Comment

Paul Ryan is a devotee of Ayn Rand and her philosophy.  I remember reading her books when I was in college.  I read a lot of stuff in college.  "Rand called her philosophy "Objectivism", describing its essence as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute" Source 

I had a visceral reaction to the philosophy.  I rejected it.  I couldn't tell you why but I knew instinctively that it was not correct.  I had seen and knew people who were selfless.  People who by their very nature did things for others "without the hope of fee or reward."  Oh sure there were plenty of folks who did things just so they could feel good about themselves but the vast majority of them just wanted to express Love by helping others. They did not go to bed at night being self congratulatory and thinking "aren't I a wonderful person because I helped someone today."  They went to be planning how they could do something more to help.

I often have visceral reactions to things.  I instinctively feel that something is right, or correct or good.  I read the Bible when I was younger and when I got to and through the book of John I instinctively felt the correctness of it. Just as I felt the incorrectness of Ms Rand's philosophy. And I feel that way about Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney.  They do not care about the average person.  They do fit with her philosophy in that the reason they do things is for self-aggrandizement.  I have a line I use about people who are a little too "puffed up" with their own self-importance.  I say "He is so impressed with himself I don't have to be impressed with him."  Rmoney and Ryan fit that definition.

Since I wrote this I found this comment by Lawrence O'Donnell.  It speaks volumes.