It seems to me that most people who have read Atlas Shrugged can see the logic behind objectivism and won't outright refute it as blatant absurdity. They may even accept parts of her philosophy (I certainly do after reading it very recently). If you don't want to or have the time to read it then watch this interview with Mike Wallace or this interview with Tom Snyder. It will give you a very basic idea of her philosophy.

Listen to her in the Tom Snyder interview (part 3 I believe) when she explains that we must all have a philosophy to live by and that Religion provides one but asks us to accept it on faith while her philosophy we can accept by reason.

IMO she is not a cruel person looking to step on others or advocating for assholes to be assholes. She is advocating for people to trust their own reason and their own mind because she believes that your mind is reality and to accept anything but your reality is immoral. She is advocating for self esteem and trusting one's own reason.

When you (JakobVirgil) say "asshole" you are implying a selfishness that is illogical. Her "rational self interest" does not imply this. Listen to her talk about love in the Mike Wallace interview when he asks if she is married. She loves her husband Frank O'Connor in a selfish way that is for his virtues. She touches on this again in the Tom Snyder interview when she is talking about giving gifts.