Wednesday, April 06, 2011

P.J. O’Rourke: "Atlas Shrugged. And So Did I"

P.J. O'Rourke reviews the movie "Atlas Shrugged" in today's WSJ blog, here's an excerpt:

"But I will not pan “Atlas Shrugged.” I don’t have the guts.  If you associate with Randians—and I do—saying anything critical about Ayn Rand is almost as scary as saying anything critical to Ayn Rand.  What’s more, given how protective Randians are of Rand, I’m not sure she’s dead.

The woman is a force.  But, let us not forget, she’s a force for good.  Millions of people have read “Atlas Shruggged” and been brought around to common sense, never mind that the author and her characters don’t exhibit much of it. Ayn Rand, perhaps better than anyone in the 20th century, understood that the individual self-seeking we call an evil actually stands in noble contrast to the real evil of self-seeking collectives.  (A rather Randian sentence.)

It’s easy to make fun of Rand for being a simplistic philosopher, bombastic writer and—I’m just saying—crazy old bat.  But the 20th century was no joke. A hundred years, from Bolsheviks to Al Qaeda, were spent proving Ayn Rand right."

17 Comments:

At 4/06/2011 3:54 PM, Blogger Benjamin Cole said...

Atlas Shrugged, and Ryan Farted.

Evidently, his heroic budget assumes that housing recovers to 2006 boom levels by 2015, and that unemployment falls to 2.8 percent in following years.

That's great! Fantastic! 2.8 percent unemployment. I can't wait. And a housing boom on the way. Boomtimes to the moon, baby, to the moon!

I guess Morgan Frank, aka Mr. Gloomybuttocks, is all wrong.

No wonder we don't have to rein in military spending. One of the great booms in all history is nearly upon us.

Sadly, I actually agree with some of Ryan's proposals--I want major cuts in HUD, Labor, Commerce, USDA, Education.

But his idealistic, utopian vision about about military spending and tax cuts are simply puerile.

 
At 4/06/2011 5:15 PM, Blogger Che is dead said...

"Sadly, I actually agree with some of Ryan's proposals--I want major cuts in HUD, Labor, Commerce, USDA, Education."

Complete bullshit. Is that why you voted for Obama? Why is it that you have never offered any criticism of Obama's or the Democrat's plans?

 
At 4/06/2011 5:47 PM, Blogger Benjamin Cole said...

She is Dead-

I voted for Obama, given the track record of the R-Party 2000-2008. A Dow Jones lower than when Bush jr. took office, a financial system in collapse. Two hugely expensive unfinished wars, paid for by borrowing. A confident nation (in the 1990s) turned punk under Bush jr., fearful of bank runs and an economic depression.
Even when the R-Party controlled the House, Senate, White House and Supreme Court (2000-2006) the national debt kept growing wildly.

I have fired employees for poor performance. In this case, there was an untested employee vs. a proven rotten employee. I went with the unknown commodity, Obama.

Add in Sarah Palin, braying like a jackass about her union husband and the fact that everyone in Alaska gets a free check from the state on oil revenues. Really, this woman as veep with McCain looking worse day by day?

So I held my nose and voted. I sent a signal to the R-Party, which they probably did not get.

I give Obama a "C". I give the Ryan plan a "B-"

You can hurl expletives at me, but I am only calling the R-Party for what it is: a feckless confederacy of frauds. The Dems are not better.

 
At 4/06/2011 7:20 PM, Blogger Che is dead said...

So, let me see if I've got your line of shit straight. Obama, who has squandered trillions of dollars on union bailouts and failed stimulus programs directed mostly at his rich lefty friends; who is running trillion dollar plus deficits and before he is done will have added more to the national debt than all other presidents combined - including George W Bush, gets a "C". The man who pushed through an expensive and unpopular national healthcare program using corrupt backroom deals and filled with special sweetheart provisions for his supporters and who has continued to fight two wars approved by Congress while adding a third which he has not bothered to have approved, all on borrowed money, gets a "C". The man who has overseen the worst economy and weakest economic recovery in more than a generation mostly do to his reckless spending and regulatory overreach, gets a "C". You are not a libertarian, you're a fraud.

As for Sarah Palin, while I know that she can be a little intimidating to testosterone deficient lefty types, she wasn't running for President. And if "braying like a jackass" is a disqualifier, you should never comment on anything ever again.

 
At 4/06/2011 7:58 PM, Blogger AIG said...

