Robert Heinlein and Upton Sinclair

[Robert_Moriyama]

As noted, Heinlein (particularly in his "juvenile" novels) believed in rugged individualism and the ascendancy of the exceptional man (or woman). He would be horrified by the Tea Party and the Bush - Palin - ... glorification of the mediocre and the ignorant. Heinlein's ideal person was a polymath -- someone who could, yes, kill and dress an animal, but also someone who could design and build a machine or a building, plot orbits with an ephemeris and a sliderule, survive in a big city, the wilderness, cyberspace or outer space.

Heinlein's later novels (from "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and "Stranger in a Strange Land" on) got weirder and more Libertarian than what passes for "Right Wing" these days...

[Lester Curtis]

If you haven't yet, read this:

http://www.amazon.com/Us-Living-Comedy- ... 074325998X

Be sure to read the introduction; it tells about the politics. But Heinlein's core political philosophies are right up front -- and some are flat-out strange.