> When did the hard left start shilling for the US government?
It's a reaction to the Right's continued whining about how awful the government is. If the Right is FOR something, the Left will be AGAINST it, and vice-versa. We think that people's beliefs determine their politics, but its usually the other way around. When being Left or Right is part of your identity, it's very difficult to not adopt a stance against what the other side values.