The Deuce and Atlas

I'm waiting. Every day I look for the CEO of some company to stand up to the Regime. I'm waiting for Atlas to Shrug. Alas, Atlas has yet to show himself.

The Financial sector was the first with the opportunity to stand up...they didn't. Goldman-Sachs and AIG were desperate to avoid bankruptcy, and so instead of telling the Regime to take government ownership and mandates and stuff it, they begged for a bailout and got it...along with the Regime's salary and bonus controls, and the upcoming Finance Bill. No Atlas there.

The Auto industry was next. Instead of just filing for reorganization, GM ( forever after to be known as Government Motors ) and Chrysler, like Goldman-Sachs and AIG, swallowd the hipocritacal abuse of congress and took the tax payers money, and quietly accepted the ring in their nose rather than fix themselves. Not only did we bail them out, but we'll be driving motorized skate boards for the rest of eternity! No Atlas there.

The Energy sector is next. Rather than make an honest profit from the product supplied, they'll accept Cap and Trade legislation. Why fight the Regime when they can just pass on the resulting skyrocketing cost of producing electricity and gasoline to the public? No skin off of their nose...until the public discovers candles, which are preferable to compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, because CFLs put out less light than incandescent bulbs regardless of the propaganda you've read; require a full-blown EPA hazmat response should one break, due to their mercury content ( got your moon-suit ready? ), and cost about ten times as much as an incandescent bulb. And gas? Hey! If Europe is willing to pay $8 a gallon, why not Americans? Serves us right for despoiling the Earth with all our civilization. No Atlas there. ( I know what you're thinking. You're thinking the ongoing gusher at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is proof that we should all be living in caves and gnawing on bones while we respectfully expire from starvation, malaria or freezing to death rather than drill for oil. Well hell, that gusher wouldn't be happening if the damn tree-hugging Gaea worshipers would stop fighting us when we want to drill on land! It's called unexpected consequences dip shit. A leak at 5000 feet below sea level is a lot harder to stop and clean up than one at ground level...morons! )

Next will be the Electronic Media. Rather than compete in the free market for customers, TV and radio will accept the Fairness Doctrine, or stringent FCC regulations mandating "equal time" of opposing political views. After all, how long did Air America Radio last? I mean, come on! How long can the Republic last if every single media outlet is not toadying up to the Regime? No Atlas there.

The Food Industry is already caving. Whether they're restaurants or grocers, they simply bow to the Fed's demands for never-ending regulation of the salt, sugar, fat and calorie content of their foods rather than tell the Fed and Michelle Obama to mind their own damn business. How long until surly looking men dressed in fedoras and trench coats hover around us while we stand in line at McDonald's and demand "your calorie counter please." No Atlas there.

The Steel Industry? What steel industry? Most of the steel American companies use is imported from Japan and China, who laugh at supposed environmental and trade regulations. In China, they not only say screw the Spotted Owl, "old growth" forests, swamps ( er, I mean wetlands ) and the Snail Darter, they also say screw the peasants who mine the coal necessary for smelting the iron ore to make steel. After all, what do the Chicoms care if a few thousand coal miners die every year in mines so dangerous that Satan himself wouldn't tread in them. No Atlas there.

How about the Arts? Are you kidding me? Without the National Endowment for the Arts ( taxpayer money ), the only arts in America would be a few Broadway musicals, a handful of the larger city symphonies, community theaters, and the local high school jazz band, all of which support themselves with ticket sales from consumers who are actually willing to pay ( gasp ) to watch their performances. Imagine that! Luckily for the Arts, they Fed is big on financing them but incredibly reluctant to exert any control over their product, hence the Piss Christ, performance art and this silly crap. Please click on the silly crap link. You deserve the laugh. No Atlas there.

Atlas, where are you? If just one of you would stand up and resist the take over, millions would rise up and support you.

Just Shrug. We'll shrug with you.

Are you out there, John Galt?