1/13
I have watched every presidential inauguration that I can remember, since I was a little boy, and long before I ever imagined I would live in America. But I had never watched one the way I watched the inauguration of Joe Biden. #velshi
2/13
I’d never considered the details leading up to an inauguration. I watched this one like a nervous parent, making sure everything went as planned. #velshi
3/13
Thanks to the last four years, everything is different, now. Our demons are on full display, our Union is certifiably imperfect. Our nation is divided. #velshi
4/13
After a year that takes first place in our history for death, destruction, fear and injustice, normalcy is struggling to regain its place. One thing with which we will struggle in this new day for America is the death of shame. #velshi
5/13
In addition to the other norms the former president destroyed, he turned lying - deliberate, casual and often with the force of law - into an art form and, with that, contributed to the death of shame. #velshi
6/13
I’ve been a business journalist for most of my career. When I’d interview a CEO and they’d tell me something that wasn’t true, and I’d have the evidence that it wasn’t true, it would make for an awkward moment. #velshi
7/13
The CEOs tried to explain it away. Their people would offer clarifications and maybe, there’d be a statement of clarification. Maybe even an apology. #velshi
8/13
If the lie - or any kind of wrongdoing pointed out by the press, was significant, someone might resign, a red letter of sorts on their chest. A mark of shame. #velshi
9/13
For some people - some liars – there’s no shame now. One reason I haven’t had Trump officials or allies on @VelshiMSNBC for the last several months is that confronting them with the truth stopped mattering. When caught lying or distorting the facts, they lied more. #velshi
@VelshiMSNBC 10/13
To wear a red letter - TWO red letters, in the former president's case - both capitals for impeachment. It means little to him; there is no contrition. #velshi
@VelshiMSNBC 11/13
He explains it away as partisan or calls it a hoax or a witch hunt. A source of shame once again somehow morphed into to a badge of honor. The death of shame - is the real catastrophe. #velshi
@VelshiMSNBC 12/13
If we as humans do not feel shame in doing something wrong, or in getting caught doing something wrong, what guardrails exist? #velshi
13/13
When the powerful can’t be embarrassed by the bad choices they make, people suffer, democracy erodes, institutions crumble & lies proliferate. This time, people died. If we allow what we’ve witnessed the past 4 years to go on then shame on us all. #velshi
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1/11
It may sound counterintuitive to be having a conversation but there are some issues that just don’t have two sides. Nobody is in favor of tornadoes, or cancer, or against pizza – maybe pineapple on pizza, but not pizza itself. #velshi
2/11
There are, in fact, things that we can all agree upon. Unanimously. Or at least within a very VERY small margin of error. What led to the second impeachment of the former president is one of those things that doesn’t have two sides. #velshi
3/11
There are many who claim to be against the 2nd impeachment but, when you examine those claims, they are political, or maybe even constitutional when considering impeaching a president whose no longer in office. #velshi
1/9 Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr day and, in a year marked by constant and tremendous racial strife, the meaning of a day honoring a man who was committed to PEACEFULLY fighting for civil rights is even more poignant. #velshi
2/9 Signed into law in 1983 by Ronald Reagan, #MLK day has become a national day of service during which people volunteer to help others in their community, which is fitting because it took a community to make #MLK day happen in the first place. #velshi
3/9 The campaign to create a federal holiday in his name began just 4 days after Dr. King’s assassination in 1968 when Michigan Congressman John Conyers introduced a resolution to make it happen. It failed. #velshi
1/13
On the night of Thursday, May 28th, I was standing in front of a burning liquor store at the corner of E. Lake St. & Minnehaha Ave in Minneapolis. 3 days had passed since the killing of George Floyd by police. #velshi
2/13
I had been at that intersection for 6 hours watching the frustration grow. For 90 seconds, I described the scene, in detail, to my colleague Brian Williams, who was anchoring in New York City. But I was concerned... #velshi
3/13
The impression one might get from watching a police station overcome & of buildings burning was that of riot, or that Minneapolis was burning. But it wasn’t & I wanted to emphasize that the majority of the protestors were peaceful & not participating in any violence. #velshi
1/10
Three days ago, we saw the putrid runoff of what’s been stoked, distilled & fomented by Trump since the beginning of his term. The riot in service of an attempted coup wasn’t spontaneous. It was planned & encouraged by the President of the United States of America. #velshi
2/10
The halls of our Capitol have only twice seen such insurrection - the last being August 24, 1814 when the British invaded Washington DC, set fire to the White House and breached the U.S. Capitol building before setting it ablaze. #velshi
3/10
The U.S. Senate was unable to meet in the historic Old Senate Chamber for nearly 5 years after that. On Wednesday, Senators returned after just five hours. But what a chaotic five hours it was. #velshi
1/9 156 years since General William Sherman and 60,000 Union soldiers captured Savannah. Sherman’s “March to the Sea” devastated both the Confederacy and much of Georgia. Sherman reaching Savannah was the beginning of the end of the Civil War. #gasen
2/9 Until Sherman’s arrival, Savannah was a horrible Confederate bastion of slavery. Just 5 years prior, the city was the scene of one of the largest sales of enslaved persons in American history. #gasen
3/9 436 men, women and children were brought to a Savannah racetrack just 2 miles from here and put in stalls used for horses, where they waited for days, in some cases even weeks. Hotels in town filled with potential slave buyers from across the region. #gasen
1/13
I don’t know how many GOP members of the House and Senate watch @VelshiMSNBC so I have a favor to ask of you: If you know any, or know anyone who knows any, could you pass this message on to them for me? #velshi
@VelshiMSNBC 2/13
While the GOP is busy trying to tear down democracy, there are some difficult realities facing America right now that could really use their attention. We are starting 2021 off in bad shape, considering that this is the most prosperous country on earth. #velshi
@VelshiMSNBC 3/13
America is not the most populous nation in the world; it’s only about 4.25% of the global population. Yet America accounts for nearly a quarter of the world’s coronavirus cases and deaths. #velshi