Leonard Peikoff, Ayn Rand's vicar on Earth, has endorsed John Kerry, saying a mixed economy is a lesser evil than theocracy. Peikoff does not, however, qualify for membership in the Ancient and Hermetic Order of the Shrill, since the by-laws clearly state that it is only open "to those who were once sane, fair, and balanced, but who have been driven into shrill unholy madness by one or more of the mendacity, malevolence, incompetence, or simple disconnection from reality of the George W. Bush administration." Peikoff was mad back when George W. Bush was sniffing cocaine. (ObBook: Jeff Walker, The Ayn Rand Cult.) In any case, the Objectivist faithful seem unmoved. (Via Mitch Porter in e-mail.)
(Some people might feel that Brad DeLong is having entirely too much fun with the Ancient and Hermetic Order, e.g., here, or in this not-bad Lovecraft pastiche. I don't. I think DeLong is laughing, but that's because the alternative for him isn't shrill unholy madness, but paralytic despair, the state where one is barely able to make the effort of sitting and watching the shadows creep up the wall.)
Posted at September 18, 2004 23:09 | permanent link