Mainstream media and government elites are “shocked” by a massive outpouring of haha emojis after the assassination of the CEO of United Healthcare. Shooting people is not a great way to solve things, and it’s probably not going to work out well for the accused assassin, unless he can pull an OJ Simpson with the jury. But chronic pain, permanent impairment, financial ruin, and, yes, even murder avoidable death, are being dealt every day to ordinary Americans by ordinary American health insurance companies.

I have to admit that when I first heard the headline my immediate response was, Well, no surprise there.

The insurance company Anthem had recently announced a plan to limit anesthesia coverage to the predicted duration of an operation, as opposed to its actual duration. This announcement was met with equanimity by the major press and politicians, among whom there are apparently no persons who can imagine what it would be like to be dropped off anesthesia before you’re stitched up. Anthem reversed that decision immediately after the assassination, a tangible positive result.

I feel like I should stop the blog right here, because everyone knows this already, right? Our singular for-profit healthcare system makes people sicker, and America’s health has plummeted in my lifetime while its healthcare costs have burgeoned.

The observable failure of our healthcare system has fed into the cynicism created by decades of being blanketed with false messages about government waste and trickle-down economics combined with stories of why three is the right number for yachts as well as bears. The only people doing well in America are moguls, and non-mogul 21st-century Americans are ready for a piece of the action, including our doctors. Getting more money is a good thing, however you go about it. If we’re rich we’re trying to get richer. If we’re not we’re trying to get there.

I heard today that Detroit was having an “upturn” after a decline lasting over 50 years. I hope they’ll have an upturn lasting 50 years. If this neglect of Detroit is exemplary of other regions of the country, no wonder citizen-victims of all ages are fed up with waiting for their turn to prosper.

The depth of the cynicism is truly fathomless, especially for us those of us who grew up when it was pretty simple to identify an asshole. Like Pete Hegseth, a jerk, an alcoholic, a misogynist, and a perpetrator of sexual assault. Even so, zero Republican male Senators are going to vote against him while the Republican women Senators are “trying” to find a way to vote Yes.

I guess Republicans just want the Cabinet to behave more like the Supreme Court.

The Democrats are cynical as well, responsible for moving most blue-collar jobs overseas, destroying limits on monopolies and income inequality, failing to devise reasonable immigration policy for decades, and making policies that led to us imprisoning more people than any other nation.

We’re number one!

So I really am sympathetic to those who felt neither voting choice was good. Soon I fear I will need to be empathetic with them as well. When the macroeconomically-challenged Elon and Vivek take the $1.5 trillion of Social Security payments out of circulation, my own personal economy is going to collapse along with the nation’s.

Pretty sure I won’t be around for 50 years of decline though.