Liliana Segura
@LilianaSegura
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Journalist focused on prisons & harsh sentencing. More fun than I sound.
Nashville/NYC
Joined April 2009
Stop comparing this to other countries. This is white supremacist violence and it is 100% American.
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The video of celebrities singing Imagine to us from their comfortable homes is exactly what Jenna Maroney would’ve done if there was a pandemic in 30 Rock.
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Yesterday I accompanied a woman to see her loved one in prison. We left before dawn to make it for the AM visit. Several hours later, we were headed back home, our visit denied. I wanted to share a bit about the experience. 1/.
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Virginia just abolished the death penalty. Congratulations to everyone who fought for this for so long.
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Boarding a flight so I’ll leave it here but: It’s moments like these when I feel most overwhelmed by mass incarceration. This was 1 day, in 1 prison, in 1 state in this country. We have built a vast machinery of cruelty and called it justice—and we’re all diminished by it. 16/16.
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The liberal rehabilitation of George W. Bush is fucking immoral.
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People keep calling this a “new low,” but Trump was screaming that Obama was born in Kenya more than a decade ago. This is who he is, this is how he rose to power, we don’t need another smoking gun showing he espouses white supremacy, we need to destroy white supremacy.
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If you voted for the guy who brags about assaulting women, I don't really care what you think about violent protest.
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I’ve been to a bunch of prisons in a bunch of states. The rules are always changing, always arbitrary. What is consistent is the casual cruelty; the indifference; the way some seem to relish denying visits for any reason they can. 13/.
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Pearl-clutching over protests from people with nothing to say about the slaughter of Palestinians is hard to take. But the literal White House casting protesters as terror sympathizers while it funds a genocide will be a clarifying/radicalizing moment for a generation of students.
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This is a thing that always gets to me after visits: It’s not just the trauma for those inside, but the endless harm to those who try to maintain connections to loved ones. Most people don’t have the resources to just adapt; to try again next time. Families become fractured. 15/.
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I have been thinking about the woman who was turned away because of her keys, and the fact that she must now go a month before seeing her own loved one. For what? There is NO reason. Other than keeping people in their place. 14/.
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The little kids saying racist shit at Trump's Montana rally make me sad beyond measure but its the laughter in the background that reminds me white people took their children to lynchings.
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I know there's a lot going on, but the Trump administration still plans to kill three people in the federal death chamber this week. You know, in the name of law and order.
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Rachel Maddow notes that Chelsea and Ivanka are friends IRL--as are their husbands. It's almost like there's a ruling class in this country.
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We were back on the road when her loved one called. Were we running late? He was still waiting for us. Nobody told him what had happened. And that’s how he found out his contact visits have been suspended for a year. 12/.
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Arpaio was thrown out of office by a Latino led grassroots movement, but please keep telling Latinos they just gotta get out & vote Democrat.
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The woman told us she had asked the guards at security if she could just go back to her car and leave her extra keys, then come back. Nope. Not only did they refuse to allow her in, she was banned from visitation for 30 days. 5/.
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Apparently the man we were going to see has had his contact visits suspended. For a year. Reason unclear. Nobody told him. Or his loved one, even though she speaks to his counselor regularly. 9/.
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Washington elites who claim to oppose Kavanaugh but clutch their pearls over protests love to say it's counterproductive when really they just identify more with him & his fellow Morton's patrons than with people whose lives are on the line.
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As she heard this, the woman I came with started shaking, trying to maintain her composure. She repeatedly told the guards that she wasn't mad at them, but pleaded to talk to someone. She was in tears but clearly anxious not to escalate in a way that would lead to reprisals. 10/.
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The first thing we saw upon arriving was an older woman walking back to her car, carrying her visitation form. She looked defeated. She stopped us and warned that we should take any extra keys off our car keychain. “I just got denied for having too many keys.” 4/.
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Children sick and dying in custody; government lawyers arguing kids don't need soap, toothbrushes, or sleep; massive ICE raids looming, and I can't stop thinking about the people who got mad because Kirstjen Nielsen was interrupted at dinner that time.
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As with all prisons, visits are limited to certain days. Our past 2 attempts had been canceled at the last minute after her loved one was thrown in the hole. He has serious health issues and they were really anxious for this visit. 2/.
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Are those freaking out about free speech online also concerned about the violent assaults on journalists at the capitol by Trumpers convinced they're the Enemy of the People, or nah?.
