Atlas Hemmed and Hawed.

“Somewhere in literary-character hell, John Galt is spending an eternity getting beat down by Tom Joad & his pick handle.” Ah, Ayn Rand…come for the vaguely kinky sex, stay for the self-serving, thoroughly reprehensible philosophy. Salon‘s Andrew Leonard asks if the recent economic downturn has discredited Rand’s Objectivism once and for all, prompting — as you might expect — a war in the comments section between the true believers and the gleeful cynics.

Among the many funny comments, this one, reposted from here: “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.”

Hedge of No Return.

“But while many stakeholders made sacrifices, some did not. In particular, a group of investment firms and hedge funds that hoped to hold out for a taxpayer-funded bailout. I don’t stand with them. I stand with Chrysler’s employees, management and suppliers. I don’t with stand with those who held out when everybody else made sacrifices.” President Obama announces that Chrysler will file for bankruptcy, and lays the blame squarely at the feet of hedge funds who rejected an 11th-hour deal to save the company, apparently in the hopes of garnering more bailout cash.

The hedge funds in question have fired back, of course. Apparently, they’re all for the “rule of law” and upholding our “world-leading bankruptcy code.” I’d probably be more inclined to take them seriously on these matters if they weren’t also trying to spike regulation of their industry that is long overdue. At it is, i’m thinking profit is more of a motivator here than principled civil disobedience.

At any rate, I think Salon‘s Andrew Leonard is exactly right about where public opinion will come down on this one. Says one observer (cited by Leonard) of what happened today: “The banksters are eagerly, shamelessly, and openly harvesting their pound of flesh from financially stressed average taxpayers, and setting off a chain reaction in the auto industry which has the very real risk of creating even larger scale unemployment than the economy already faces. It’s reckless, utterly irresponsible, over-the-top greed.” From my admittedly limited vantage, that sounds like a plausible reading.

Kenny’s with the Angels.

“In 22 minutes, Trey Parker and Matt Stone manage to hammer politicians, the media, religious hypocrisy and every other aspect of the madness that is the Schiavo case. How they were able to put this together so quickly is astounding — it’s more timely than ‘The Daily Show.'” Salon‘s Andrew Leonard sings the praises of the most recent South Park.

Reality Bites.

Andrew Leonard of Salon pretty much sums up my thoughts on the Winona Ryder trial. I too grew up a Winona teenager…after Princess Leia, she was my second crush (and between the two of them, they pretty much locked in my predisposition toward wry, witty brunettes.) She was definitely the female icon of a certain generation of brainy, awkward guys (all the more reason why I always thought John Crichton naming his gun thus was one of those grace notes that made Farscape such a wonderful show.) Ah, well. On the bright side, fellow eighties icon Mia Sara appears to be making something of a comeback these days, even if it is on a show as lousy as Birds of Prey.