Left of Lansing
206: Monday Musing: Health Care CEO Murder Exposes A Tragedy For America
Here's the left-o-lancing Monday musing for the summer 9th of 2024. So much has already been said about the murder of United healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, whose alleged killer may have been captured in Altoona, Pennsylvania, as of this recording. The suspect shot Thompson in Midtown Manhattan last week and NBC News reports he was found to have a fake New Jersey ID and a gun similar to the one used to kill Thompson and also a silencer. Now, as many of you already know, millions flocked to social media after news of Thompson's death surfaced and many of the comments revealed a visceral anger at the healthcare industry. Of course, I do not condone any type of murder. And this actually is another example of how easy it is to commit gun crimes in this country, which is a tragedy. And Second Amendment Solutions, which are celebrated by the MAGA right wing, are never the solutions that we progressives would ever advocate. The guy had a family and I didn't know him. He's still a human being and while I may have fervently disagreed with his viewpoints on the healthcare industry or the failures of the healthcare industry, I would have wanted to take away Thompson's and many of his fellow rich healthcare CEO's jobs, not lives. I want to defeat them at the ballot box and within the law or the laws that we create. But as the Detroit Free Press's Mitch album wrote over the weekend, Thompson's family probably looked on in disbelief at the millions of angry and hate filled comments directed towards Thompson. As Mitch album writes, "They, Thompson's family, must have felt powerless, aggrieved the victims of colossal insensitivity. Too bad that to many Americans using health insurance, that sounds so familiar." Wow. I mean, I have to say, of all people, I didn't think Mitch would have been the one to take the angle of looking at the gray areas of this murder and of the healthcare industry as a whole, but he did. And hey, give credit where credits do. Because Brian Thompson's murder did rip off a scab that's been all too present for millions and millions of Americans. That is how the current for-profit healthcare industry is failing and harming people. And judging from what I have seen on social media, it appeared the frustrations ran the politically ideological gamut. It wasn't just progressives, it wasn't just right-wingers that seemed like it was just about anybody. It's the kind of anger against corporate greed that's been shared by those who voted for Kamala Harris and for those who voted for Donald Trump. That's why it was so foolish for the Harris campaign to celebrate how corporate CEOs backed her economic plans because now is not the time to celebrate having CEOs on your side since millions of Americans believe CEOs are not on their side. It was also foolish for Harris to bring on the American Express CEO on the same night that Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders and UAW President Sean Fain took to the stage at the DNC convention. It just put up many, many mixed messages. You see, Americans are fed up being held hostage by corporate industries and are fed up being told, "Hey, you just have to deal with it." I mean, I suppose that's the real sadness of this election. Some 77 million Americans, including 2.8 million Michiganders, believe that Donald Trump would be the guy to take on corporate power, corporate corruption, and corporate greed. That is tragic considering he has always lived a life of corruption. It's tragic considering he is busy surrounding himself with the very billionaires many of his voters seem to loathe. It's tragic because they'll be confused when they see him surrounded by Republicans and maybe also a Democrat or two as they celebrate Trump signing yet another major cut in the corporate tax rate. And maybe when he signs a bill or maybe when he announces a rule to gut the funding at the IRS, funding which helped ensure that rich people were paying their taxes. It's tragic because while UnitedHealthcare was one of the top companies that led in denying care to its customers and while for-profit private insurers utilize death panels to deny care to its customers, Donald Trump and the Republican Party will never do anything to put more power into the customers or the patient's hands. Donald Trump and the Republican majority in DC will keep this crooked system going. Even more tragic, many establishment Democrats will do the same. And that's the ultimate tragedy because the people are begging for someone to hear them and begging for someone to help them out. But DC Democrats refuse to hear those voices and that's why they're out of power in DC. LeftofLancing@gmail.com is the best way to reach me. Subscribe to the podcast and also subscribe to LeftofLancing on YouTube. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter, the Gram and Facebook. Take the battle to them. [Music] [Music]