"So I held my nose and voted. I sent a signal to the R-Party, which they probably did not get. I give Obama a "C". I give the Ryan plan a "B-" You can hurl expletives at me, but I am only calling the R-Party for what it is: a feckless confederacy of frauds. The Dems are not better."

You're absolutely damn right. The correct choice would be to not have voted, however. But otherwise, you're right.

 
At 4/06/2011 8:00 PM, Blogger AIG said...

As for the movie, well what did people expect? I think I'll pass.

 
At 4/06/2011 8:36 PM, Blogger Paul said...

Che,

Benji grades on the curve for the benefit of his true love. You believe he "held his nose" when he voted for Obama? I guarantee he was one of the mindless millions who jumped wholeheartedly on the Hopeandchange train to nowhere. Watch his comments and you see he itches to give Obama credit wherever he can. Problem is Obama is such an epic disaster there is very little occasion for Benji to do so.

All his invective is reserved for the GOP, almost zero for the Democrats and the socialist community organizer who Benji fell in love with in 2008. Look how he attacks Ryan's plan, but has zilch to say about Obama's proposal to run up the debt to 90% of GDP by 2025.

 
At 4/06/2011 10:51 PM, Blogger Benjamin Cole said...

She is Dead:

You would have voted for Bu$h jr. a third time?

On what grounds?

As for Obama, whatever his performance, he inherited a the Bu$h jr. train wreck into a sewage treatment facility. At least he is well-camouflaged.

No. I do not suffer from Obama Derangement Syndrome. He is not my cup of tea.

I stand by my statement. So far, he gets a "C." That is better than the Chimpanzee Bu$h jr. and I have not seen Obama yet do a kissy-face with the Saudi families who financed 9/11, and the international chain of madrassas that teach Islamic koo-koos to hate.

The Bu$h Family Motto: Money Is Thicker than Country

 
At 4/06/2011 11:19 PM, Blogger Che is dead said...

"The correct choice would be to not have voted, however."

For once we agree. The correct choice for you, "Benji" and the country, would be for the two of you not to have voted.

 
At 4/06/2011 11:32 PM, Blogger Che is dead said...

"I have not seen Obama yet do a kissy-face with the Saudi families ..."

Ooops, don't look now.

 
At 4/07/2011 3:10 AM, Blogger juandos said...

"As for Obama, whatever his performance, he inherited a the Bu$h jr. train wreck into a sewage treatment facility. At least he is well-camouflaged"...

Idiot! Obama inherited the results of a Democratic Congress and their idiotic ways...

What Obama would give to have Bush jr's unemployment numbers if nothing else...

 
At 4/07/2011 3:13 AM, Blogger juandos said...

"I stand by my statement. So far, he gets a "C." That is better than the Chimpanzee Bu$h jr...."...

That's congenital stupidity at work...

 
At 4/07/2011 5:20 AM, Blogger Paul said...

Benji,

"As for Obama, whatever his performance, he inherited a the Bu$h jr. train wreck into a sewage treatment facility."

He helped create the situation as a Senator, and as a community organizer parasite before that. All he has done since taking power is pour gas on the fire. Your "C" grade can only be based on your man love.

 
At 4/07/2011 5:28 AM, Blogger Paul said...

"...and I have not seen Obama yet do a kissy-face with the Saudi families who financed 9/11.."

Doesn't this just speak volumes about Benji's ignorance? He's not even aware that his boyfriend's routine is to actually bow to tyrants. Unbelievable.

 
At 4/07/2011 9:34 AM, Blogger morganovich said...

bubble baby benny-

as ever, you comments seem to be a miasma of incomprehension and febrile notions of humor.

are you off your meds? you seem unusually incoherent today.

also: since when does the president control the economy? bush tanked the stockmarket? really? how?

i can see laying blame on pelosi, frank, reid and dood, but bush and mccain were sponsoring bills to rein in freddy and fannie and head the mess off before it got out of control.

they were thwarted by democratic majorities in both houses.

so what's you're argument that "bush did it"?

you understanding of how government works seem even worse than your understanding of economics, and that's really saying something.

and you wonder why i doubt you have public policy and econ degrees....

 
At 4/07/2011 12:36 PM, Blogger Paul said...

Morganovich,

"so what's you're argument that 'bush did it'?"

Benji's scientific analysis is that it happened "on his watch."

 
At 4/07/2011 1:18 PM, Blogger juandos said...

Hey gents, could this explain pseudo benny apparent problems with getting a grip on reality?

New research suggests that pollution in Southern California may be harming our brains...

Actually this just sounds like another lame pitch for the Obamamobile...

 

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