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Djinn & Tonic 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 🇲🇽 🇬🇱

@djinnandtonic.bsky.social

8.5K followers 1.2K following 8.1K posts

Poster of posts. Comparative politics, memes, and the occasional update about my ducks. Bluesky's premier advocate for Bushidoliberalism 🫡 🗡️⛩️ Designs (mostly) inspired by and derived from 19th century political Americana at 👁 wideawakes.army 👁

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Djinn & Tonic 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 🇲🇽 🇬🇱 @djinnandtonic.bsky.social · Feb 16

"what's bushidoliberalism?" basically this but instead of an emperor the object of reverence is the constitution and trans rights

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The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 3h

Things are happening at Portland's ICE facility tonight.

Read more of our protest coverage here: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6h

"The Supreme Court has made clear that it will allow Trump to violate every constitutional prohibition, removing any obstacle in his way, and crediting the most farcical legal argument."

Trump is the insurrection

And the Supreme Court's conservatives are his shock troops.

www.publicnotice.co

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Pema Levy @pemalevy.bsky.social · 6h

Remember, the Supreme Court okay’d this without explanation on the shadow docket

Julianne McShane @juliannemcshane.bsky.social · 7h

This is a crazy must-read from @nlanard.bsky.social:

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

ICE is sending people to a prison in Africa’s only absolute monarchy

Inside the “legal black hole” in Eswatini, where Trump is sending detainees.

www.motherjones.com

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Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 6h

Fond memories of 2020, when it was decided by the media that it was definitionally impossible for Republicans to be homophobic even if they opposed SSM or gay rights, in the same way that "everyone agrees" that racism is bad, ergo nobody important can ever be accused of racism.

Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 6h

An exchange in tonight's VA Gov debate:

AS: My opponent has previously said that she does not think gay couples should be allowed to marry.

WES: That’s not discrimination!

AS: She said that she is, quote-unquote, morally opposed to same-sex marriage.

WES: That’s not discrimination! (1/2)

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KidzBoptotenlieder @theodramatist.com · 6h

Perfect first book

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Sam (ABeardedPanda) @abeardedpanda.bsky.social · 7h

This is Red Guards shit, I don't know why people keep getting mad at that comparison

Drew McKevitt @drewmckevitt.bsky.social · 7h

Years ago I was teaching my gun history class and at the end of the quarter one of the students said that he was in the campus TPUSA chapter and they put him up to taking the class to spy on me but he felt bad about that because he loved the class and learned a lot and had a great time

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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 10h

Could not be more clear the president wishes he had unilateral power to imprison people, like in an absolute monarchy

He doesn’t so instead he’s forcing the govt to bring charges against his enemies because he wants vengeance

Nakedly corrupt, the sort of thing that necessitates removal from office

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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 10h

They’re right to be scared

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 15h

Not sure why there's suddenly a complete freakout on the far right about bloodlust from liberals for revenge come 2029. Could be mirror propaganda to stir up preemptive crackdowns or just a realization of how hated these people are.

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Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 9h

U.S. District Judge April Perry says it comes down to a "credibility determination."

"I simply cannot credit [the Trump administration's] declarations to the extent they contradict state and local law enforcement. … DHS' perception of events are simply unreliable."

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 9h

#BREAKING A federal judge say she will grant "in part" a request by the state of Illinois for a temporary restraining order against the deployment of National Guard troops into the state.

U.S. District Judge April Perry is still ruling and has not outlined the details of her order.

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 9h

Perry: "I'm going to issue an oral ruling."

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Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 8h

I’ve never seen anything remotely this petty charged as bank fraud.

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 9h

NEW: Here's the two-count indictment against NY AG Letitia James. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

INDICTMENT
October 2025 Term - at Alexandria, Virginia
THE GRAND JURY CHARGES THAT:
GENERAL ALLEGATIONS
At all times relevant to this Indictment:
1. Letitia A. James ("JAMES) was a resident of Brooklyn, New York, and the borrower on a
Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loan for the property located at 3121 Peronne Avenue,
Norfolk, Virginia.
2. OVM Financial (also known as Old Virginia Mortgage / AnnieMac) was a mortgage lending business located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, engaged in the business of originating and underwriting residential mortgage loans, including those backed by the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"). OVM Financial qualified as a "financial institution" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 20(10).
3. Fannie Mae was a federally chartered corporation that purchased and guaranteed mortgages,
operating as a government-sponsored enterprise under the oversight of the Federal Housing

