Replying to myself. Sorry about this, guys. I messed up. I've read Megan McArdle off-and-on for years. I am familiar with her writing. So when I read the part

Replying to myself. Sorry about this, guys. I messed up. I've read Megan McArdle off-and-on for years. I am familiar with her writing. So when I read the part that said "angry e-mails ... my corporatist paymaster", I thought "well, of course you will get those". And that was the end of it. My brain was thinking of the messed up situation in Venezuela, and probably just set aside the "paymaster" remarks. And then Ted remarked on exactly those words. My brain wasn't thinking of Megan's lament, it was thinking about Venezuela. That's why Ted's comment seemed out of the blue for me. In retrospect I should have re-read the article to see if I missed anything before I replied to Ted. Once again, sorry.