• • • Bill Maher on Ayn Rand: ‘It’s all stuff that seems very deep when you’re 19 years  
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Atlas Shrugged  |Paul Ryan  |Rand Paul  |Video  | Bill Maher delivered a blistering critique of modern libertarianism on Friday’s episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, slamming adherents for developing a “creepy obsession” with author Ayn Rand.  

• • Rep. Alan Grayson: Paul Ryan wants sick poor people to die 
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The Fountainhead  |Paul Ryan  | “Paul Ryan believes that Social Security is unconstitutional,” Grayson explained. “Just like anyone who follows the writings of Ayn Rand would believe. If you read the Fountianhead, if you read similar fiction — although they don’t regard it as fiction — you come to the conclusion that these are people who believe government itself, anything that does anything for people other than defend the borders, is fundamentally immoral and unconstitutional.”  

• • MSNBC contributor slams Rep. Paul Ryan’s ‘austerity at all costs’ fetish 
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Paul Ryan  |Video  | “Paul Ryan’s ideology is not about cutting the deficit,” [Joy-Ann] Reid claimed. “It’s not about reducing the size of government. It’s about shifting the focus of what government invests in. That Ayn Randian philosophy that spending money on poor people is a waste of money.”  

• • • Idaho lawmaker’s bill forces students to pass ‘Atlas Shrugged’ test to graduate 
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Atlas Shrugged  |Egoism  |Paul Ryan  | The chairman of the Idaho Senate’s Education Committee says that he introduced a bill to require all students to read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” because the book “made my son a Republican.”  

• • • Colbert: Paul Ryan loves Ayn Rand, but not like that 
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Altruism  |Atheism  |Atlas Shrugged  |Paul Ryan  |Video  | Colbert remarked that the thing that unites the three Pauls is their devotion to “Libertarian philosopher and lost Addams Family cousin Ayn Rand,” author of books like Atlas Shrugged and Anthem. Colbert did what no one ever seems to do, which is to pull up actual interview footage of Rand, telling an off-camera interlocutor that the “cult of altruism” in which humanity indulges is wrong and that the weak are undeserving of love. “Sorry, fellas,” he quipped. “She’s taken.”  

• • • Maddow: Paul Ryan an Ayn Rand follower, not a fiscal conservative 
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Atlas Shrugged  |Paul Ryan  |Video  | On her show Tuesday night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow disputed the idea that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) was fiscally conservative. Maddow noted that Ryan — Mitt Romney’s new running mate — had “voted for all of the things in the George W. Bush era that cost a lot of money and were not paid for at all.” “Whether you are delighted or terrified by the prospect that Paul Ryan is the new face of the Republican Party, it is important to get straight that he is not a fiscal conservative,” she continued. “What Paul Ryan is, is a follower of this person, Ayn Rand.”  

• • • Fugelsang: Following Jesus and Ayn Rand like following Gargamel and the Smurfs 
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Atheism  |Capitalism  |Egoism  |Rand Paul  | Current TV host John Fugelsang poked fun at Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Wednesday for introducing an amendment to a flood insurance bill that would define life as beginning at the moment of conception. “You know I gotta say, it’s hard being both a Christian and being a fan of Ayn Rand, because when you think about it, after the Bible peaks with the whole golden calf, that long-haired, anti-wealth hippie guy — Jesus — shows up and ruins the whole thing,” he joked. Paul has denied that he was named after the atheist novelist, who advocated laissez-faire capitalism and the virtue of selfishness. But he admitted to being a “big fan.”  

• • • Rep. Paul Ryan: Ayn Rand’s philosophy ‘completely antithetical to mine’ 
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Atheism  |Atlas Shrugged  |Egoism  |Paul Ryan  |Video  | House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) at a town hall event on Friday denied his worldview had been influenced by the libertarian writer Ayn Rand, who advocated the “virtue of selfishness” and called Christianity the “the best kindergarten of communism possible.”  

• • • Watch in horror as zombie Ayn Rand eats Rachel Maddow’s brains 
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Atheism  |Image  |Video  | In the latest video by progressive comedy troupe The Partisans, zombie Ayn Rand rises from the grave to feed on the brains of American college students, stopping briefly to much on the gray matter of one MSNBC news anchor along the way.  

• • • Atlas Society: Ryan budget ‘very much in line’ with Ayn Rand 
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Atheism  |Atlas Shrugged  |Capitalism  |Egoism  |Individualism  |Paul Ryan  | Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) may be publicly rejecting Ayn Rand’s philosophies, but the folks at The Atlas Society have never been bigger fans of the House Budget Budget Committee chairman and his policies. “His general approach to the budget — especially the budget — is very much in line with the direction that we stand for and would like to see the government go,” The Atlas Society CEO David Kelley told Raw Story.  

