Pun Salad

I wasn't enraptured by the first book in this series by Deanna Raybourn, Killers of a Certain Age, but I thought it was OK enough to give this sequel a try.

Result: I was (even) less fond of this one, and I probably won't pick up book #3, if there is one.

The series' gimmick is that four women "of a certain age" form a closely-knit team of professional assassins, working for the "Museum", an organization dedicated to ferreting out villains worldwide, and delivering rough, very rough, justice. This entry has the foursome on the trail of an Eastern European gangster, the son of a previously-dispatched baddie. He is disposed of easily enough (page 92), but unfortunately the team finds itself in subsequent mortal danger from … whom? Well, that's a mystery.

Not to be sexist, but… OK, to be more than a little sexist: The book suffered from over-description of irrelevant details about clothing, food, scenery, architecture, interior decor, … I classify this as "Sue Grafton Disease", and it's just not my cup of tea. A lot of international travel, leading me to wonder if Raybourn was able to deduct her own travel as "research".

In addition, the "lighthearted wisecracks" I (kind of) liked in the previous book, just fell flat for me here, not working at all. The four teammates seem to spend a lot of time mean-spirited sniping at each other. Raybourn also seems to have doubled down on what I characterized as "explicit, sometimes gory, violence" in the first book. Lots of blood and detailed descriptions of rough altercations.

Our Eye Candy du Jour is by Roman Genn, and filched from Charles C.W. Cooke's National Review article: The Great Derangement. (archive.today link) Which I linked to last month, but it's only gotten more relevant in the intervening weeks. I'll go for a different excerpt, Charlie's bottom line:

More examples abound, unfortunately.

Which brings us to Jim Geraghty, who tells us of A Vivid Portrait of a Torrid Affair Between Two Lunatics.

Jim goes on to describe the recently-revealed relationship between Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and journalist Olivia Nuzzi. You'll come away with a deeper appreciation of just how nutty these people are.

Also of note:

• A communiqué from Planet Sanity. Mitch Daniels was one of the people disrespected in the Kurt Schlicter article we linked to yesterday; Schlicter deemed him "the preening Cory Booker of the Midwest". (Schlicter, by the way, might have been the studio model for that guy on the left in the Roman Genn pic above.)

  Anyway, Mitch takes to the WaPo to observe and wonder: Public norms have been warped. Is the damage permanent? (WaPo gifted link)

  Allow me to start at the relatively trivial end of the list. Profanity is suddenly mainstream. Once unacceptable words, specifically the one you know I’m thinking of, are everywhere. From comedians who apparently couldn’t get laughs without them, to politicians who must think it makes them look tough, the grossness has now infected even our formerly proudest and most stately publications. However one might wish, it seems unlikely that once the vulgar becomes commonplace, society will ever re-rule it out of bounds.

  The infantilization of political debate, and personal demonization of opponents, may similarly have ratcheted downward, although on this score one can imagine some recovery. At some point, the public could tire of playground insults and asinine nicknames, and start asking for a little more substance from those elected to serve them. Interminable stalemate, especially when the country enters a stretch of serious economic or national security difficulty, could trigger a collective demand to “Grow up.”

  "Grow up" is fine, but "Get professional help" is another possibility.

• Or for one more possibility… Kevin D. Williamson suggests that Marjorie Taylor Greene perform An Act of Contrition.

  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is in a penitent mood. “I would like to say, humbly, I’m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics,” she said in an interview Sunday on CNN, where all normal, spiritually mature Christians such as Rep. Greene go to make their confessions.

  If Rep. Greene is feeling humble, she has a lot to be humble about. She is an embarrassing, self-aggrandizing vulgarian and a cancer on American politics. She is dumb and she is dishonest, if you will forgive my being plain here, and the people of her district in Georgia could get along just fine without her.

  She should let them.

  I mean this sincerely. Rep. Greene professes to put her Christian faith at the center of her life and American flourishing at the center of her politics. She has an opportunity to put those professions into action if she is sincere—as I will assume, arguendo, that she is, though I actually very much doubt it—about her regret over her contributions to “toxic politics.”

  Rep. Greene should resign her office and return to private life.

  Voters should demand it, but they probably won't.

• "You keep using that word…" These days Inigo Montoya might deploy his famous quote against Democrat pols who keep prattling about "affordability". William McGurn points out an inconvenient truth: their vision of ‘Affordability’ Costs a Bundle. (WSJ gifted link)

  In his 1968 book, “The Joys of Yiddish,” Leo Rosten defines chutzpah this way: “that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan.”

  Today in Washington, we have a new example. It comes in the form of Democrats who have spent years making life more expensive for Americans—and who propose “fixes” that reflect the same government-first thinking that made things unaffordable in the first place. Does anyone really believe that the answer to what ails us is more government spending or yet another government program?

  This should be an opportunity for President Trump and Republicans. They could point out that most of the time Democratic proposals to make things affordable simply shift who gets stuck with the bill. Where were the Democrats now hollering about affordability during the four years when President Biden was spending, regulating and otherwise expanding government in ways that priced the American dream out of reach for millions?

  The problem being (of course) that Trump is not a convincing champion of getting government out of the loop. And most Republicans seem to be following his lead.

• For example… Tony LoSasso and Kosali Simon propose The Real Fix for ObamaCare. (WSJ gifted link)

  Much of the ObamaCare debate focuses on premium subsidies: who should get them and how big they should be. The real problem isn’t the subsidies’ size, but the system’s design.

  The Affordable Care Act’s subsidy formula guarantees that people buying health insurance through the marketplaces pay no more than a fixed percentage of income for a benchmark plan. The government pays the rest. This shields buyers from premium increases but ensures that when premiums rise, taxpayers pay more. Insurers face little pressure to compete on price, and government costs grow faster than enrollment.

  Their fix:

  The coming debate over extending these subsidies is a chance to correct the design, not only the price. A sustainable marketplace would look more like the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: The government makes a predictable contribution pegged to a lower-cost, benchmark plan; consumers who choose pricier options pay the difference. The system, sometimes called “managed competition,” helps keep public costs in check and rewards insurers that deliver value rather than raise premiums.

  Modest reforms could go a long way, while preserving affordability. Pegging subsidies to a lower-cost, benchmark plan would immediately reduce overspending. Setting the subsidy slightly below the cheapest plan would eliminate zero-premium gaming, which has raised concerns about fraudulent enrollment. With growing bipartisan interest in allowing health savings accounts in the marketplace, regulators could let enrollees keep the savings when they choose lower-cost plans.

  I could be wrong, but I speculate that the combination of spineless Republicans and demagogic Democrats would doom this reform out of the gate. (Gee, I'm kind of a Debbie Downer today, huh?)