There was a story posted on The Daily Beast by Rebecca Dana titled AYN RAND POWER DRESSING in which she writes:
“Ayn Rand–author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, mother of Objectivism, and the conservative movement’s most rapacious cougar–leapt back into popular culture this year as the hero of the Obama-hating far-right.
But it’s not just Glenn Beck and his minions who are drawing inspiration from the writer, who died in 1982. This fall, the dowdy Russian émigré is en vogue with a whole different set: the free-wheeling, Obama-loving, arugula-eating fashion world.”
Now, I do not follow the antics of Glenn Beck (though I may follow a few of “his minions” depending who they are) and I realize that Rebecca Dana did not actually call Ayn Rand a Conservative (just “the movement’s most rapacious cougar”)… but I just need to put down for the record that she was a staunch anti-Conservative and actually speaks with an almost hatred of them in this extensive audio interview (about 3:30 into the interview she states “I am not a Conservative nor is Objectivism a Conservative philosophy.”):
http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reg_ar_cvo
For readers of Ms. Dana’s blog who may not actually research her statements, I fear they would form a completely wrong opinion of Ayn Rand – especially by carelessly linking Ms. Rand to Glenn Beck. (Having done a little quick research on Mr. Beck, I will refrain from opining on him as I do not want to draw the bloodthirsty freaks in his audience into this discussion.)
Jill Kennedy – OnMedea
I hate Glenn Beck. And I hate News Corp. for employing him. He’s just a bomb thrower without any worries about the repercussions.
You want to know why I shrug? Because I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Really interested to hear that audio interview, but the link’s expired, any clues on how to find it…
I’ve already noticed a fair few values in Ayn Rand’s work that are often neglected by modern capitalists, but I also find her heroic entrepreneurs an inspiring archetype.