# Rand Rover: Ass **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 2, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055 "2009-03-02T20:33:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/81 "2009-03-03T02:58:49Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Allow me to blow your mind: the world is a better place where everyone is not into helping or caring about anyone but themselves. _ **Note to self:** _ don’t bother saving seat for **Rand Rover** in lifeboat. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/82 "2009-03-03T03:01:00Z")
Rand Rover, due to his excellent decision-making abilities, learned to swim when he was seven months old, and due to years spent building his exceptional physique and stamina, he doesn’t need your lifeboat, you SOCIALIST!!! ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/83 "2009-03-03T03:03:52Z")
**Rand Rover** , as a civil libertarian whose belief system is derived from an assumption of self and inductive recognition of others as sentient, sapient individuals, who genuinely believes that humanity is best served by acknowledging and respecting the equality and rights of those individuals, I hereby request that you stop making it appear as though these beliefs are held only by raging assholes. Individualism most assuredly does NOT boil down to “look out for number one, and fuck the rest of you.” Believing in the human right to act like a narcissistic jerk in no way obligates you to actually do so. Choices have consequences, and responsibility for those lies with the one doing the choosing. That doesn’t mean the rest of us have right to pass judgment. For that matter, we can even feel and express sympathy, and lend a helping hand where we can, out of the sense of our own, innately human, fallibility. Give it a shot sometime, will you? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/84 "2009-03-03T03:04:36Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > _ **Note to self:** _ don’t bother saving seat for **Rand Rover** in lifeboat. Nope. The ice chest will do, after you cook him over the fire on the beach. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/85 "2009-03-03T03:12:21Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Nope. The ice chest will do, after you cook him over the fire on the beach. Ice chest?! Note to self: do not let **Cervaise** determine contents of my lifeboat. Instead of fishing gear we’ll end up with brandy snifters or something. ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/86 "2009-03-03T03:14:15Z")
I was going to write that the AV Club has better trolls when I remembered Herbert Kornfeld (R.I.P.). I will picture **Rand Rover** with a moustache and tie from now on whenever I read his posts. H.K. represent! [http://www.theonion.com/content/node/25852](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/25852) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/87 "2009-03-03T03:15:33Z")
**Roland** , i wouldn’t worry. Even us non-libertarians try, for the most part, the hold people responsible only for their own thoughts and actions, and not the thoughts and actions of other people who happen to share their general philosophy. I’ve met and hung out with a bunch of libertarians during my time in the States. I’ve been to a few small conferences run by a libertarian organization in the DC area, and i’ve even received a small fellowship from them to help with my research a few years back. Just about everyone i encountered on those occasions has been a perfectly decent person, and for the most part seemed genuinely concerned about the best way to organize (or not, as the case may be) society in such a way that the most people benefit. They demonstrated genuine compassion for the poor and the destitute, and not one had the sort of “I’ve got mine, so fuck everyone else” attitude that **Rand Rover** so happily adopts. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/88 "2009-03-03T03:16:09Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Oh, but there \*are \*consequences. No hugs for you! Show some compassioni plzthx ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/89 "2009-03-03T03:18:36Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I feel compelled to mention that I kind of like **Rand Rover** , even though he has moments of extreme jerkishness. I think he actually has a pretty good sense of humor, and while he tends towards arguments that I think are mostly baiting, he can make good points in serious debates when he tries. > > However, back to the Pitting, I still wish he would have taken me up on the [$100 Obama tax cut bet.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10330519#post10330519) Sadly, I just got ignored. Not even a mere rejection of my offer. :eek: and :o I didn’t see that. Sorry. If it’s still open, then let me think some more about the new terms. The $250k number is important to me (because that’s how Obama sold the plan), so if it is hard to get data for people above and below that exact number, then I may not be interested in the bet anymore. Thanks for following up. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/90 "2009-03-03T03:26:13Z")
I invite anyone who hasn’t read Ayn Rand to do so rather than take Rover’s interpretation of it seriously. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/91 "2009-03-03T03:26:34Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Ask any legal recruiter, they hate trying to fill tax positions. We are the few and the proud. I always thought tax lawyers were those who couldn’t hack litigation. And that reminds me, **anu-la1979** , I had better go through tonight’s brief to get rid of the **way** too many “clearlys” that are in there. Bad, bad habit. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/92 "2009-03-03T03:31:24Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > **Roland** , i wouldn’t worry. > > Even us non-libertarians try, for the most part, the hold people responsible only for their own thoughts and actions, and not the thoughts and actions of other people who happen to share their general philosophy. Heh. Thanks, **mhendo** , but my point was more rhetorical than directed at any association I thought folks around here genuinely made. That said, offboard, associating individuals with their own thoughts and actions rather than a given convenient label is a rarer trait than you or I might like to think, as you’ve no doubt noticed. S’one of the reasons I hang out here. It’s also worth noting that I adopted the term “civil libertarian” to describe my overall beliefs succinctly without undue association with the Libertarian Party, who tend to take economic conservativism (specifically, privatization) to an extent I don’t feel is morally necessary or particularly wise. Doesn’t seem to have worked, but that’s my failing, not yours. Back to the drawing board… ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/93 "2009-03-03T03:34:14Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Nope. The ice chest will do, after you cook him over the fire on the beach. I’ve heard roast jackass can be really stringy if not properly prepared. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/94 "2009-03-03T03:39:28Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I invite anyone who hasn’t read Ayn Rand to do so rather than take Rover’s interpretation of it seriously. If you can’t post examples of my misinterpretation of Ayn Rand then just drop it. Just because you don’t like me personally doesn’t mean I have misinterpreted Ayn Rand. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/95 "2009-03-03T03:40:59Z")
> [@villa](#): > > I always thought tax lawyers were those who couldn’t hack litigation. No, we’re those who are too smart for litigation. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/96 "2009-03-03T03:42:04Z")
> [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](#): > > I was going to write that the AV Club has better trolls when I remembered Herbert Kornfeld (R.I.P.). I will picture **Rand Rover** with a moustache and tie from now on whenever I read his posts. > > H.K. represent! > [http://www.theonion.com/content/node/25852](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/25852) 🙂 Those accounts payabo motherfuckers better step off! (Or something. I haven’t read HK in years.) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/97 "2009-03-03T03:48:24Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I invite anyone who hasn’t read Ayn Rand to do so rather than take Rover’s interpretation of it seriously. One does not read Ayn Rand, one _slogs_ Ayn Rand. Some books test intelligence or insight, hers test for endurance. Her characters never just _say_ anything, they never scratch their butt, they strike poses and intone interminably. Through the swamp, you trudge, trudge, trudge… Mark Twain once said that Henry James wrote like he was performing a painful duty. He said the Book of Mormon was “chloroform as printed word”. A pity he could not have given us a critique of Ayn Rand. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/98 "2009-03-03T03:50:52Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > One does not read Ayn Rand, one _slogs_ Ayn Rand. Some books test intelligence or insight, hers test for endurance. [sniperoo] Through the swamp, you trudge, trudge, trudge… Yes, it’s hard to read things you are not intelligent enough to understand. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/99 "2009-03-03T04:02:55Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Allow me to blow your mind: the world is a better place where everyone is not into helping or caring about anyone but themselves. Ironically, in your ideal world you wouldn’t have your oh-so-fundamental job. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055/100 "2009-03-03T04:14:22Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Yes, it’s hard to read things you are not intelligent enough to understand. Seriously? Dude, it’s Ayn Rand. I’ve never met a grown person who takes Ayn Rand seriously. It’s thousands of pages of adolescent aggrandizment fantasy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rand-rover-ass/488055.md?page=6)