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WH press briefings are one thing, but if media really want to combat "alternative facts," producers should stop booking pathological liars.
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We were stunned—but she seemed more resigned than surprised. She told us to make sure we had no more than $20 in quarters. Also, no earrings, she reminded us—and no necklaces other than a cross. (Wedding bands are okay.) 6/.
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A sergeant came over, checked the computer, said it was not clear why the man’s status changed but he could not allow us in. When the woman asked if someone could notify her loved one about what happened, the sergeant said he would. 11/.
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There is no easy way to share this news. Claude Garrett died yesterday, less than 6 months after he was exonerated and released from prison. He appears to have died in his sleep. He was just short of his 66th birthday. This is the last time I saw him.
It’s been just over 4 months since Claude Garrett was exonerated and walked out of prison. This morning we had coffee (and met this good dog).
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The drive was long, but smooth. We stopped to get quarters along the way, for the vending machines. Some prisons don’t allow money inside, so I thought maybe this facility was more relaxed than others I’ve been to. I was wrong. 3/.
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We went back to the car, took the extra keys off the keychain, and headed inside. Went through security. As I was about to be patted down, the guard smirked and pointed out my (very small) nose ring. “No jewelry.” 7/.
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My heart sank. This hadn't occurred to me. It’s never been an issue before. I was worried I'd be turned away, or worse, that we would both be denied and it’d be my fault. I was offering to take out the piercing when another guard called over—“they can’t visit anyway.” 8/.
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I’m the last to demand outraged opinions on everything that happens on here, but it really feels like more ppl are freaking out over the booing Hillary thing than the expanded Muslim ban and it is frankly making me lose my fucking mind.
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I don’t want to hear anyone say Biden is a good and decent man ever again. No matter what happens with this election, this is his legacy.
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At Nashville airport, where Fuad Sharef & his family just arrived after being sent back to Iraq last week. Huge crowd came to welcome them.
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Any coverage of the wretched ritual known as the White House turkey pardon should say that the Trump DOJ plans to kill at least five human beings in the federal death chamber before Jan 20.
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Good morning. Despite a clemency recommendation from within DOJ, the Trump administration is on track to kill Brandon Bernard tonight. Here's my story on his case, the jurors who oppose his execution & what it's been like to see his neighbors taken to die.
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Good a time as any to remind ppl that before murdering Iraqis, George W. Bush presided over 152 executions in Texas, seriously fuck that guy.
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Let my dog out at 5AM and he returned carrying a whole block of Gruyere. I guess it fell out of a grocery bag somehow? He clearly thought he'd won the lottery and I felt bad taking it from him, so that's how I ended up eating leftover pizza with my dog at 5AM, happy Thanksgiving.
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Always instructive to see who leaps to defend the honor of the most powerful people on earth.
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I'm no lawyer. And I'll need a minute to process that oral argument. But if your career takes you to a place where you're repeatedly telling the Supreme Court "Innocence isn't enough!" in a death penalty case. maybe the prestige isn't worth it.
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This is a good time to remember that Trump and his enablers do not respect the "rule of law," and no matter how absurd or meritless the legal challenges to this election have proven thus far, we're in a pretty dangerous place right now.
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So this 19-year-old white kid doesn't get to go to Harvard and people are outraged. but Georgia is about to execute a black man for a crime he committed at 19. (Spoiler: Prosecutor admitted his codefendant probably fired the fatal shot) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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This country is in a very dangerous place.
“We can’t lose this election, ok?” Trump tells police officers at event a Bedminster.
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This is literally the same man who, as a Texas Ranger, brutally interrogated Melissa Lucio on the night her daughter died to send her to death row.
Victor Escalon, Regional Director, South Texas, Department of Public Safety literally just said of cops involved: "I'm a father. I can't go home tonight and hug my kids. That hurts. The members behind me--our family members. Their kids. It's tough. It's hard." What the holy fuck.
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The revulsion we feel about tonight’s execution in Alabama is the revulsion we should always feel toward the death penalty. Cruelty and barbarism laid bare.
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I don't have words yet; it's heartbreaking and deeply unfair. Claude spent 30 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. He fought so hard. He was patient, focused, and when the day finally came, careful not to exhale prematurely. Not until he knew the state wouldn't appeal.
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BREAKING: Oklahoma AG files request to vacate conviction of Richard Glossip, almost 25 years after he was first sent to death row for the murder of Barry Van Treese. Glossip has always insisted he is innocent. Story to come with @chronic_jordan.
