It’s to be expected.

The ilk on MSNBC, the vitriolic charges of insanity in the LA Times and the imputation that people “Going Galt” and quoting “Atlas Shrugged” are just doing so in an attempt to sound smart flowed through my mind while reading Chapter 4 in a chiropractor’s waiting room before heading to the local Tea Party.

In addition to an outright disgust for anything outside of their definition of mainstream, those in the media just don’t get it. Either because they’ve swallowed the ne0-socialist Kool-Aid, are too lazy to get out of their offices or just have no interest in engaging in a debate they would be bound to lose, it’s their mindset that prevents them from understanding what’s going on.

It’s that mindset that makes it so easy to write the protesters, Going Galtists and capitalist defenders off.

In Chapter 4 of “Atlas Shrugged,” Dagny Taggart returns to her apartment after the contractor of the Rio Norte line suddenly up and closed his business. She puts on a record of Richard Halley’s Fourth Concerto, sits down, closes her eyes and listens.

The passage that sparked a comparison (though not a complete one, mind you) to the media attitude of today is this:

“‘The music of Richard Halley has a quality of the heroic. Our age has outgrown that stuff,’ said one critic. ‘The music of Richard Halley is out of key with our times. It has a tone of ecstasy. Who cares for ecstasy nowadays?’ said another.”

The media critics in “Atlas Shrugged” didn’t understand Halley’s music because they lacked the desires his music brought out — those of wanting to create, build and achieve and to watch others do the same.

Perhaps Taggart placed Halley in her phonograph because earlier in the chapter she needed such inspiration, or at least to know someone else had those same desires.

“For once, she wanted to feel herself carried by the power of some else’s achievement. As men on the dark prairie liked to see the lighted windows of a train going past, her achievement, the sight of power and purpose that gave them reassurance in the midst of empty miles and night—so she wanted to feel it for a moment, a brief greeting, a single glimpse, just to wave her arm and say: Someone is going somewhere . . .”

The media elites (who no longer seem to even make a veiled attempt at masking their elitism) write us off as wacky, glue-sniffing conspiracy theorists because they assume “our age has outgrown” the stuff of capitalism, individualism and self sufficiency. We’re “out of key” with these “post-partisan” times and should jump on the bandwagon already.

They’re wrong. Some (dare I say many) still care very much for ecstasy nowadays.

The Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights has a good explanation as to why “Atlas” is making such a comeback, though the video is a bit dull. Here’s the key section:

“The similarities to today are striking. In ‘Atlas’ we see a world crumbling under he weight of government interventions and regulations.

“The economy has ground to a halt. Each day more and more businesses are shutting their doors.

“The government blames greed and the free market, and frantically imposes further controls, but the crisis only deepens.

“Sound familiar?”

Yes, it does:

ARC also makes a good point about the Tea Parties in general — the protests need to be focused: “What’s needed today is not a tax revolt, but a revolt against today’s intellectual mainstream.”

By the way, I’ll be at the Tea Party in Escondido, Calif., at the Post Office this afternoon if anyone wants to come say “hello.”

The site is fully functional, but we’re calling this a “soft launch,” as we’ll likely be tweaking things during the next couple of days. Below is the full rundown of what this is all about (copied from the “About” page).

Things to look for in the future at atlasforcongress.com: Reading discussion forums for those going through the book (or rereading it, as I am now), more lawmaker listings to include members of the various state legislatures and adding members of the mainstream media. Feel free to comment here or use the contact form to leave feedback or suggest ideas, report problems, etc.

About

Barely a day goes by that “Atlas Shrugged” and it’s author, Ayn Rand, aren’t mentioned in the media — either by a column writer noticing Rand’s predictions coming true, a politician or talking head referencing the ideas in the book or a protester holding a sign that reads: “Who is John Galt?”

There’s no mystery as to why. The current economic downturn has thrust government intervention into the private sector like no time since the Great Depression. The economy, it seems, has become the reason for leaders from both parties to enact more government controls in the name of the greater good.

Hence the renewed popularity of “Atlas Shrugged.” Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel fortells a day when, in the name of the “greater good,” government launches ever expanding programs, laws and regulations that wind of bringing society to its knees.

Rand (pictured) has always had quite a following. In 1991, the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club found in a survey that readers of “Atlas Shrugged” ranked it second as the most influential book they’ve read — behind the Bible. Her philosophy of Objectivism — and the theme of “Atlas Shrugged” — explains the morality of rational self-interest, which speaks to our desire to be free to make our lives just that: our own.

Back in January, Stephen Moore wrote in the Wall Street Journal that “Atlas Shrugged” was turning from “fiction to fact.” He pondered:

“If only ‘Atlas’ were required reading for every member of Congress and political appointee in the Obama administration. I’m confident that we’d get out of the current financial mess a lot faster.”

That sparked the idea for this project, atlasforcongress.com. The goal here is to send a copy of “Atlas Shrugged” to every member of Congress and to as many other lawmakers as possible. Sure, all of them might not read the book, but it only takes a few to make a difference (especially in the U.S. Senate).

We’ve set up an Amazon wishlist containing “Atlas Shrugged” for each member of Congress, every state governor and select members of the Obama administration with their mailing addresses included. This way it’s easy to send them a copy of the book, and we can track which members have received it.

During the last year our government has already grossly expanded its role in the private sector — “bailing out” banks, taking control of the auto industry, passing the “stimulus package” — and it promises to expand even more into health care, more bank controls and more.

This is no time for our leaders to be fooled by the idea that capitalism must suffer for the cause of the “greater good.” Make sure our leaders can answer the question: “Who is John Galt?”