Finance Agency ("FHFA").
4. First Savings Bank was a state-chartered, FDIC-insured financial institution (Certificate
#29961), headquartered in Jeffersonville, Indiana, which acquired mortgage loans through assignment or acquisition. First Savings Bank qualified as a "financial institution" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 20(1).
5. On or about August 17, 2020, JAMES, as sole borrower, purchased the three (3) bedroom,
(1) bathroom property located at 3121 Peronne Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia 23509 (the
"Peronne Property"), for approximately $137,000, financed with a mortgage loan of approximately $109,600 (Loan #4430025978) backed by Fannie Mae.
6. The loan was originated by OVM Financial under a signed Second Home Rider, which required JAMES, as the sole borrower to occupy and use the property as her secondary residence, and prohibited its use as a timesharing or other shared ownership arrangement or agreement that requires her either to rent the property or give any other person any control over the occupancy or use of the property.
7. Despite these representations, the Peronne Property was not occupied or used by JAMES as a secondary residence and was instead used as a rental investment property, renting the property to a family of (3).
8. This misrepresentation allowed JAMES to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties, including a note rate of 3.000% (avoiding a 0.815% higher
comparable investment property rate of 3.815%, resulting in approximately $17,837 in rate savings over the life of the loan), a seller credit of approximately $3,288 (exceeding the seller credit for investment properties by approximately $1,096), for total ill-gotten gains of approximately $18,933 over the life of the loan.
9. JAMES' Universal Property application for homeowners' insurance indicated "owner-

occupied non-seasonal use," further misrepresenting the intended use of the property.
10. JAMES filed Schedule E tax forms), under penalties of perjury, treating the Perrone Property as rental real estate, reporting fair rental days, zero personal use days, thousand(s)
of dollars in rents received, and claiming deductions for expenses relating to the property, further contradicting the second home classification.
11. The loan was acquired by or assigned to First Savings Bank by March 2021, exposing it to risks associated with the misrepresented loan.
12. The acts described herein occurred within the Eastern District of Virginia.
COUNT ONE
(Bank Fraud - 18 U.S.C. § 1344)
13. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 12 are re-alleged and incorporated herein.
14. From on or about August 7, 2020, through at least January 2024, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, the Defendant, LETITIA A. JAMES, did knowingly execute and attempt to execute a scheme and artifice to defraud OVM Financial and First Savings Bank,
financial institutions, and to obtain moneys, funds, and credits owned by and under the custody and control of OVM Financial and First Savings Bank by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.
15. The scheme involved falsely representing the Peronne Property as a secondary residence to obtain favorable mortgage terms, while using it as an investment property with no intended
or actual personal occupancy or use by her.
(In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344).
COUNT TWO
(False Statements to a Financial Institution - 18 U.S.C. § 1014)
16. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 12 are re-alleged and incorporated herein.

17. From on or about July 28, 2020, through at least August 31, 2020, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, the Defendant, LETITIA A. JAMES, did knowingly make and cause to be made false statements and reports for the purpose of influencing the action of OVM Financial, a Fannie Mae-backed lender, upon an application for a loan, in that JAMES represented and affirmed in uniform residential loan applications and related documents that
the Peronne Property would be used as a secondary residence, when in truth and fact, as JAMES then knew, the property was intended and used as an investment property with no intended or actual personal occupancy or use by her.
(In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1014).
FORFEITURE NOTICE
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.2(a) and Title 18, U.S.C. §
982(a)(2)(A), upon conviction of the offenses in Counts One and Two, the Defendant, Letitia
A. James, shall forfeit to the United States any property constituting, or derived from, proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of such violations, including but not limited to a money judgment in the amount of $18,933.
If any of the property described above, as a result of any act or omission of the Defendant: (a) cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence; (b) has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third party; (c) has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court; (d) has been substantially diminished in value; or (e) has been commingled with other property which cannot be divided without difficulty, the United States shall be entitled to a forfeiture of substitute property pursuant to Title 21, U.S.C. § 853(b), as incorporated by Title
18 U.S.C. § 982(b)(1).
(In accordance with Title 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C) and 982(a)(1); Title 28, U.S.C. § 2461(c); and Title 21 U.S.C. § 853(p).)

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Sick Hunt, Dracones @scalehelix.net · 10h

you don’t hate the media enough (or Apple/Google)

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 10h

The prosecutor put in office after the president who wants vengeance against his enemies told his AG that a WH lawyer was the person for the job — despite no prosecution experience — successfully sought an indictment against one of the named enemies, the second such indictment.

And you push this?

