Yes, it's me! Mark Steyn of that ilk - back in the saddle for another hour of questions from Steyn Clubbers around the planet, as the world's most uniquely unique "peaceful transition of power" chunters on.
This will be our last Clubland Q&A before Christmas, so in this season of goodwill to all men I'm happy to entertain your thoughts on whatever's on your mind. The last time I was in the chair was the day a health-insurance CEO, Brian Thompson, was gunned down in midtown Manhattan. His killer, a high-school valedictorian from a wealthy family, proved hugely popular on social media. Does he have any broader appeal? Well, courtesy of Emerson College Polling:
A poll found 41 percent of adults under 30 consider the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson acceptable, more than the 40 percent in that demographic who consider it unacceptable.
Anger over health insurance companies has been in the spotlight after Thompson was fatally shot Dec. 4 in New York City.
Has it? Not in any meaningful way. As one would expect, cold-blooded murder is most popular on the left, but, by the standards of the day, it's comparatively non-partisan:
22 percent of Democrats said they found the killing acceptable, compared to 16 percent of independents and 12 percent of Republicans.
You can find the full poll results in more detail here. The question was posed as follows:
Do you think the actions of the killer of the United Healthcare CEO are acceptable or unacceptable?
Overall, sixty-eight per cent of Americans found it "unacceptable". Which leaves the remaining third either indifferent or willing to entertain it.
As listeners will have gathered, I am not in general a fan of the US health-care system - not just because of my near-death experience at the hands of the psychotic bastards at the University of Vermont Medical Center but for other reasons: My alleged "cadillac" health-care plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield refused to cover the costs of my heart attack in France on the grounds that I had not given them sufficient notice before having the treatment. That's because, as dear Nurse Audrey told me in the ambulance to the cardiac centre, I was fifteen minutes from death. Fortunately, the bill - for a week in the delightful Provencal ICU - was a smidgeonette under five thousand euros. The tab for a week in, say, the University of Vermont ICU would have brought on another heart attack.
Nevertheless, I am not as persuaded as a third of Americans that assassination may be the best way forward for health-care reform. The poll seems more of a tribute to the left's success at dehumanising anybody who disagrees with them. As we approach the first anniversary of my trial in the District of Columbia Superior Court (with Judge Arsepants yet to rule on the "post-trial motions"), I take it as read that, had I been gunned down outside the courthouse, well north of forty-one per cent of the jury pool would have found the assassination of a "climate denier" more than "acceptable". This is the world the left has made: it's not a public-policy disagreement.
Whether or not you're a member of The Mark Steyn Club, you can listen to our show live as it happens wherever you chance to be on this turbulent earth: Club membership is required only to ask a question. We love to hear from brand new members, and especially appreciate those who are having such a great time round these parts that they've signed up a chum for a Steyn Club Gift Membership. Among the additions to our ranks in recent days are newbies from around the globe - from Toronto to Tunbridge Wells, La Grange to Llangynidr, Ashkelon to Invercargill. Whether you've joined this week either for a full year or a see-how-it-goes experimental quarter, do shoot me a head-scratcher for today's show.
But, if you're not interested in joining, no worries, as they say in Oz: We seek no unwilling members - and as always the show is free to listen to, so we hope you'll want to tune in. So see you back here at 3pm North American Eastern - which is 8pm in London, 9pm in Paris, 10pm in Jerusalem,11pm in Moscow; half-past-eleven in Teheran; one-forty-five in Kathmandu; 4am in Singapore and Honkers (sorry about that); 7am in Sydney and Melbourne; 9am in Auckland, and an even more convivial hour for the kippers and kedgeree in His Majesty's Dominions eastward across the Pacific, where you're so far ahead I've probably already lost my appeal by now...