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Every time there’s a shocking & violent police crackdown against protesters in this country, there are people who describe the scenes as resembling what some other, repressive, non-democratic country does, and I’m begging them to consider that this very much the USA.
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If you’re outraged over the 51-year sentence in the Cyntoia Brown case, read this for context. Many, many people are similarly situated, serving de facto LWOP. Also, this scheme may be unique to Tennessee but other states have abolished parole altogether.
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Carceral Dems have dominated politics my whole adult life & the notion that we should expect more from candidates now is thanks to activists who have fought for YEARS to transform our vision of justice. We've come so far, not because of this party, but in spite of it. Keep going.
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I’m no wizard, but I’m pretty sure I can stay focused on the policy while also expressing appropriate revulsion at the cruelty & contempt of that fucking jacket, Jesus Christ people.
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"They will try to fuck his entire legacy on this" is the perfect distillation of the Trumps' victimization complex; Pence could've been ripped limb from limb on live TV and Don Jr. would be like "omg this is so unfair to us".
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There are a lot of new faces at the Dollar General tonight. This is directly across from the penitentiary. Activists successfully sued for access to this spot months ago and hold vigils and protests on execution nights.
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There is no line of questioning from this prosecutor that will expose Ford as part of an elaborate Democratic plot and it's pathetic that Kavanaugh's defenders have stuck to this fiction.
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Couldn’t even make it through this whole story. Too maddening. Camp was urged to reopen so kids could have a sense of normalcy. Things are not normal! It’s a fucking pandemic. But we’re reopening schools & sending kids back to campus. An abject failure.
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In light of the controversy over "cages," it's worth remembering the language we've long used to rationalize youth "detention." When I visited juvenile jail in Memphis, I was told over & over, "this is not a jail.” Kids were in "rooms," not cells.
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This is the full statement released earlier by Henry. "Everyone who participated in the execution of Lisa Montgomery should feel shame."
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No, I don’t think a 98-year-old should be in prison right now. Or ever. Even if they killed someone. Sorry. I’m just weird like that.
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Puerto Rico has no electricity.
Anchoring 3 hrs of special coverage of the Queen’s funeral with @KatyTurNBC + @ChrisJansing, joined by: .@TimEwart5.@sixteenthCgirl.@jonsopel.@Eugene_Robinson.@jmeacham.@KattyKay_.@BeschlossDC.@Jack_Royston.@EdwardGLuce.@KeirSimmons.…and more! Tune in at 10am-1pm ET on @MSNBC.
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This is my story about the case. Higgs was not the triggerman in the murder of Tamika Black, Tanji Jackson and Mishann Chinn—the government concedes this. The man who was the shooter later said the prosecution’s theory was “bullshit.”
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Fuck this and fuck whoever decided on this photo
Opinion: America needs more patriotism
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Trump admin talking secret police and we're fighting over whether it's OK to punch Nazis
.@KellyannePolls: "It's really time for [Trump] to put in his own security and intelligence community." What? @ThisWeekABC.
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Good morning, woke up thinking about how Trump is gonna run as some kind of criminal justice savior, to which a Biden nominee will have very fucking little he can say.
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Since then, and over the past 5 months, Claude relished his freedom. He enjoyed every moment with his daughter, Deana, and especially his grandson, who he absolutely adored. This is one of my favorite photos, sent by Deana about a week after Claude's release. I will cherish it.
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I think a lot about the time Biden told a Latino activist to vote for Trump when he was challenged on immigration. His confidence that he can disrespect voters of color because they need him more than he needs them is grievously misplaced.
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I will write more at some point soon. For now, here's my piece about his release. Thanks to everyone who helped Claude win his freedom. Thanks to everyone who followed and shared his story. Rest in power, Claude Francis Garrett. I will miss you.
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MSNBC literally just did a segment in which 5 men debated whether Hillary was to blame for Bill's infidelity. Garbage, even for cable news.
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The trauma of the past 4 years is real. We can say this while also acknowledging the major traumas inflicted by previous administrations. I feel sadness & rage over the viciousness of this era & the violence of Trump’s last days. But it’s okay to feel joy. A lot of us need it.
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It feels like we're all at a wedding in hell and the best man's toast has gone off the rails.
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Watching Claude leave prison was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. I’m grateful to have been there, grateful he didn’t die in a cage. But I’m angry at the decades he lost, angry at the way incarceration & trauma cut his life short. He tried so hard to be healthy.
