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The most active thread yesterday was titled, "UHC CEO Gunned Down in Midtown Manhattan" and posted in the "Off-Topic" forum. There were also threads on this topic posted in the "Political Discussion" forum and the "Money and Finances" forum. I either locked or deleted those threads so that we wouldn't have duplicates. This thread, of course, is about the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was shot in Manhattan while preparing for UHC's annual investor conference. The shooting appears to have been a premeditated, well-planned-out, targeted killing. Many of the posts concentrate on the event itself, reporting details as they became known and speculating about the identity of the killer. But probably even more of the thread is devoted to debating America's healthcare industry. The thread is revealing of the anger that lies in many people about our healthcare system and, at times, even a bit frightening. The thread is also another demonstration of the difficulty moderating threads of this sort when there is suddenly mass interest in the topic. I was personally shocked to see the number of posts that praised the killing and urged that more CEOs be similarly murdered. I was actually forced to lock the thread for a couple of hours while I went through the then 33 pages to remove such posts. I considered them to be hugely inappropriate. I believe that I removed 12 pages worth of posts in that effort. Probably the biggest issue of debate regarding the shooting itself was the identity of the killer. Many posters suggested that the shooter might be a disgruntled customer who was upset about coverage being denied. Posters invented elaborate scenarios that might drive a normal person to shoot a CEO on the streets of New York City. Others argued that the killer must be a professional hitman, the only question was who had hired him. As details became available, speculation went from the hitman idea to maybe a less than professional killer. The video that was released of the shooting at first suggested that the killer was well-practiced and very competent. Later information, however, seemed to lean against that view. An intriguing detail that has just emerged — that the bullets used had "Delay", "Deny", and "Defend" written on them — could indicate that anger towards the insurance industry was a motivation. "Delay Deny Defend: Why insurance companies don't pay claims and what you can do about it" is a best-selling book on Amazon.com that is critical of insurance companies. Plenty of posters were very vocal about their own anger with insurance, especially health insurance. There is a widespread perception that health insurance corporations are motivated to turn down coverage to their customers and, therefore, profit from those customers' deaths. Thompson was personally vilified because UHC is considered one of the worst insurers when it comes to denying coverage. Even posters who explicitly said they don't condone murder had a hard time feeling much sympathy for the death. Other posters were downright giddy. Some even hoped that this would be the start of changes in the system. However, as other posters pointed out, the system we have is roughly that for which people have voted. There has never been strong electoral support for single-payer systems that would eliminate the role of insurance companies. Moreover, the incoming administration of President-elect, cult leader, and convicted felon Donald Trump will, if anything, make things even worse. Trump famously does not have a healthcare plan, but only the "concept" of a plan.