Notification Center
22
NBC NEWS
Breaking news
Federal grand jury in Virginia charges Letitia James, the New York attorney general who investigated Trump's business practices, with bank fraud

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Regime Accountant, CPA ☠️🎢 @regimecpa.bsky.social · 11h

People are just now getting here and half this website is getting mad at them for it lol

Regime Accountant, CPA ☠️🎢 @regimecpa.bsky.social · Nov 7

Helping Republicans pass the CARES act was a massive mistake. The only way to make Americans not be Hitler is 30% unemployment, letting COVID rip would’ve gotten us a Green New Deal, now we’re getting an American Reich. Lesson learned.

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Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 9h

politicized doesn't begin to describe... www.cnbc.com/2025/10/09/t...
"President Donald Trump said his administration plans to use the government shutdown to permanently cut government programs popular with Democrats."

Trump threatens to use government shutdown to cut 'popular Democrat programs'

President Donald Trump said his administration plans to use the government shutdown to permanently cut government programs popular with Democrats.

www.cnbc.com

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Dan Nexon @dhnexon.bsky.social · 10h

I don't know a better illustration of the bankruptcy of certain niches of the Very Online Socialist Left™️ than celebrating the deaths of 100,000,000s from disease & starvation bc the USG has used USAID as a mechanism for subversion. Like, do they think the U.S. won't just use a different agency?

A post calling USAID a moral atrocity based on a socialist think tank discussion of three or four examples of the USG using USAID to launder efforts to subvert regimes it doesn't like — which, by the way, include the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the kleptocratic authoritarianism of the Maduro regime.

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elias isquith @eliasisquith.blog · 9h

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CMA: Korean Art @cmakorean.bsky.social · 23h

Plaque with the Image of Amitabha Triad https://clevelandart.org/art/1987.59

This plate is embossed with an image of the Amita Buddha flanked by two attendants. The plate, created by hammering softly from the back of the metal sheet, highlights the advanced metalworking techniques of the Unified Shilla period. Similar plates were used to decorate boxes that contained sacred relics.

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elias isquith @eliasisquith.blog · 1d

the president refers to killing as “actually an act of kindness” and it’s genuinely not news because baby we are frogs and we are coookin’

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Stan Oklobdzija @stano.bsky.social · 1d

This guy butt-dialed a constitutional crisis. Amazing.

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 1d

WSJ: President Trump believed his Truth Social post demanding prosecutions of James Comey and other political foes was a private message to his attorney general, and "and was surprised to learn it was public."

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

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Liberal Currents @liberalcurrents.com · 20h

“There is no degree of acquiescence to Trumpism that will satisfy this administration or MAGA at large. All there is is a choice between offering a faint echo of the false reality they’re selling and creating dissonance by speaking the reality of the situation to the public.”

All In Our Heads: On Losing Our Democracy and Life Beyond Our Imaginations

Our language has to meet the moment, and we have to be relentless about dispelling the fiction MAGA is selling.

www.liberalcurrents.com

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 19h

No clearer indication of the right’s moral rot than the swift evolution from angrily denying any association with buffoonish bigots like like Posobiec and Fuentes, to “there’s no harm in having a conversation,” to openly praising and promoting them.

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 19h

Not the least surprised by this. I’d hope it might finally wake up some mainstream libertarians to what Smith is really about. But it probably won’t.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 19h

Or swear in a new member of Congress who was elected two weeks ago

Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 1d

The Speaker of the House has firm views that Bad Bunny is a terrible pick for singing at the Super Bowl, but hasn't had time to watch the President's speech to our military leadership or form an opinion whether furloughed federal workers should be paid or Illinois' governor should be thrown in jail.

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 18h

But that is precisely the situation right now according to SCOTUS itself. They are constantly deciding major issues via the shadow docket, without any reasoning or final order, to ensure those rulings are *not* legally binding and can be reversed whenever they feel like it. That is illegitimate.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 18h

Nothing remotely resembling an insurrection is happening anywhere in the country. Any violence associated with protest has been isolated, mild, and, in nearly every case, instigated by federal law enforcement. If we let Trump get away with calling dissent an insurrection, our republic is over.

BREAKING: Trump Admin 'Seriously' Considering Using the Insurrection Act, Reports NBC

President Trump is "seriously" considering invoking the Insurrection Act in order to more easily deploy National Guard troops to major cities as part of crime crackdown, NBC reported on Wednesday

www.mediaite.com

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Berny Belvedere @bernybelvedere.bsky.social · 16h

Doing politics the right way is when the far-right regime in power memorializes a fallen influencer by terrorizing an academic that the influencer's McCarthyist organization once baselessly singled out for abuse.

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Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 16h

It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't do that without Congress" then allowed Trump to seize a once-unthinkable amount of power from Congress within nine months and concentrate law-making authority almost entirely in the executive branch.

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