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Karen F.Duncan

@karenfduncan.bsky.social

890 followers 1.2K following 540 posts

Lifelong Democrat, mostly liberal and progressive, sometimes contrarian, which is a polite way of saying grumpy. Also an introvert who would rather write than talk.

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · Nov 28

I should put this up as a public service announcement. If you are thinking of following me, I welcome you and I’m thrilled.

But if you DM me and I don’t know you, I probably won’t reply. If I post something, I welcome replies and feedback. But private messages, not so much.

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 13h

Make America Weak Again

Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 1d

I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.

Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 13h

They don’t think they’re immune. They think they’ll be protected by their wealth. They’ll build themselves bubbles on private islands, surround themselves with moats and pull up the drawbridges to keep out the people. Just like the Middle Ages when the nobles thought they could protect themselves.

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 13h

The first wave of RIFS is to those tasked with keeping us safe from disease. While Trump will take his vaccine and protect his family and friends, he is doing everything to weaken America. Whose asset is he really?

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 1d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 13h

RFK, Jr., is a crackpot. But his boss, Donald Trump is an amoral opportunist who will protect himself, his family, friends with vaccines, even while make it harder and more expensive for ordinary people to access the same protection.

He and his elitist billionaire MAGA friends don’t care about you

Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 13h

To give Trump credit, it was his Operation Warp Speed that got Covid vaccines available in record time. Trump just got vaccinated again. Yet he unleashed a deranged anti science nut as Secretary of Health whose anti-vaccine policies are endangering all of us.

Patti Olivier EPSTEIN FILES NEVER FORGET @patti3333.bsky.social · 1d

The Hypocrisy
Thank you @drericding.bsky.social

GET VACCINATED
DON'T LISTEN TO RFKJR
VACCINES WORK

Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 13h

Heard Chattanooga sources rumors that Trump is considering 5 new appointments to the TVA board of directors, which will give him a majority on the board. It’s an open secret they’re trying to privatize the TVA. For Southwest VA peeps, that means your rates will more than double.

Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 6d

My Canadian friends certainly think so.

earthbound420.bsky.social @earthbound420.bsky.social · 6d

Seriously 💥 🙄

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 6d

That was my father’s Republican Party. They don’t make them like that anymore.

earthbound420.bsky.social @earthbound420.bsky.social · 6d

Yeah the last of a good Republican💥

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 12d

That’s known as irony.

Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 15d

There’s a reason for sticking up for the rule of law, even when the victim of legal overreach is someone you don’t like.

When he is unsafe, we are unsafe. When he can be indicted without real evidence of a crime, so can we. If he’s the victim of trumped up charges, so will we be.

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 15d

the DOJ starts to indict other Democrats you do care about.

This is a tactic right out of the fascist playbook. Lull people into false security by going after the least popular, least defensible first. But Trump has already signaled this is only the beginning.

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 15d

That’s not karma. It’s the action of a dictator weaponizing the DOJ to go after his personal enemies and intimidating opponents

The way it works is you go after the most unpopular target first, like Comey, who people don’t want to defend. Once the precedent is set and it’s normalized,

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 15d

Meanwhile the precedent of weaponizing the DOJ to prosecute Trump’s opponents is set. They’ll go from the folks we don’t care about to the ones we do, like Adam Schiff, Jamie Raskin on down till they get to AOC then it’s a matter of time before it’s us on the local level. It’s how fascism works.

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 15d

is a classic fascist tactic to confuse liberals. Go after someone we do dislike with valid reasons is a tactic to get us to not care, maybe even cheer his downfall, and not protest the underlying action. It’s a form of gaslighting, going after an unpopular person nobody will defend.

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 15d

Karma, btw, is a dispassionate reaction in the universe: action causes consequences.

This is a dictator abusing and weaponizing the DOJ to go after his enemies. That’s not karma. That’s an authoritarian abusing power.

Going after someone like Comey, with lots of liberal enemies,

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · 15d

First this is not cosmic karma and I really get tired of people misunderstanding what karma actually is. But that’s a discussion for a different day.

You don’t have to like Comey to recognize that this is a dangerous precedent that will affect lots of folks you do like better than Comey.

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Reposted by Karen F.Duncan

Home of the Brave @ofthebraveusa.bsky.social · 23d

Sarah Matthews: "I believe in the Constitution and the First Amendment, and we are seeing it under siege right now—whether it's Jimmy Kimmel, or Trump suing the WSJ and the NYT... Republicans need to grow a backbone and speak out against it, but I'm not gonna hold my breath."

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · Aug 30

I mean there’s nothing to add to this. RFK, JR. is nucking futz.

Jack Hopkins-The Original @therealjackhopkins.bsky.social · Aug 30

"RFK Jr: We need to stop trusting the experts... Trusting the experts is not a feature of science or democracy...it's a feature of religion and totalitarianism."

Were he not a Kennedy...and wealthy...he'd likely be living his life out in a mental institution. Diagnosis: Dumb-Fuckery.

Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · Aug 30

Here’s what happens when the government is run by incompetent sycophants. America is less safe, less prosperous, and if RFK, Jr. has his way, will be far less healthy soon.

Michele @funnymichele.bsky.social · Aug 30

😡

Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · Aug 27

Oh absolutely agree. Please repost.

Reposted by Karen F.Duncan

Alan Smithee DGA @alansmitheedga.bsky.social · Aug 20

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · Aug 20

Pricing and access to new drugs is opaque, with three major interlocking companies controlling them. The benefits managers and the insurers especially are in collusion. Nothing about this system is a free market system. It’s a rigged system. We need Medicare 4 All to fix the corruption.

Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · Aug 20

Remember, none of this is “free market” economics either. When it comes to drug prices, there’s no free market, no competition. Drug companies hold patents on these drugs so only one company can make and sell them. Pharma benefits mgrs determine which drugs insurers cover.

Senator Bernie Sanders @sanders.senate.gov · Aug 19

Novo Nordisk’s move to cut the price of Ozempic to $499 for the uninsured is a modest step forward, but let’s not forget.

Ozempic costs just $59 in Germany while it costs less than $5 to make.

The U.S. must no longer pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.

Novo Halves Ozempic Price to $499 a Month for Those Paying Cash

Novo Nordisk A/S is slashing the cost of Ozempic for cash-paying patients after the diabetes shot became the poster child for high US drug prices.

www.bloomberg.com

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Reposted by Karen F.Duncan

Bryan Behar @bryanbehar.bsky.social · Aug 20

The purpose of January 6th was to stop the levers of government from functioning, prevent the peaceful transfer of power, and possibly kill Mike Pence.

Anyone who says otherwise is rewriting history. And was likely there.

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Karen F.Duncan @karenfduncan.bsky.social · Aug 20

Why is nobody mentioning this is a violation of the Constitution’s 4A prohibition against unreasonable searches & seizures?

That’s why the others were required to sign a consent form to be monitored, also probably a violation of their rights.

They should be filing writs of habeas corpus w/SCOTUS

Jack Hopkins-The Original @therealjackhopkins.bsky.social · Aug 19

Rep. Nicole Collier refused to ‘sign away her dignity’ by accepting a police escort…and spent the night on the Texas House floor protesting GOP overreach. A quiet act of defiance…that speaks volumes!🔥