Integrity VS Murder

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Christopher Dorner came into the world with
one word that would shape his life for

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better and for worse. Integrity.
Born in the summer of nineteen seventy nine,

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he grew up in California and later
graduated from Southern Utah University. Those

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who knew him described him as a
quiet, but sweet person, friendly and

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loyal. He was athletic and a
team player. He grew up playing sports,

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and he even played on the university's
football team while he was studying.

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But life for Christopher was not without
its hardships. He later admitted that he'd

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been the only African American student in
all of his classes from first grade to

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seventh grade, and as we all
know, children can be cruel to anyone

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who's different. Christopher claimed that he
was often targeted and bullied because of his

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race, and the after effects of
this racial abuse were something that would stick

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with him for the rest of his
life. Writing online years later, Christopher

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stated that he wasn't quote a hoodlum, a gangster, or an aspiring rapper

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like people made him out to be. In fact, Christopher knew what he

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wanted to be early on in life, and it was far from what he

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believed the media and his classmates painted
him as When he was still a teenager,

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Christopher joined his local police department's youth
program, and after attending university,

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he jumped right back in his chosen
career. He officially began his police training

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at the Academy, but stopped in
two thousand and two when he joined the

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United States Navy Reserve. He led
a security unit at Naval Air Station Fallon

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in Nevada before deploying to Bahrain for
almost three years of service. When Christopher

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was honorably discharged in twenty thirteen,
he'd risen to the rank of lieutenant and

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received a Navy Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon and
a Navy Pistol Shot ribbon for his expertise

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in firearms. But when Christopher wasn't
working as a Navy reservist, he was

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back at his studies to become a
police officer. When he returned from duty

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in two thousand and seven, training
offers to Teresa. Evans was put in

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charge of overseeing Christopher's training, but
the relationship seemed to grate on the pair

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of them right from the start.
Christopher confided in Teresa that he planned on

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suing the LAPD once his probationary period
was over. He'd previously filed complaints against

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his classmates and even felt that his
department had not taken him seriously enough.

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Teresa Evans, on the other hand, was already an established member of the

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force who took Christopher's allegations personally.
Tensions were high between Christopher and Teresa,

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but they reached their peak when they
responded to a disturbance of the peace call

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at a Double Tree hotel in San
Pedro. The culprits was a man named

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Christopher Gettler. He suffered from schizophrenia
and dementia. According to the report later

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filed by Christopher Dorner, Teresa Evans
had used excessive force when arresting mister Getler.

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Dorner claimed that once Teresa had Getler
in handcuffs, she'd kicked him twice

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in the chest and once in the
face. The kick to the face allegedly

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left a visible wound on Getler's cheek. Teresa denied these accusations. Getler himself

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didn't substantiate them right away to the
doctor who treated the wound on his face,

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but he did later confide in his
father. Getler's father claimed that his

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son had told him that a female
officer kicked him during his arrest, and

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the LAPD split right down the middle. There were those who believed Christopher and

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those who believed Teresa Evans, and
tensions between them grew even higher. Some

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photos from the scene seemed to contradict
Teresa and her witness's version of the events,

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but Christopher didn't help his case by
waiting to file his official complaint against

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Teresa until after she'd submitted a report
saying that Christopher drastically needed to improve his

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performance. An internal examination that went
on for seven months saw Teresa Evans assigned

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to desk duty, but she was
ultimately found not guilty of any charges by

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a board that consisted of many of
her friends. After that, a case

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was opened against Christopher Dorner, who
was then accused of making false charges and

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complaints against his fellow officers. Both
Christopher Gettler and his father testified in Dorner's

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defense, but by then Christopher Gettler
was very ill and couldn't string a sentence

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together. His father was left to
pass on secondhand information, and things didn't

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go well for Dorner, with testimonies
from other responding officers on the scene backing

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Teresa Evans Up. Christopher Dorner was
found guilty and fired from the LAPD.

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Christopher and his lawyer, former LAPD
Captain Randall Kuhan, began a lengthy appeals

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process, where Kwan stated that Christopher
was being unfairly targeted and used as a

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scapegoat. The courts disagreed and found
that Christopher had been lawfully terminated. About

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the case, Presiding Judge David Yaff
wrote that he was uncertain whether the training

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officer kicked the suspect or not,
but that he assumed the LAPD had made

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the right decision when firing Christopher Dorner. For Christopher, this was devastating news.

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He was now officially out of a
job, but more importantly for him,

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the LAPD and the courts had come
after the one thing he'd held most

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dear, his integrity. Christopher had
been publicly called a liar and humiliated,

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and saw only one way he could
clear his name. Shortly after the final

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verdict of his case came through,
Christopher took the final steps toward what he

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believed would be righting the wrong that
had been committed against him. On February

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first, twenty thirteen, CNN anchor
Anderson Cooper received the package. Inside was

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a DVD with a detailed breakdown of
Christopher's case against the LAPD, and another

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unusual item. A challenge coin that
is usually issued by the LAPD when someone

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joins their ranks had clearly been shot, and beside it was a note simply

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saying quote one MOA. This stands
for one minute of angle and implies that

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the shooter had been standing about ninety
one meters away when they'd shot through the

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coin, and by the way,
ninety one meters is roughly three hundred feet

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and is impressive shooting. It was
clear that Christopher had an axe to grind

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with the LAPD, and he also
had the skills to turn this feud between

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them deadly. In response, the
LAPD started a state wide man hunt,

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but it looked like Christopher had gone
underground. Just two days later, twenty

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eight year old Monica Kwan and her
fiancee, twenty seven year old Keith Lawrence,