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[Pundit voice] "Gorsuch became a Supreme Court Justice tonight"
Gorsuch's first vote on the Supreme Court was to let Arkansas execute Ledell Lee:
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"He was like an old man in the park, feeding squirrels, arguing with himself." -- MSNBC's Steve Schmidt, unfairly smearing old men in parks.
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Proud? You opposed marriage equality until 2013.
Proud to celebrate a historic victory for marriage equality—& the courage & determination of LGBT Americans who made it possible. -H.
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I'll always be grateful to Glenn for bringing me on to launch The Intercept. It's still a place where I can write freely on subjects I hold dear. But the one time I wrote a piece fiercely disagreeing w/ the work of a colleague, he asked me to pull my punches. The piece never ran.
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This whole thing is incredible but I am losing my shit at Alito’s specific brand of seething indignation as expressed by the line: “I stayed for three nights in a modest one-room unit at the King Salmon Lodge.”.
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Media asking grieving black mothers to answer for murders they had nothing to do with is just the kind of dehumanization that inspired #BLM.
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I write about wrongful convictions. I try to be very cautious about drawing conclusions about people's guilt or innocence based on demeanor. So forget his blubbering: That man really sat there and said "Renate Alumnus" was meant to "show affection" and that "she was one of us.".
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Claude had plans. He wanted the state to be held accountable for his wrongful conviction. He wanted compensation. It is unfathomable to me that the people most responsible for stealing so much of his life will never have to confront what they did, that they will outlive him.
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Tucker Carlson was calling Iraqis “semiliterate primitive monkeys” in 2006 but OK
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I don’t have it in me to watch the press conference. Let me guess: no president in history has ever been treated so unfairly by a virus.
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As tonight's execution in Texas approaches, I'm remembering what the brother of James Byrd Jr. wrote me a few years back. "I don't believe it should be up to the state to make that decision. The death penalty is an act of killing itself. Retaliation with no reconciliation.".
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Just got an email from Montgomery's lawyer, Kelley Henry: "They denied Lisa a prayer with her spiritual adviser.".
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Many are calling this a failed coup but I'm certain the fascist mob doesn't see it that way. They invaded the Capitol, terrorized lawmakers, gleefully posed for photos & walked out the door. No doubt it's being toasted as a success, a display of raw power cheered by their leader.
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Cancel all the conferences. There is no excuse for this.
BREAKING: Massachusetts has just announced 51 *new* cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of presumptive cases to 92 -- a 124 percent increase from yesterday. Seventy of the cases are related to the Biogen conference in Boston. Six people are hospitalized. #WBZ.
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Fact-check: He's exactly the same guy.
WATCH: “The guy that’s in the White House now is not the guy we knew 2 years ago.” @JoeNBC says of Trump on @Morning_Joe
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Good morning. The Trump administration plans to kill Dustin Higgs tonight. He would be the 13th person killed in Terre Haute since last summer. I wrote about Dustin, his innocence claim, and his sister Alexa, his "protector." She plans to witness tonight.
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I don't know what will happen with this election but I'm preeeetty fucking tired of the same people who were wrong about literally everything in 2016 lecturing left voters about the urgent need to coalesce around their preferred shitty moderate.
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Good evening from the FCC Terre Haute Training Center. I’m here for the 13th time since last summer. Tonight the Trump DOJ plans to execute Dustin Higgs. It’s the third scheduled killing this week & the last of the federal execution spree.
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Reading a NYT account of the invasion of the Capitol, what kind of work, exactly, is being done by these paragraphs?
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Scripted and manipulative. Telegraph non-indictment, call NatGuard, raise tension, let anger boil over, blame black rage, absolve the state.
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Twitter is fun because you'll say something like "I don't think a 98-year-old should be in prison" and some will go WHAT ABOUT MURDERERS while others say, "Oh, so you're fine with kids being in prison, OK.".
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I was trying to remember if the raccoon who climbed the skyscraper in Minnesota happened in 2017 or 2018. "Think that was last year," my husband said. It was June. That's how long this year has been.
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Still not sure how to deal with the fact that this country just decided to let people die in huge numbers and there is still no end in sight.
Tennessee reports 61 coronavirus deaths today, our highest death total ever by a wide margin. This doesn't mean 61 people died in a 24-hour span, but it does signify lots of deaths in recent days. Prior record was 43 deaths on August 6.
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