About Comments To This Blog . . . and Ayn Rand

Many thanks to the gentleman who's sent me a few comments this week -- using his name, actually, and making some good points that I'll respond to in a bit. 

Here's the email address you should use when trying to comment on the blog:  siyocreo@live.com ("si, yo creo" means, "yes, I believe" in Spanish).  I realize that the comments section links to my old email, kjajmix1@msn.com, and I'll try to fix that -- but for now, go ahead and comment and I'll cut-and-paste them into Prevailing Winds. 

It's always good to hear from people who disagree with me, and using your name will always make me take you more seriously.  I do have to say that I'm glad the brother who once, in writing in, referred to me as "you stupid bitch" and then signed it, "In Christ . . . "  appears to have lost interest, but even if you call me names, I'll post your comment if you leave yours.  It seems fair.

And, in response to my correspondent's question about who really takes Ayn Rand as an infallible guide to economics and social concern, the answer is, of course, no one other than Ms. Rand.  But let's not pretend that GOP policymakers Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, and Grover Norquist haven't publicly expressed their indebtedness to her ideas -- Ryan actually gifted his staff one Christmas with "Atlas Shrugged" -- and that Republican thinktanks like the Cato Institute and Heritage Foundation aren't brimming with Randian philosophies about thieving welfare states and the enshrinement of personal property rights.  Nobody who believes that the GOP should have as its goal the shrinking of government until "it can be drowned in a bathtub," as Norquist trumpets, can avoid being linked with Rand or with a philosophy built upon her works.

Just as "Christian Libertarianism" is more than an oxymoron -- it's an impossibility -- Ayn Rand's odious, scholarly selfishness is entirely alien to the function of a healthy, prosperous society.  To pretend that she has not been an enormous influence on the GOP, particularly within the Tea Party, is disingenuous. 

Which is really just a fancy way of saying it's kind of silly.  Silly approaching dishonest, actually.