Nate Jackson
Nate Jackson contributes posts at The Patriot Post site. His career in political analysis began in arguments about Reaganomics with his eighth grade American history teacher.
After the assassin’s bullet came within an inch of taking Donald Trump’s life in July, some Trump Deranged folks on the left mused that it was a pity the would-be killer missed. When a masked shooter did not miss on Wednesday in New York City, taking the life of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a targeted ambush killing, some on the left once again expressed solidarity with the murderer.
Few Americans would rank insurance companies high on their favorites list, but to express smug satisfaction with the murder of a human being – in this case, a husband and father of two boys – is jarring. Is that really where our culture is?
Former Washington Post and New York Times ‘journalist’ Taylor Lorenz posted:
People have very justified hatred toward insurance company CEOs because these executives are responsible for an unfathomable amount of death and suffering. As someone against death and suffering, I think it’s good to call out this broken system and the people in power who enable it.
She later piled on, writing, “I hope people learn the names of all of these insurance company CEOs and engage in very peaceful letter writing campaigns so that they stop ruthlessly murdering thousands of innocent Americans by denying coverage.” She added the non sequitur, “Healthcare is a human right. We need universal healthcare now.” (We do have universal healthcare. The argument is over who pays for it.)
To be fair, Lorenz is an attention seeker who’s trying to build her own personal brand after being dumped by the Post earlier this year. But she’s hardly alone.
Anthony Zenkus, a social work professor at Barack Obama’s alma mater, Columbia University, mocked:
Today, we mourn the death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, gunned down…. wait, I’m sorry – today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires.
Zenkus describes himself in his X bio as a “Commie” who’s “anti-violence.” Except when the victim of violence is a filthy capitalist, apparently.
So it went all over social media with random lefties saying similar and far worse things, such as pondering whether informing other insurance CEOs “you’re next” might be “an actionable threat.” What is this, 1793 France?
Sickeningly, the UnitedHealthcare Facebook post mourning Thompson’s death currently has over 76,000 ‘haha’ reactions.
None of these clowns had even heard of Brian Thompson until news broke of his murder. All they think they need to know is that insurance companies are bad because we don’t live in a socialist utopia in which everyone can get every drug, checkup, and procedure they need or desire without receiving a bill for services. While leftists routinely deny actual rights like free speech and the right to bear arms, they have falsely redefined ‘rights’ to include services provided by others. They must also think that plantation owners had a right to have their cotton picked.
Because Thompson made over $10 million a year running a large company that didn’t rubber stamp every single claim, these Jacobins reason that he deserved to die.
It does seem as though the murderer had this in mind. Bullet casings recovered at the scene were inscribed with the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose,” which certainly indicates that the killer had a beef with UnitedHealthcare’s coverage.
He’s still at large, though authorities continue collecting and releasing more information about him, including pictures from security cameras. It’s only a matter of time before he’s captured.
In the meantime, the big picture is two-fold.
First, there are indeed huge problems with the American healthcare system. I don’t have the space here to delve deeply, but just to name a few things: insurance should not be tied to employment. It should not be subsidized or mandated by the government (all ObamaCare did was take a broken system and force everyone to participate in it). Insurance should not cover routine care in full because that’s no longer insurance against perceived risk: it’s just a subsidy program to cover predicted expenses. That’s why premiums are so maddeningly expensive, and it’s why auto insurance doesn’t cover oil changes. Health insurance gatekeepers are why you can’t go to the doctor and see a price list for services, which is practically criminal.
None of those problems are specifically the fault of one CEO. They’re systemic problems that go back decades, and left-wingers have zero real solutions.
Many Americans are ticked off at insurance companies for what, most of the time, feels like a scam. Even there, however, a survey last year found that only three per cent of Americans rate their health insurance as “poor,” while 81 per cent rate it as “excellent” or “good.” In any case, it should go without saying that murder is not a solution to any dissatisfaction.
Second, this reveals the deep sickness of leftist ideology. Whereas they think this CEO deserved to be shot in the back and killed simply because he’s a wealthy CEO, they also believe their favored identity groups can do no wrong. “If you work within a system that the hard-left deems morally praiseworthy or you’re a member of a ‘morally praiseworthy group,’ you can literally do anything,” wrote Ben Shapiro. “If your grievance aligns with the view of the left as they deem in any way legitimate, you can do anything.”
That’s why loonies are blocking the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to protest in favor of the murderous jihadis of Hamas.
It’s also why a young marine veteran named Daniel Penny is in New York City, still awaiting a jury verdict in a trumped-up murder case. Penny acted as a Good Samaritan to protect his fellow subway passengers from a violent, homeless man named Jordan Neely. When Neely died after Penny’s intervention, all the left – including Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg – needed to know was that Penny is white and Neely was black. They judged him guilty a long time ago.
My prescription for left-wingers is to do some serious soul-searching and try to express some grace for fellow human beings.
His study of history and politics continued through school and work, and he finally landed at The Patriot Post in 2004. He’s been managing editor since 2007.
This article was originally posted at The Patriot Post and republished by PA Pundits – International.