• • • Under Catholic pressure Paul Ryan backs away from Rand, Objectivism 
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Atheism  |Atlas Shrugged  |Capitalism  |Individualism  |Paul Ryan  | Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), when faced with a letter of condemnation by 90 Catholic faculty members at Georgetown University, has abruptly decided to back away from his famous endorsement of the works of controversial author Ayn Rand and her philosophy of “Objectivism.” The congressman, who is scheduled to speak at the Catholic university today, is now emphasizing Christian philosophers and the writings of Pope Benedict XVI as the true exemplars of his world view over Russian émigré and atheist Rand.  

• • • Author: Pro-choice Ayn Rand ‘would have hated Ron Paul’ 
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Alan Greenspan  |Atheism  |Atlas Shrugged  |The Fountainhead  |Capitalism  |Egoism  |Individualism  |Video  | Gary Weiss, the author of Ayn Rand Nation, said Tuesday that despite some overlap between their political philosophies, the novelist Ayn Rand would have hated Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Many conservatives, most notably Glenn Beck, have renewed interest in the novels and philosophy of Rand. The Russian-born atheist author espoused the virtues of rational self-interest and laissez-faire capitalism in novels like Atlas Shrugged and numerous other writings.  

• • • Christians must reject Ayn Rand, faith-based group tells Raw Story 
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Atlas Shrugged  |The Fountainhead  | During this time of financial crisis and talk of severe austerity measures in nearly every statehouse across the nation, the philosophy of author Ayn Rand has become a rallying cry for many leading Republicans who see her as something of a patron saint to American capitalism. But before evangelicals fully commit to the tea party’s favorite budget measures -- like eliminating Medicare and food aid for the poor -- one vocal Christian group thinks they should know something about the movement’s famous figurehead.  

• Facebook founder’s fan page deleted after hack attack 
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Ayn Rand Center  | Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and subject of the Oscar-nominated The Social Network, on Tuesday declared that he would like to see his company turned into a charity that would hand over its profits to worthy causes. If that sounds too good -- or too bizarre -- to be true, it turned out it was. Zuckerberg’s fan page was reportedly the victim of an attack by a hacker working to spread the word about social businesses. [....] To be fair, the idea of Zuckerberg dedicating his iconic firm to charity is not entirely out of the realm of the possible. Last month, he joined 16 other billionaires in pledging to donate half his wealth to charity -- a move for which he earned the ire of the libertarian Ayn Rand Center.  

• • Limbaugh: ‘Some people are just born to be slaves’ 

Inaccurate  | There is no equality,” Limbaugh said on his radio show. “You cannot guarantee that any two people will end up the same. And you can’t legislate it, and you can’t make it happen. You can try, under the guise of fairness and so forth, but some people are self-starters, and some people are born lazy. Some people are born victims. Some people are just born to be slaves.” Limbaugh seemed to be echoing the “objectivist” philosopher Ayn Rand’s belief that only a few gifted people are capable of moving society forward, while all others must depend on the efforts of the elite few for their well-being.  

• Tea Partiers ‘scaring white people’ with DC visit advice: Columnist 
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A Tea Party activist is firing back at the media for exposing a guide that warns visitors to stay clear of certain parts of DC. The guide was written by Bruce P. Majors, a realtor in DC who is heavily involved with the Tea Party movement, and was spotted by many bloggers Monday at the Maine Refounders/Tea Party blog. At his blog, Tea Party -- One Lump or Two?, Majors -- who often cites Ayn Rand and notes that he is gay -- attacked “incompetent ‘joun-O-lisps” for getting the facts wrong about who made the guide and calling it racist.  

• • Clarence Thomas suggests Obama’s SOTU criticism was ‘irresponsible’ 
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Atlas Shrugged  |The Fountainhead  | In an 1987 interview with Reason, Thomas said that he held "some very strong libertarian leanings." "I tend to really be partial to Ayn Rand, and to The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged," Thomas said in 1987. "But at this point I'm caught in the position where if I were a true libertarian I wouldn't be here in government."  

• Wall Street Journal op-ed compares Bush to Batman 
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One film blogger suggested The Dark Knight promotes fascism. [....] That blogger, however, concluded that "the only way he’s NOT fascist is that he’s not setting himself up as the leader of a Brave New World – he values the individual above the state in all things. Which makes him more like Ayn Rand’s philosophical brother than Mussolini’s long-lost cousin."