I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around the reactions to the assassination of United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson. Even before the alleged perpetrator of the crime, Luigi Mangioni, was caught, he seemed to have more people cheering him on than calling him what he is - a murderer. But people don't seem to be splitting on it as Left/Right as expected, which is different than the similarly thrust into populist hero-worship of Jacob Penny, who was found not guilty this week of homicide. Though the two cases are wildly different legally, I worry about our country's populist moment leading to not just more excusing of violence, but an open embrace of it.
