Over at Marginal Revolution, there is a long thread on the callous indifference of liberals to the damage they have caused with ObamaCare. I called out an odious commenter name Michael Foody for it. A striking feature of modern liberalism is the bizarre pleasure they take in the suffering of others. In my youth, they put a lot of effort into claiming they were motivated by compassion for the suffering of others. The poor, afflicted and oppressed were turned into posters they could wave around to close off debate. It was all nonsense, of course. Hitler did the same thing as did Stalin. They had different tastes in victims, but the trick was the same. Manufacture a reason for people to stop thinking so they will go along with your scheme. The tens of millions murdered by the twin towers of leftist European politics shows how effective it is as a strategy.

Modern liberals have abandoned much of this. They still have their imaginary victims and imaginary bogeymen, but they are not as practiced in the public sympathy acts. If you read the MR thread, you see quite a few commentators who appear to delight in the suffering of their fellow citizens. The Brookings Institute guy comes off like a Soviet Commissar when asked about the number of Ukranians they have starved. You can just imagine the fascist prick muttering, “Everything within the state, nothing without…” as he dismisses the complaints of those screwed over by this law. I suspect the truth is, they really are happy that people they don’t like, middle Americans, are getting screwed by this. The Left has believed the middle is the enemy since they set up the guillotine in the 18th century.

That’s the central truth of the cult of modern liberalism. They are motivated by a deep hatred of those they see as their natural enemies. Southern whites, the religious and the middle class come in for particular attention. Liberal policy choices are reactionary in that they are based on what they think these groups want. A harmless old woman like Paula Deen is savaged because she is popular with Southern Whites. The governor of Texas is mocked and ridiculed because he is publicly religious. Sarah Palin is the devil because she is 100% middle American. Normal people have seen her type at the PTA meeting, the soccer field and the grocery store. That’s why the Left loathed her so deeply and instinctively. She was the typical American mom.

As ObamaCare rolls out, it increasingly appears the bill was written to cause maximum damage to middle class institutions. They have rules that force the religious to pay for abortion and birth control. There are rules that make it difficult for small business to offer health coverage. There are rules that punish families. Now we are seeing that the new policies that are offered up as a replacement are two and three times as expensive as the old policies, while covering less. Yet, the ease of getting on Medicaid is much easier. This latest spasm of social engineering is another example of the top and bottom ganging up on the middle to inflict damage on those who pull the wagon.