Obama and Selfishness.

Jake Tapper of ABC has opined this about The Chosen One's declaring those who don't favor high taxes, selfish.

John McCain and Sarah Palin they call this socialistic," Obama continued. "You know I don’t know when, when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness."

It's unclear if this was a nod to the Ayn Rand book "The Virtue of Selfishness," with all that the invocation of Rand implies.

It would seem to be, given the themes of Rand's work, what happens when independent achievers are demonized.

Which would fit with this description of those who want to keep their hard-earned tax dollars as "selfish."

Atlas may not be shrugging, but Obama is.

I may be wrong, but I don't think I am selfish. I'd like to ask Hussein about that.

When I spent 10 years in Naval Aviation with low pay, hazardous duty and family separation... Was I being selfish?

As a salesman, when I drove 75,000 miles a year, getting up daily at 5:00AM to see that "one more" customer so I could increase my sales calls and commissions, was I being selfish?

As a citizen and taxpayer when I paid my taxes and took care of my family and home, was I being selfish?

When I scrimped and saved for my children's education, was I being selfish?

When I scrimped and saved for my retirement, was I being selfish?

When I purchased a house I could afford and didn't ask the government to assist me, was I being selfish?

When I didn't buy that new luxury car but settled for a Chevy, was that being selfish?

In all those years that I tried and succeeded in living a reasonable life, taking care of me and mine while paying as much as 50% in Federal, State and Local taxes, was I being selfish?

I didn't think so then and I don't now. I was just trying to do my job and live the American Dream. In most respects I did exactly that. And for that I am happy and proud.

You know Citizen Hussein, I am social liberal. I believe in the social contract. I don't mind paying my share. But you, Citizen Hussein, are planning to increase them beyond reasonable. You have never had a job where you had to succeed or be fired so you have no idea of what it takes to do the ordinary things the rest of us do.

Your biggest fans are those who believe you will give them all they want and those still in college who are so undereducated it should be against the law to give them a diploma and turn them loose on the country.

You never followed a team of mules pulling a plough. You never chopped cotton. You never buffed electric skillets in 110 degree heat on a production line. You never stood a mid watch and you never attended a Requiem Service for a shipmate. You never tried to repair a failed piece of equipment and you never tried to meet a sales quota.

In short, you have never done anything that anyone could actually measure your success or failure.

And because of that you have embraced the Marxist creed and want to criticize me.

Even shorter. Citizen Hussein, you wouldn't know selfish if it walked up and introduced itself.

You want to see selfish? Go look in the mirror. You have taken and taken and you have never given one thing back of any importance to the country or society.