But what would Ayn Rand say on the morality of phony altruism?

Here is Rep. Paul Ryan's ideological inspiration Ayn Rand on the morality of altruism.  And then there is this...

Washington Post is reporting  "Ryan had stopped by the soup kitchen for about 15 minutes on his way to the airport after his Saturday morning town hall in Youngstown. By the time he arrived, the food had already been served, the patrons had left, and the hall had been cleaned.  Upon entering the soup kitchen, Ryan, his wife and three young children greeted and thanked several volunteers, then donned white aprons and offered to clean some dishes. Photographers snapped photos and TV cameras shot footage of Ryan and his family washing pots and pans that did not appear to be dirty."

"Brian J. Antal, the president of an Ohio charity for the homeless, is objecting to a photo op staged by the Romney campaign on Saturday that featured vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan washing pots and pans that had already appeared to be clean, Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post reports:"   here is the photo in question

Actually maybe Rand would have been ok with this because

• the intent of Ryan's action was not to help any homeless person
• the effect of Ryan's action was not to help any homeless person