[NutCrackerBoy]

While not actually supporting Communism, liberals ... were convinced that "one was morally compromised, turned toward evil and away from good, if one was against it." In the conviction that radical goals are noble, however problematic the radical means, lie the seeds of liberalism’s historic alliance with -- and protection of -- the anti-liberal Left. -David Horowitz (quote is from Lionel Trilling's novel The Middle of the Journey)

Probably not a new observation, but I hadn't thought about it in that way. It strikes me as dead on, having tried to understand the thought processes of dedicated liberals in my own family. For example, the thinking that all that killing of clergy and aristocrats in the French Revolution might have been bad but "necessary" to establish an order based on equality. I say no: it was just bad.

[Sam Cree]

"For example, the thinking that all that killing of clergy and aristocrats in the French Revolution might have been bad but "necessary" to establish an order based on equality. I say no: it was just bad."

The cornerstone of socialism is that everyone is supposed to be working toward the "common good." Anyone working towards some other good is then clearly hurting the common effort. I believe that is the reason why socialists are so ready to "eliminate" citizens that are out of the loop. Also, as a corollary, it probably explains why Democrats are so ready to use the "politics of personal destruction," so much more likely than Republicans, for instance.