Agreed, Like everything it must be taken with a grain of salt. Its been a few years since I've read it, but I remember that it made me think, which is why I liked it. I do recall not caring for the author himself much when I read his background. I'll say up front, that the guy is obviously not a strict objectivist, but he does seem to truly be interested in personal liberty for everyone. On your second point, I hate that quote, and agree with the argument against it.
This stuff is probably pretty elementary around here. But, I stick to my original thought that it may still hold something of value, to somebody here, or I wouldn't have posted it. One should look at anything I post here through that light. I only offer it for the sake of argument and discussion; because as objectivists, are we not here to analyze reality, and all that it consists of, in order to use our reason as the means to determine the truth of it?