Ted Newsom wrote:
Heinlein was not a humanist, he was a rabid libertarian before there were Libertarians.    
He would have strongly disagreed with that assessment, if there were no Libertarians nearby.  He appreciated the interest of Libertarians in what he wrote, but he had many disagreements with their overall positions.  And yes, I heard him say this myself.  Some Libertarians at LASFS had been clustered around him a while; when they had gone, Heinlein expressed himself to a few of us, including Jerry Pournelle.  But of course, this doesn't have anything to do with IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE.