Bullets > Ballots

What do you know? Assassinations work.

Just days after the December 4 murder of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, a Florida woman named Briana Boston was charged by police for ending a call to a health insurance company with the words, “delay, deny, depose.” And then: “You people are next.”

Those first three words, from the assassination’s shell casings, of course, were the 2024 answer to "Sic semper tyrannis”—John Wilkes Booth’s cri de coeur after he blew Abe Lincoln’s brains out.

Nine days ago. Those were the days. That’s when a reference to “delay, deny” could get you arrested. Not anymore. Today it’s a slogan used by The Washington Post, to solemnly reflect not on the murder but on the very good points made by the assassin about how much health insurance sucks.

This is because the assassin—let’s call him Luigi for concision’s sake—has gained more than stans who admire him for his hair and abs. He has copycats—and a world of ideological heirs. Briana Boston suggests that a decent group of healthcare bolsheviks believe Luigi was right. And that delays and denials by health-insurance companies must be avenged.