Rob, Romney, Ryan and Rand: The 4 Republican "R's"

If only Rob Lowe could sit quietly in the corner and just look pretty. That is what he does so damn well. Alas, Lowe is the latest of a rush of politico-manques that have weighed in on Ayn Rand, the philosopher-God of a certain type of I-Won't-Grow-Up precocious emotional teenager. Rand, who wrote something called "The Virtue of Selfishness," has influenced Paul Ryan -- Romney's fawning running mate -- as well as Allan Greenspan, who nearly ruined the American economy with excessively low interest rates in the 90s, thar created the housing bubble.

Greenspan has since apologized, but Lowe, who counts among his friends Charlie Sheen, is as unapologetic as he is deeply uneducated. Rob Lowe, a child star, has never experienced any kind of real exposure to real life, thinks he knows it all. A lot of Old and New Money have similar delusions; because they have "Made It" -- financially -- they have achieved Wisdom. Wisdom can only be measured on the material realm is the assumption; ambition is the height of Virtue. If one has no ambitions to become a millionaire, then one is wholly without American Virtue. And why should the rich help the poor. America -- they believe -- is as strong as their strongest links. And this is why, always, in matters of military discussion the conversation with these types is irrational, always for "strength," for "power" -- even during drawdowns, even when we had already wonm the Cold War. It is all about the power, and with that train of thought comes all sorts of distrotions, particularly in when dealing with the less fortunate. Finally, if Melissa Gilbert's autobiography is to be believed, Rob Lowe is a selfish pretty boy in search, always, of the next piece of ass. I believe it.

Come to think of it: no wonder Paul Ryan's icy blue eyes are ever fixed, admiringly, on his running mate at the top of the ticket. Mitt Romney is, if anything, a thouroughly Randian figure. Mitt even looks, somewhat, Randian: the clean cut 1950s aging financier look, the salt-and-pepper hair. Romney has all the selfish virtues of a Randian hero in looks and in attitude towards the middle and lower classes, except, of course, the artistic and personal vision.