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were sitting in their car in Irvine, California. Monica was the daughter

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of former LAPD Captain Randall Kuwan,
the same man who'd represented Christopher during his

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hearing, a representation that Christopher felt
had not brought him any justice. Monica

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and Keith were approached that day by
an unknown assailant and shot dead. The

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very next day, Christopher Dorner made
a lengthy post online that began with quote,

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I know most of you who personally
know are in disbelief to hear from

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the media reports that I am suspected
of committing such horrendous murders. Unfortunately,

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this is a necessary evil that I
do not enjoy, but must partake and

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complete for substantial change to occur within
the LAPD and reclaim my name. The

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department has not changed since the Rampart
and Rodney King days. It has gotten

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worse. End quote. He also
went on to name people that he admired,

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like Republican John Huntsman and President Obama, though Christopher does admit that Obama

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wasn't his first choice as president.
He mentions Piers Morgan, Ellen DeGeneres,

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Larry David, Chris Rock, Charlie
Sheen. He wrote quote, you're efin

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awesome, and I wasn't censoring myself
just then, he wrote efen. He

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then pulls things back by saying that
he was sad that he wouldn't be around

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to view and enjoy the Hangover Part
three, because Christopher believed that there was

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only one way that this whole situation
was going to end. He wrote,

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quote, I will not be alive
to see my name cleared. That's what

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this is about my name. No
one grows up and wants to be a

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cop killer. It was against everything
I ever was. He named over forty

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LAPD members and their families as targets, including Randall Kwan for failing to protect

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him during his hearing. I never
had the opportunity to have a family of

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my own. I'm terminating yours,
he wrote. With this confession, the

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LAPD now had a prime suspect for
the murders of Monica Kwan and Keith Lawrence,

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but they still couldn't actually find Christopher
Dorner. Widespread panic ensued. Protection

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details and officers, volunteers, and
the community began to see Christopher behind every

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corner. The media stirred the public
by continuing to post every siding online within

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minutes of them happening, but one
siding came a little too close for comfort

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for several responding officers. On February
seventh, two LAPD officers on their way

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to join a protection detail were flagged
down by two locals who claimed to have

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seen Christopher at a gas station.
The officers responded to the report, only

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to narrowly escape with their lives when
Christopher climbed out of a white pickup and

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opened fire. Only about twenty minutes
later, and in Riverside, California,

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two other officers were shot. Officer
Michael Crane died from his injuries. The

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other officer was taken to the hospital
for surgery and fortunately survived. In the

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early hours of the morning, a
local found the remains of Christopher's car near

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Big Bear Lake. The car had
been set on fire and suggested that Christopher

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was now hiding somewhere out in the
vast Californian wilderness. All schools in the

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area were shut down and people that
lived there were advised to stay home and

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keep their doors and windows locked.
As hundreds of officers scoured the neighborhoods,

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but they still could not find Christopher. On February twelfth, deputies of the

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San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department responded to
a carjacking and began looking for it both

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on the ground and in the air. When they did finally spot it,

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they realized that the now infamous Christopher
Dorner was the one driving it. They

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gave chase followed Christopher back to a
cabin near Big Bear Lake, a cabin

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that officers had already canvassed, but
it walked away from when nobody had answered

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the door. Christopher then responded by
opening fire from the inside of the cabin.

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He hit two officers during the shootout. One of them, Detective Jeremiah

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McKay, was later pronounced dead after
he was airlifted to a nearby medical center.

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The cabin was then surrounded by law
enforcement from several agencies, but Christopher

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refused to come out or give up. It was only after the police deployed

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pyrotechnic tear gas inside the cabin that
things came to an end. The tear

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gas sat the cabin on fire,
and officers at the scene reported hearing a

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single gunshot. It looked like everything
was finally over, but it still took

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law enforcement hours to get into the
cabin. The fire continued to set off

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rounds of ammunition, making it impossible
for anyone to safely enter until the fire

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had been put out. Unofficially,
Christopher Dorner was dead, killed by his

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own hand, and a single gunshot
wound to the head. This theory was

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then confirmed on February fourteenth, when
the autopsy discovered through dental records that the

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charred remains found that the scene belonged
to Christopher Dorner. Just like his time

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at the LAPD, Christopher Dorner became
the lightning rod for opinions on the state

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of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Some hailed him as a hero, others

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a murderous villain. Those who knew
him personally claimed that the LAPD had tarnished

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the only thing that would have truly
set Christopher off, his integrity. Ron

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Martin Toonelli, a forensic criminologist and
former police officer, said that Christopher should

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have never been accepted into the LAPD
in the first place. Quote, I'm

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very surprised he was even selected to
be a police officer. His personality process,

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in my opinion, did not fit
with law enforcement. You can't seek

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to control others unless you are in
control of yourself. That's ten Minute Murder,

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brief and vengeable true crime. I'm
Joe, I'm the host, and

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thank you for taking the time to
listen to ten Minute Murder. If you're

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a brand new listener, make sure
you hit subscribe wherever you're listening. That's

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very important. But apparently what is
not important is this part of the show.

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Because I decided to not devote this
part to a bunch of talking this

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time, and instead devoted to the
story. I didn't want to cut anything

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out. I knew it was going
to be a little bit too long,

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and I was trying in the moment
to speed myself up, but I couldn't

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bring myself to do it. And
I know what you're saying, Joe,

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in this economy, you're going to
cut a short. Well, I really

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didn't. I took longer telling the
story that I'm meant to, which means

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I gotta cut this part short.
So I love you bye.