A joke': Wall Street Journal editor questions motive behind NY Times anti-Obamacare op-ed

The New York Times published an op-ed Monday by Lori Gottlieb, a psychotherapist and writer, who says under Obamacare she lost her doctor and is being forced to pay more for health insurance. It was widely cited by conservatives as more proof of the new health care law's failings and Gottlieb was derided on the left as an elitist who didn't want to help the less fortunate. Wall Street Journal online editor James Taranto, a nearly across the board anti-Obama critic, is suspicious of the op-ed.

James Taranto

"At first we were pleasantly surprised that the Times, whose editorial page has been unwavering in its pro-ObamaCare propagandizing, was giving space to an opposing point of view," Taranto writes in a blog post at the Journal.

But by the end of his post: "[T]he way [Gotliebb] frames her complaints is so off-putting, you have to wonder if the Times intended the article's publication as a joke at ObamaCare critics' expense."

The problem? Gotliebb made a couple whimsical comments in her piece about the lack of sympathy she received from her friends (Obamacare supporters) over the difficulties the new law was causing her.

For that, Taranto suspects the Times published Gotliebb's piece was meant to make Obamacare detractors look bad.

There's no pleasing some people. Taranto seems to be one of those people.

@eScarry