a quarter cup of butter by sight. I can knock out a perfect batch of pie dough without a single measuring item I’ve done it so many fucking times.

    I should hope I never run into McMegan near my mom’s house. I might beat her into a coma with an 1860 era cup measure.

  123. 123.

    Yutsano

    @Martin:

    I can knock out a perfect batch of pie dough without a single measuring item I’ve done it so many fucking times.

    I hate you with the passion of a thousand suns.

  124. 124.

    Cliff

    Amazing, McMegan manages to be completely right about a horrible movie while being completely wrong and stupid about everything else in her review.

    She truly is gifted.

  126. 126.

    russell

    Oddly, McMegan likely drinks a ton. She was practically slurring in her FoodTV demo tape.

    OK, some kind bud then. Whatever it takes to remove the hair she has across her ass.

    Or, not. Whatever floats her boat.

  127. 127.

    JoJo

    According to Box Office Mojo Atlas Shrugged take dropped another 36% since Sunday. I’m sure the Randroids will scream about the lamestream media conspiracy to suppress this film.

  128. 128.

    Nutella

    these actors, they’re practically petrified. In lieu of emotions, the entire cast seems to have turned to drink. Half the action takes place over a glass of wine or a tumbler of whiskey. I suppose this is what you have to expect from a roomful of rigid, controlling people who have difficulty speaking about any emotions that don’t involve metallurgical studies.

    This is what she calls a “damn fine movie”? Her reviewing skills are every bit as ‘fine’ as her mathematical skills.

  129. 129.

    Elliott

    Like “Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid,” only with more of a message for today, right?

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