Atlas Shvooged

“I tend to really be partial to Ayn Rand, and to The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.” ~ Clarence Thomas Associate Justice U.S. Supreme Court (Reason magazine, November 1987) Welcome to what is perhaps the most questionably titled episode of Mystic Bourgeoisie ever. What can I say? The devil made me do it. Well, that and maybe having so recently re-read James Ellroy's masterpiece, The Cold Six Thousand, which (as you can see on that page) opens: "They sent him to Dallas to kill a nigger pimp named Wendell Durfee." Not to mention -- but I will, thanks to the miracle of SearchInside™ -- the following instances of how various goomba mob guys Italian-American gentlemen talk about what we, in these more politically correct (if no less racist) times, might be more inclined to call African Americans. 1-3 of 3 pages with references to shvoog: on Page 242: "His kid killed three shvoogs and walked on the beef." "Sonny Liston?" "Drunk, hophead, whore chaser. Pal of the aforementioned shvoogkiller Wayne Tedrow Junior. Jesus, ..." on Page 250: "Milt went on. Milt did Lenny Bruce shtick. Lawrence Welk auditions a junkie. Pat Nixon bangs Lester, the priapic shvoog." on Page 569: "Right now, the shvoogs want their civil rights, so they burn a few buildings and make some woop-dee-doo." These informal obiter dicta do not, of course, follow the principle of stare decisis, which this 2004 article on Law.com tells us Clarence Thomas doesn't believe in anyway. It also tells us... His favorite movie is "The Fountainhead," based on the Ayn Rand novel about a fiercely independent architect who dynamites his own building rather than see his ideas compromised; each year Thomas hosts a required screening of the movie for his law clerks. On July 9, 1949, the New York Times ran a review of this movie (subscription required) by one Bosley Crowther. It contains many wonderful passages, such as... A long-winded, complicated preachment on the rights of the individual in society... Wordy, involved and pretentious... ...a more curious lot of high-priced twaddle we haven't seen for a long, long time. ...the architect is simple, direct and literal, and when left alone he apparently does all right by himself — though why we cannot imagine, for his work, from what we see of it, is trash. But that is the sort of reasoning that Miss Rand has written into this film and King Vidor has hotly illustrated in a vast succession of turgid scenes. "The Fountainhead" is a picture which you don't have to see to disbelieve. I did see it, unfortunately. And btw, I'm changing my name to Bosley Crowther as soon as possible! disclaimer: It would be a mistake for readers to infer that I mean any disrespect to this lowlife Uncle Tom motherfucker. Or his bitch, Ayn Rand. for extra credit: from Celebrity "Rand Fans" - Clarence Thomas Last year, when the Supreme Court was, in effect, called upon to decide the Presidential election, Clarence Thomas cast one of the votes that narrowly tipped the scales to George W. Bush. As we ponder the awesome implications of that election, it is astonishing that the rise of Clarence Thomas to that pivotal position was in no small measure fueled by the ideas and inspiration of Ayn Rand.