A New Low For Liberal Haters?

This is perhaps, the final proof that modern liberalism is all about hating people, not helping people. Like so many instances of left-wing lunacy, it involves the Koch brothers.

Specifically, David Koch, who gave New York-Presbyterian Hospital $100 million toward construction of a new outpatient facility. This is how the hospital described Koch’s gift:

Hospital trustee and longtime supporter David H. Koch has made the lead gift of $100 million to support the new center, which will be called the David H. Koch Center. The transformative gift is the largest philanthropic donation in the hospital’s history….

The David H. Koch Center is designed to provide patients with the best personalized and integrated outpatient care, from diagnosis to treatment to aftercare, in a single, patient-friendly and technologically sophisticated environment. The 450,000-square-foot facility will open in 2018. The center will house a range of services, including multidisciplinary care for digestive diseases, cancer and other conditions, as well as preadmission testing for all hospital patients, outpatient surgery, interventional radiology, diagnostic imaging and a wellness center.

A sane person who has found himself on the opposite side of one political issue or another from David Koch would respond to that news by concluding that Koch is a pretty nice guy who is doing some good things in the world, whether I agree with him on various political issues or not. But that isn’t how today’s liberals think. No: instead, New York’s liberals are protesting against David Koch’s $100 million gift. Free Beacon has the story:

[T]he New York State Nurses’ Association, the NAACP New York State Conference, and SEIU Local 1199, among others, … marched on the soon-to-be-built David H. Koch Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, which was funded in part by a $100 million donation from the man one prominent liberal recently predicted would go down in history as a “famously evil person.”

The donation was the largest in the hospital’s history, and will presumably create a fair number of new nursing jobs. So why are the usual suspects up in arms? Well, the agitators were apparently agitated because this particular hospital didn’t need all the money. Oh yeah, and because it was International Women’s Day, and the Kochs are the primary funders of the “war on women’s reproductive rights … and many other issues of concern to American women.” They’re also behind “the effort to defeat and repeal healthcare to all Americans,” whatever that means.

Liberals march to protest improved health care

Liberals march to protest improved health care

The liberals’ anti-health care protest was timed to coincide with International Women’s Day. It was organized in part by Jennifer Flynn Walker, who created this graphic for a Facebook page:

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That’s mostly the usual anti-Koch BS, but the lead item is curious: “Koch funds…the war on women’s reproductive rights.” Actually, the Koch brothers have never taken a position on abortion. To the extent that the libertarian organizations they support have weighed in on the issue, most of them are likely pro-abortion. Also, Mrs. Flynn Walker is herself a lesbian activist whose gay wedding was celebrated in the New York Times. Does she know that David Koch is a supporter of gay marriage? Perhaps not.

And how on Earth can the New York State Nurses’ Association oppose construction of a new outpatient treatment facility that will, among other things, provide employment for lots of nurses? Check out their Twitter feed. It is completely insane. Here is one of the mildest examples:

A rational person would wonder: if David Koch is opposed to affordable health care, why would he donate $100 million to a hospital? Won’t his contribution help to make health care more affordable?

The NAACP’s participation in the protest is also hard to understand. Do they think that New York-Presbyterian’s new outpatient facility won’t treat black people? Presumably not; but then, how can they possibly be opposed to providing better health care to New York’s African-American population?

Most bizarre of all is the fact that elected New York City officials protested against David Koch’s $100 million contribution toward the improvement of health care in New York. It is hard to get your mind around that fact, but it is true. Here is New York City Council member Ben Kallos railing against the construction of the new outpatient center:

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The Free Beacon says:

Just to be clear: Kallos is a sitting city council member who attended a protest against the addition of a new hospital care center in the neighborhood he represents because … Koch brothers!

David Koch is a cancer survivor who has given hundreds of millions of dollars to cancer research and to improve the treatment of cancer and other diseases, out of love and concern for his fellow man. Liberals try to block improved health care because they are consumed by rage and hate. This episode tells you, really, all you need to know about modern liberalism.

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